More information : (SU48202934. New Minster sited from authy 1 and OS 1:10000 1968).
The circumstances surrounding the reasons for the construction of the New Minster are unclear, but from the outset, it was a monstery, not a minster, at first secular, later Benedictine. It was built immediately to the North of the Old Minster, and from the beginning, it was much larger than the final form of the Old Minster, its aisled nave alone being over twice the total finished area of Old Minster. Work begun on the New Minster, probably in 901 after Bishop Grimwald's death, and was completed in 903 when the church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, St Mary and St Peter. The church was used for royal Wessex burials from Alfred onwards, but the practice ended with the burial of Eadred in 959. Bishop Aethelwold reformed the monastery in 963-4, driving out the secular monks and replacing them with Benedictine monks from Abigdon. New buildings were added and the precinct redefined. Between 979-88, a great tower was added, possibly 20m high, and stood a little to the West of the West end of the church. Several chapels existed within the precincts at the end of the C10th:
St George's (in the West cemetery, or palace grounds);
St Gregory's (West end of the church)
St Thomas's (North side of the precinct);
St Maurice with St Pantaleon (identfied as the later Church of St Maurice, or very nearby).
Many of the domestic buildings were destroyed by fire on St George's Day 1065. Following the Conquest, William I took 1/3 of the precinct so that his palace could be extended. With the precinct becoming increasingly cramped, the monastery was moved to a new site at Hyde in 1110. (1)
Several fragments of saxon stonework now in Winchester City Museum, have been found during excavations on the site of the New Minster. Full description of seven fragments. (2) |