The Anglo-Saxon church was founded in Winchester in the mid-7th century. The original stone building was a relatively small, cross-shaped (cruciform) church. The use of stone was rare for the period, as most contemporary Saxon buildings were constructed of timber.
The church became a minster, or cathedral, in c.660–663 AD, following the appointment of Bishop Wine. The episcopal seat (the bishop’s official “throne” or cathedra) was moved here from Dorchester-on-Thames, making Winchester the religious capital of the West Saxons.
Saint Swithun, patron saint of Winchester Cathedral, was bishop of Old Minster from 852 to 862 AD. He was buried outside the front of Old Minster . In 971 AD, Swithun’s remains were exhumed and transferred to a new indoor shrine, as part of an extensive series of changes to the building and monastic reforms instigated between 971 and 993 AD under Bishop Æthelwold and his successor, Bishop Alphege. The expanded Old Minster at the end of the 10th century included significant modifications to its west end, with elements inspired by the Tomb of Christ in Jerusalem.
This much larger Minster was a site of immense political power. It hosted the coronations of King Cnut (1017) and Edward the Confessor (1043). It also served as a royal mausoleum for kings including Egbert, Cenwalh, and Harthacnut.
Following the Norman Conquest, work began in 1079 AD on the construction of a new cathedral immediately to the south of the Old Minster. This Norman Cathedral is what visitors to Winchester will see today. The neighbouring Old Minster, meanwhile, was demolished and its building stone reused.
While nothing remains above ground today, the footprint of the Old Minster is clearly marked with brick paths in the paddock next to the Cathedral. The tracery of the floor-plan would not have been possible without the careful work of Birthe Kjølbye-Biddle and Martin Biddle who between 1961 and 1970, led landmark excavations at the Old Minster site. https://www.winchesterstudies.org.uk/ws-4-i-the-anglo-saxon-minsters-of-winchester/