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 blue reflects the vault portals of the chapel. The cathedral possesses the only diatonic ring of fourteen church bells in the world, with a tenor (heaviest bell) weighing . The back twelve were all cast by John Taylor & Co in 1937. They were augmented to fourteen when two new trebles and a 4♯ (sharp 4th) were added in 1992 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Also there is a 8♭ (flat 8th) which was cast by Anthony Bond in 1621. Nowadays the cathedral draws many tourists as a result of its association with Jane Austen, who died in Winchester