Winchester Cathedral the Old Minster. It became part of a monastic settlement in 971. Saint Swithun was buried near the Old Minster and then in it, before being moved to the new Norman cathedral. So-called mortuary chests said to contain the remains of Saxon kings such as King Eadwig of England, first buried in the Old Minster, and his wife Ælfgifu, are in the present cathedral. The Old Minster was demolished in 1093, immediately after the consecration of its successor. In 1079, Walkelin, Bishop of Winchester, began work on a completely new cathedral. Much of the limestone used to build the structure
Winchester Cathedral the mortuary chests also refers to a king 'Edmund', of which nothing else is known. It is possible that this could be Edmund Ironside, King of England (1016) but he is buried at Glastonbury Abbey by most accounts, including the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle". The earliest recorded organ at Winchester Cathedral was in the 10th century; it had 400 pipes and could be heard throughout the city. The earliest known organist of Winchester Cathedral is John Dyer in 1402. The current organ, the work of master organ builder Henry Willis, was first displayed in the Great Exhibition of 1851, where it was