Bells Cathedrals: Wimbourne Minster and Christchurch Priory | Page 5

the
vicars of Wimborne), a parsonage having been built for his
accommodation; and the third became sole vicar of the minster church
and the parish attached to it.
* * * * *
For the history of the fabric we have to trust almost entirely to the
architectural features of the church itself, as documentary evidence is
unusually scanty.
Nothing of earlier date than the twelfth century can be seen in
Wimborne Minster, but we know pretty accurately, the extent and form
of the Norman Church; for, during the course of restoration undertaken
in the present century, the foundations of some parts of this church
were discovered beneath the floor of the existing building, and other
pieces of Norman work formerly concealed, and now again concealed
beneath plaster, were laid bare. There is one interesting feature about
the church worthy of notice--namely, that the builders who succeeded
one another at the various periods of its history did not, as a rule,
destroy the work of their predecessors to such an extent as we
frequently find to have been the case with the builders of other
churches: possibly this may have been due to the fact that at no time
was Wimborne Minster a rich foundation. There was no saintly shrine,
there were no wonder-working relics to attract pilgrims and gather the
offerings of the faithful and enrich the church in the way in which the
shrine of Saint Cuthbert enriched Durham, that of the murdered
archbishop enriched Canterbury, and that of the murdered king
enriched Gloucester. But, whatever the reason may have been, we can
but be thankful that the mediæval builders destroyed so little at

Wimborne; while we regret that modern restorers have not been as
scrupulous in preserving the work which they found existing, but have
in some instances endeavoured to put the church back again into the
state in which they imagined the fourteenth-century builders left it.
We may regard the arches and lower stages of the central tower as the
oldest part now remaining in its original condition. No doubt the
Norman choir was the first to be built, as we find that it was almost the
universal custom to begin churches at the eastern end, and gradually to
extend the building westward, as funds and time allowed. Here,
however, as in many other cases, the small Norman choir eastward of
the central tower in course of time was considered too small, and the
eastern termination had to be demolished to admit of the desired
extension to the east. Norman choirs, as a rule, had an apsidal
termination to the east, and it was not till Early English times that
square east ends, which were characteristic of the English church in
pre-Norman times, prevailed again over the Norman custom; and it is
worthy of notice that this rectangular termination towards the east end
remains a marked characteristic of the thirteenth-century work in
England, Continental church-builders having retained the apsidal
termination till the Renaissance. The side walls of the Norman choir
extended two bays to the east of the central tower, and the nave four
bays westward of the same. The transepts were shorter than at present,
and the side aisles of the nave narrower. There appear to have been two
side chapels to the choir, extending as far as the first bay eastward;
beyond this to the east were two Norman windows on each side: these
windows, parts of which remain, cut off by the Early English arches,
were round-headed, and richly ornamented with chevron mouldings.
They were uncovered at the time of the restoration, but are now again
hidden by plaster. At the south end of the south transept a low building
seems to have existed: the walls of this were raised when the south
transept was lengthened in the fourteenth century. The Norman
masonry may be seen under the south window of the transept, and a
Norman string course runs round the sides and ends of the present
transept. The aisles of the nave were not only narrower, but were also
lower, than those now existing. It is also probable that these aisles did
not originally extend as far westward as the nave. The windows of the

Norman clerestory, which may still be seen from the interior, though all
similar in design, are not alike in workmanship. The one over the
narrow eastern bay on either side differs from those over the three bays
farther to the west. Moreover, a continuous foundation has been
discovered underneath the three western arches of the Norman nave.
Possibly there was at one time a solid wall in this position, intended,
however, from the first only to be temporary, and this was removed
when the aisles, still in Norman times, were lengthened. The tower
itself was not all built at