Anglo-Saxon Minsters of Winchester

This three-volume work offers a comprehensive study of Winchester’s three Anglo-Saxon minsters – Old Minster, New Minster and Nunnaminster/St Mary’s Abbey – together with their cemeteries, domestic buildings, and elements absorbed into the Norman cathedral including the setting for the cult of St Swithun. Scientific evidence, and documentary, architectural, and artistic sources are woven into the results of the major excavations carried out on the sites of Old and New Minster between 1961 and 1970, and later work on Nunnaminster/St Mary’s Abbey, to present a new synthesis of Winchester’s ecclesiastical landscape.Volume 1 explores the archaeology of the first church, its documented origins in the mid-seventh century, and north Italian inspiration. It traces the architectural and liturgical development of Old Minster into a major complex celebrating the cult of St Swithun, its design inspired by the Tomb of Christ in Jerusalem. Documentary sources for the foundation of New Minster, the memorial church for the house of Wessex, on the Frankish model of Saint-Denis, are examined; archaeological evidence, though less extensive, confirms its final scale and magnificence before its documented removal to Hyde Abbey. The destruction and robbing of the two minsters during the building of the Norman cathedral are detailed.Volume 2 analyses burial practices in the Old and New Minster cemeteries, and their British and Continental parallels. Their evolution into the medieval Paradise cemetery follows, with the later ‘memorial court’ focused on St Swithun’s original burial place. Key finds are summarized, including gold braids from the probable grave of the ninth-century prince Æthelstan. The architectural setting in Winchester Cathedral of St Swithun’s cult is examined. The archaeology and history of Nunnaminster and its successor St Mary’s Abbey are explored. The wider context for the Minsters as part of the evolution of Winchester as royal power centre is summarized. An appendix reviews cross-plan churches in the Byzantine empire and Europe.In addition to the illustrations with the text, Volume 3 contains detailed plans and sections, photographs, phasing charts, and images of manuscripts, artefacts and comparative churches.

Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle Mag. art. (Aarhus), FSABirthe Kjølbye-Biddle was a Danish archaeologist whose technical brilliance transformed archaeological excavation in England. Joining the Winchester Excavations Committee in 1964, she introduced metric measurement and established new standards of precision in stratigraphic excavation, recording and analysis. Her rigorous methods shaped the practice of the Winchester excavations and influenced a generation of archaeologists trained on the site. Through her work at Winchester and later at Repton she helped transform how archaeologists excavate and interpret early medieval churches and cemeteries, reshaping understanding of Anglo-Saxon England, early Christianity in Britain and Viking activity. These foundations made possible the posthumous publication of these volumes on Winchester's Minsters. Martin Biddle CBE, FBA, FSAMartin Biddle is the Founder and Director of the Winchester Excavations Committee. He has an extensive archaeological career, but is perhaps most recognized for his excavations in Winchester where, from the start in 1961, he introduced a multi-period and multi-disciplinary approach employing archaeology, topography, and historical archives. In this, the second of the Winchester Studies series to publish in detail the analysis and synthesis of the excavations, that integrated approach has been most crucial to the full understanding of the excavated remains.