| Wimborne Minster | |
|---|---|
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| Country | England |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | wimborneminster |
| History | |
| Dedication | Saint Cuthburga |
| Specifications | |
| Tower height | Central Tower: 84 ft (26 m) West Tower: 95 ft (29 m) |
| Bells | 13 change ringing bells, 2 clock bells |
| Tenor bell weight | 29 long cwt 2 qr 20 lb (3,324 lb or 1,508 kg) |
| Administration | |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Diocese | Salisbury |
| Parish | Wimborne Minster |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Andrew Rowland |
| Laity | |
| Organist/Director of music | Colin Davey |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | The Minster Church of St Cuthburga |
| Designated | 14 June 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1119581 |
Wimborne Minster is theparish church ofWimborne,Dorset, England. The minster has existed for over 1300 years and is recognised for its unusualchained library (one of only a few surviving chained libraries in the world). The minster is a formermonastery and Benedictinenunnery, andKing Æthelred of Wessex is buried there.
The minster is dedicated toSaint Cuthburga (sister toIne, King of Wessex and wife ofAldfrith, King of Northumbria) who founded aBenedictineabbey of nuns at the present day minsterc. 705.Saint Walpurga was educated in the monastery, where she spent 26 years before travelling to Germany, following the missionary call of her mother's brotherSaint Boniface.Leoba was also educated in this place. A monastery for men was also built around this time, adjacent to the abbey. Over the next hundred years the abbey and monastery grew in size and importance. The Anglo-Saxon name of the abbey, monastery and town was Winburna.[1]
In 871 KingÆthelred I ofWessex, elder brother ofAlfred the Great, was buried in the minster. Alfred was succeeded by his sonEdward the Elder in 899, and Æthelred's son,Æthelwold, rebelled and attempted to claim the throne. He seized a nun, probably of Wimborne, and made a stand there, probably because of its symbolic importance as his father's burial place, but he was unable to gain enough support to fight Edward and fled to the Vikings of Northumbria.[2]
The women's monastery was destroyed by theDanes in 1013 during one of their incursions intoWessex and never rebuilt, though the main abbey building survived. In 1043Edward the Confessor founded a college of secular (non-monastic)canons, consisting of adean, fourprebends, fourvicars, fourdeacons, and five singers at the minster. The minster was remodelled and rebuilt by theNormans between 1120 and 1180, to support that institution.
In 1318Edward II issued a document that made the minster aroyal peculiar which exempted it from all diocesan jurisdiction. The choir used to wear scarlet robes, a legacy of this peculiar. Similar robes of this type are worn inWestminster Abbey andSt George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. In 1496Lady Margaret Beaufort, great-granddaughter ofJohn of Gaunt and mother ofHenry VII, founded a smallchapel in the minster. With the reign ofHenry VIII the remaining parts of the monastery were adopted into part of the minster to avoid being destroyed. However much of the wealth of the minster was confiscated by King Henry VIII.
In 1562 a grant was obtained fromQueen Elizabeth I by which part of the property formerly belonging to the college, together with all ecclesiastical rights and prerogatives was returned to Wimborne and vested in twelve governors. The charter was surrendered toJames I and a new charter was obtained fromCharles I at a cost of£1,000 with the addition of an organist and singing men. During theCivil War, when Charles I was beheaded, his coat of arms was painted out from the wall of the minster, but on the restoration ofCharles II the arms were speedily replaced and have now been restored.
In 1846 the royal peculiar was abolished, and now all that remains of the old order is the control by 12 governors of some of the minster affairs. The church was renovated towards the end of the 19th century and its last addition, avestry was added at the same time. Today the church is a place of visit and worship for the local community and visitors.
The central tower and nave were founded inSaxon times, but the surviving building is predominantlyNorman in design and construction, withGothic components from various periods. One of its more famous architectural features include a workingastronomical clock, which rings every hour and is represented in the form of a colourful quarterjack. The minster is built in a combination of Dorset limestone andNew Forest stone.
The central length of the minster is 198 feet (60 m). The width, except the transepts, varies from 23 feet (7.0 m) in the nave to 21 feet (6.4 m) in the choir. The western tower of the minster is 95 feet (29 m) high. The smaller tower of the minster, above the transepts, is 84 feet (26 m). The 13th-centuryspire which once topped this tower fell down in a storm around 1600.
It is a Grade Ilisted building.[3]
Until it wasconfiscated during Henry VIII's reign, the old Treasury held the wealth of the minster and numerous artefacts such as (reputed to be) a piece of the true cross, wood from the Manger and cloth from the Shroud. Since 1686 it has housed an importantchained library. The chained library was one of the first public libraries in the UK, and it remains the second-largest.[4] Some of the collections of the library include a manuscript written on lambskin in 1343, a book bound for the Court ofHenry VIII, anincunabulum printed in 1495 on the works ofSaint Anselm, and aParaphrase of Erasmus printed in 1522 with a title page designed by Holbein.
The library is run by volunteers and remains open to the public on week days 10.30-12.30 & 2-4 (closed in winter season).
Since 1911 the west tower at the minster has been home to a ring of ten bells.[5] The original tenor bell was housed in the central tower and was cast in 1385. The central tower was considered too structurally weak to add much more additional weight, so in 1464 the west tower was constructed in order to house five bells.[5] In 1629 the tenor bell was recast. Besides the tenor, the minster at this time was home to the 'Bell of St. Cuthburga', 'The Fyfer Bell', 'The Jesus Bell' and 'The Morrow Mass Bell'; presumably all housed in the west tower.[5] In 2012, the bells were augmented to 12 byWhitechapel Bell Foundry, with an additional semitone bell cast to make a total of 13 bells.[6]
The organ was originally built in 1664 by Robert Hayward, of Bath. There are a number of ranks of pipes, still functioning in the present instrument, which date from this time. Originally, the organ stood upon a screen which separated the nave from the choir. However, in 1856 the organist at that time (Mr. F. Blount) removed the instrument and resited it in the south choir aisle. J. W. Walker & Sons rebuilt and enlarged the organ in 1866 and carried out further work in 1899, when a new case to house the Choir Organ was provided. This was designed by Walter J. Fletcher. In 1965, a major rebuilding and re-designing of the instrument took place, the work again being undertaken by J. W. Walker & Sons. The organ started being rebuilt byMander Organ Builders in 2021 with a possible completion date of early 2022.[7] The project will see the instrument reorganised, with two new cases, a revised winding system and a new 32' pedal Sub Bass.
Wimborne Minster is the home ofWimborne Minster Astronomical Clock, one of a group of famous 14th to 16th century astronomical clocks to be found in the west of England. (See alsoSalisbury,Wells,Exeter, andOttery St Mary.)
The clock's case was built in theElizabethan era, but the face and dial are of a much greater age; the first documents relating to the clock concern repairs carried out in 1409.[8] The face utilizes a pre-Copernican display, with a centrally placed earth orbited by the sun and stars.
It is currently maintained by Wimborne resident Bruce Jensen.
The most important tomb in the church is that of KingEthelred, the brother ofAlfred the Great. Ethelred was mortally wounded in a battle atMartin, nearCranborne. The exact location of the tomb however is unknown, though sources and legend indicate that it resides somewhere near the altar. A 14th-century metal brass memorial next to the altar states that the former king is buried in the wall and is the only brass to mark the burial site of an English monarch. Two other important tombs are also in the minster: they are those ofJohn Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and his duchess, the maternal grandparents of KingHenry VII of England, constructed out ofalabaster andPurbeck Marble.
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50°47′56″N1°59′17″W / 50.79889°N 1.98806°W /50.79889; -1.98806
