Old Minster, Winchester built a new cathedral alongside and the Old Minster was demolished in 1093. Many of the kings of Wessex and of England (including Egbert, king of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839), as well bishops, had been buried in the Old Minster, so their bodies were exhumed and re-interred in the new building. The Old Minster was excavated in the 1960s. The outline of the building now is laid out in brickwork in the churchyard adjoining Winchester Cathedral. Saint Swithun's first grave is clearly marked. Finds from the site may be seen in the Winchester City Museum. The
Winchester Cathedral south and east walls were reinforced by diver William Walker, packing the foundations with more than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks, and 900,000 bricks. Walker worked six hours a day from 1906 to 1912 in total darkness at depths up to , and is credited with saving the cathedral from total collapse. For this he was awarded the MVO. In 1931 the new Dean, E. Gordon Selwyn founded the Friends of Winchester Cathedral. A key element of the Friends’ policy was to “undertake schemes of repair which the Dean and Chapter consider necessary.” Dean Selwyn identified the need