Old Minster, Winchester Old Minster, Winchester The Old Minster was the Anglo-Saxon cathedral for the diocese of Wessex and then Winchester from 660 to 1093. It stood on a site immediately north of and partially beneath its successor, Winchester Cathedral. The minster was constructed in 648 for King Cenwalh of Wessex as the church of St Peter and St Paul. It became a cathedral when the West Saxon bishopric was transferred from Dorchester-on-Thames in the 660s. It was enlarged and redecorated over the years and Saint Swithun was buried outside it in 862. By the 10th century, the Minster was the priory church
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