Stavanger Cathedral is said to have started construction of the cathedral around 1100. It was finished around 1150: the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation. The cathedral was dedicated to Saint Swithun, an early Bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. The church was initially the seat of the Diocese of Stavanger within the Roman Catholic Church until the Protestant Reformation. Stavanger was ravaged by fire in 1272, and the cathedral suffered heavy damage. It was rebuilt under Bishop Arne (1276–1303) at which time the Romanesque cathedral was enlarged in the Gothic style. In 1682,
Dedications in the Church of England Catherine was favoured by many institutions as she is also the patron saint of educators and philosophers. A number of churches seem to have selected their patron according to the feast day on which the church was dedicated. Though these are often hard to discern, they include several churches dedicated to the Ascension or the Assumption. The table lists the most common dedications in the Church of England. Note that churches with more than one patron saint are counted towards the totals of both. Among another Biblical saints the following have dedications: St Philip (92), St Jude (37), St Gabriel