St Swithun's School, Winchester St Swithun's School, Winchester St Swithun's School is an independent day, weekly and full-boarding school for girls in Winchester, Hampshire. It is named after Saint Swithun, a Bishop of Winchester and patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. St Swithun's was founded as "Winchester High School" by Miss Anna Bramston, daughter of John Bramston, the then Dean of Winchester, with the ambition of educating "daughters of worthy citizens of Winchester". Not having sufficient money of her own, funds were raised by subscription. The school opened on 5 May 1884 with seventeen pupils. Pupil numbers soon grew and the school began taking in
St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham Aston Hall, near Stafford. After Sir Thomas's death, his widow moved to a smaller residence and their chaplain, Fr Benjamin Hulme found the dusty velvet-covered box of relics under the altar, when he cleared out the chapel. Fr Hulme presented the relics to Bishop Walsh, who was in the process of deciding upon a suitable patronal dedication for his new cathedral. So it was that the relics of the saint who was the apostle of the Midlands in the 7th century were enshrined above the altar. It is the only cathedral in England which has the relics of its patron