Wimborne Minster (church)

The central tower and nave were founded in Saxon times, but the surviving building is predominantly Norman in design and construction, with Gothic components from various periods. One of its more famous architectural features include a working astronomical 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 and New 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-century spire which once topped this tower fell down in a storm around 1600.

It is a Grade I listed building.[2]

Books in the chained library

Until it was confiscated 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 important chained library. The chained library was one of the first public libraries in the UK, and it remains the second-largest.[3] Some of the collections of the library include a manuscript written on lambskin in 1343, a book bound for the Court of Henry VIII, an incunabulum printed in 1495 on the works of Saint Anselm, and a Paraphrase 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.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4] In 2012, the bells were augmented to 12 by Whitechapel Bell Foundry, with an additional semitone bell cast to make a total of 13 bells.[5]

The organ in 2004

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 by Mander Organ Builders in 2021 with a possible completion date of early 2022.[6] The project will see the instrument reorganised, with two new cases, a revised winding system and a new 32' pedal Sub Bass.

The astronomical clock

Wimborne Minster is the home of Wimborne Minster Astronomical Clock, one of a group of famous 14th to 16th century astronomical clocks to be found in the west of England. (See also Salisbury, Wells, Exeter, and Ottery St Mary.)

The clock's case was built in the Elizabethan 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.[7] 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 King Ethelred, the brother of Alfred the Great. Ethelred was mortally wounded in a battle at Martin, near Cranborne. 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 of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and his duchess, the maternal grandparents of King Henry VII of England, constructed out of alabaster and Purbeck Marble.

• Cuthburh
• Gertrude Courtenay, Marchioness of Exeter
• Montague Druitt

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  The south window of the minster
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  The baptistry door of the minster
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  The tower from the south west
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  The minster close 1
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  The minster close 2
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  The crypt of the minster 1
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  The crypt of the minster 2
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  The altar and the brass to King Ethelred I
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  The window of St. Georges Chapel
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  Sundial outside the church

• Patricia H. Coulstock, The Collegiate Church of Wimborne Minster - Studies in the History of Medieval Religion, (Boydell Press)
• Oliver, Christine (2002). The Chained Library of Wimborne Minster Guidebook. Wimborne Minster Press.
• Wimborne Minster Official Guidebook, Wimborne Minster and Jarrold Press (2002)
• Charles Herbert Mayo, A history of Wimborne Minster: the collegiate church of Saint Cuthburga and King's free chapel at Wimborne, (Wimborne: Bell & Daldry, 1860)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minster of St. Cuthburga, Wimborne Minster.

• Official website
• Excellent Information on the Minster including Sources for further study
• Catholic Encyclopedia Article on the Minster
• Bell's Cathedrals: Wimbourne Minster and Christchurch Priory — from Project Gutenberg
• Information about the bells at the Minster

50°47′56″N 1°59′17″W