Melody Art

Melody Art

Come to the light - Winchester Cathedral

Original acrylic painting on paper

Painting of Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.

For more information on Winchester Cathedral please follow the link.

The cathedral was originally founded in 642 on an immediate ly adjoining site to the north. This building was known as the Old Minster. It became part of a monastic settlement in 971. Saint Swithun was buried near the Old Minster and then in it, before being moved to the new Norman cathedral. Mortuary chests said to contain the remains of Saxon kings such as King Edwy of England and his wife Queen Elgiva, first buried in the Old Minster, are also housed in the present cathedral. The Old Minster was demolish ed in 1093.

Constructi on of the cathedral began in 1079 under bishop Walkelin, and on April 8, 1093, in the presence of nearly all the bishops and abbots of England, the monks removed from Saxon cathedral church of the Old Minster to the new one, "with great rejoicing and glory" to mark its completio n. The earliest part of the present building is the crypt, which dates from that time. William II of England (son of William I 'the Conquero r') was buried in the cathedral on 11 August 1100, after he was killed in a hunting accident in the nearby New Forest. The squat, square central tower was begun in 1202 to replace an earlier version which collapsed, partly due to the unstable ground on which the cathedral is built. It has an indisputab ly Norman look to it. Work continued on the cathedral during the 14th century, in 1394 the remodelli ng of the Norman nave commenc ed to the designs of master mason William Wynford, this continued into the 15th and 16th centuries, notably with the building of the retrochoir to accommo date the many pilgrims to the shrine of Saint Swithun. The Benedicti ne foundatio n, the Priory of Saint Swithun, was dissolved in 1539. The cloister and chapter house were demolishe d, but the cathedral continue d.

Restorati on work was carried out by T.G. Jackson during the years 1905–1912, including the famous saving of the building from total collapse. Some waterlogg ed foundatio ns on the south and east walls were reinforc ed by a diver, William Walker, packing the foundatio ns with more than 25,000 bags of concrete, 115,000 concrete blocks and 900,000 bricks. He worked six hours a day from 1906 to 1912 in total darkness at depths up to 6 m, and is credited with saving the cathedral from total collapse. For his troubles he was awarded the MVO.