Wimbourne Minster,dorset,uk,(history in description).
Wimborne Minster, known locally as the Minster, is the parish church of Wimborne, Dorset, England. The Minster has existed for over 1300 years and is recognised for its unusual chained library (one of only four surviving chained libraries in the world). The Minster is a former monastery and Benedictine nunnery, and King Æthelred of Wessex is buried there.
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)
The Minster is dedicated to Saint Cuthburga (sister to Ine, King of Wessex and wife of Aldfrith, King of Northumbria) who founded a Benedictine abbey of nuns at the present day minster c. 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 brother Saint 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 West Tower
In 871 King Ethelred I of Wessex, elder brother of Alfred the Great, was buried in the minster. Alfred was succeeded by his son Edward the Elder in 899, and Ethelred's son Ethelwold, 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.
The women's monastery was destroyed by the Danes in 1013 during one of their incursions into Wessex and never rebuilt, though the main abbey building survived. In 1043 Edward the Confessor founded a college of secular (non-monastic) canons, consisting of a dean, four prebends, four vicars, four deacons, and five singers at the minster. The minster was remodelled and rebuilt by the Normans between 1120 and 1180, to support that institution.
The pulpit
In 1318 Edward II issued a document that made the minster a Royal 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 in Westminster Abbey and St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. In 1496 Lady Margaret Beaufort, great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt and mother of Henry VII, founded a small chapel in the minster. With the reign of Henry 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 from Queen 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 to James I and a new charter was obtained from Charles I at a cost of £1,000 with the addition of an organist and singing men. During the Civil War, when Charles I was beheaded, his coat of arms was painted out from the wall of the minster, but on the restoration of Charles 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, a vestry was added at the same time. Today the church is a place of visit and worship for the local community and visitors.
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. 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.
Wimborne Folk Festival 2007: Part 2
Traditional Folk Dancing performed by Wild Hunt,Old Meg, Wheal Sophia, Quayside Cloggers at the Wimborne Folk Festival 2007
Wimborne Folk Festival
Founded in 1980 and held in the shadow of the gracious 12th century Minster Church of St Cuthburga, the annual event of Traditional Folk Dance and Song has become the focal point for the largest gathering of dance teams and musicians in the South of England. For the old town of Wimborne Minster, the festival is considered by many to be the major event of the year and is highly regarded nationally as one of the largest events of its kind in the country.
This very colourful spectacle of dance and music was first held in August 1980 as a one day event and was such a success that plans for a bigger event soon followed. The event is based on the town centre streets and has its own very unique atmosphere, it regularly attracts many thousands of visitors from all over the UK and of course from the rest of the world, proving that even in this day and age an event of this kind based on tradition can attract crowds of over 30.000 people and has stood the test of time. Visit Wimborne Folk Festival website
Morris Dancing
May Day (1st May) is traditionally the start of the Morris Dancing year. The Morris Dance itself is believed to have evolved from ancient fertility rites, although the present dance is more recent. The name Morris may be a corruption of the word Moorish a reference to the way dancers black their faces and supposedly resemble Moors.
Morris dancing in Victorian England was in a general decline until a man named Cecil Sharp became interested in collecting and recording traditional folk dances and music. It is largely from his collection that today's dances and their many variants are drawn. Morris sides often choose to dance one of two styles, either Cotswold or Border. Yet vital to any Morris dance are bells, handkerchiefs and sticks; visually attractive as they are, though their true purpose is to scare away troublesome fairies and demons.
Among Morris sides there will always be lurking a curious animal figure invariably a 'Obby Oss' usually appearing on May Day, and even dragons and peculiar bull-like animals!
Discover more Dorset traditions in the book 'Dark Dorset Calendar Customs', by Robert Newland, now available at Amazon.co.uk. Visit the Dark Dorset website, or blog
and open the door to a world of fascinating folklore and legends.
Wimborne Folk Festival 2007: Part 1
Traditional Folk Dancing performed by Hunters Moon,Phoenix Morris, Bourne Bumpers, Steps In Time, Bourne River at the Wimborne Folk Festival 2007
History of the Wimborne Folk Festival
Founded in 1980 and held in the shadow of the gracious 12th century Minster Church of St Cuthburga, the annual event of Traditional Folk Dance and Song has become the focal point for the largest gathering of dance teams and musicians in the South of England. For the old town of Wimborne Minster, the festival is considered by many to be the major event of the year and is highly regarded nationally as one of the largest events of its kind in the country.
This very colourful spectacle of dance and music was first held in August 1980 as a one day event and was such a success that plans for a bigger event soon followed. The event is based on the town centre streets and has its own very unique atmosphere, it regularly attracts many thousands of visitors from all over the UK and of course from the rest of the world, proving that even in this day and age an event of this kind based on tradition can attract crowds of over 30.000 people and has stood the test of time. Visit Wimborne Folk Festival website
Morris Dancing
May Day (1st May) is traditionally the start of the Morris Dancing year. The Morris Dance itself is believed to have evolved from ancient fertility rites, although the present dance is more recent. The name Morris may be a corruption of the word Moorish a reference to the way dancers black their faces and supposedly resemble Moors.
Morris dancing in Victorian England was in a general decline until a man named Cecil Sharp became interested in collecting and recording traditional folk dances and music. It is largely from his collection that today's dances and their many variants are drawn. Morris sides often choose to dance one of two styles, either Cotswold or Border. Yet vital to any Morris dance are bells, handkerchiefs and sticks; visually attractive as they are, though their true purpose is to scare away troublesome fairies and demons.
Among Morris sides there will always be lurking a curious animal figure invariably a 'Obby Oss' usually appearing on May Day, and even dragons and peculiar bull-like animals!
Discover more Dorset traditions in the book 'Dark Dorset Calendar Customs', by Robert Newland, now available at Amazon.co.uk. Visit the Dark Dorset website, or blog
and open the door to a world of fascinating folklore and legends.
Wimborne Folk Festival 2007: Part 3
Traditional Folk Dancing performed by Macaulay Scottish, Holt Morris, Magog, Hips n Haws, with an appaearance of the Salisbury Giant at the Wimborne Folk Festival 2007
Wimborne Folk Festival
Founded in 1980 and held in the shadow of the gracious 12th century Minster Church of St Cuthburga, the annual event of Traditional Folk Dance and Song has become the focal point for the largest gathering of dance teams and musicians in the South of England. For the old town of Wimborne Minster, the festival is considered by many to be the major event of the year and is highly regarded nationally as one of the largest events of its kind in the country.
This very colourful spectacle of dance and music was first held in August 1980 as a one day event and was such a success that plans for a bigger event soon followed. The event is based on the town centre streets and has its own very unique atmosphere, it regularly attracts many thousands of visitors from all over the UK and of course from the rest of the world, proving that even in this day and age an event of this kind based on tradition can attract crowds of over 30.000 people and has stood the test of time. Visit Wimborne Folk Festival website
Morris Dancing
May Day (1st May) is traditionally the start of the Morris Dancing year. The Morris Dance itself is believed to have evolved from ancient fertility rites, although the present dance is more recent. The name Morris may be a corruption of the word Moorish a reference to the way dancers black their faces and supposedly resemble Moors.
Morris dancing in Victorian England was in a general decline until a man named Cecil Sharp became interested in collecting and recording traditional folk dances and music. It is largely from his collection that today's dances and their many variants are drawn. Morris sides often choose to dance one of two styles, either Cotswold or Border. Yet vital to any Morris dance are bells, handkerchiefs and sticks; visually attractive as they are, though their true purpose is to scare away troublesome fairies and demons.
Among Morris sides there will always be lurking a curious animal figure invariably a 'Obby Oss' usually appearing on May Day, and even dragons and peculiar bull-like animals!
Discover more Dorset traditions in the book 'Dark Dorset Calendar Customs', by Robert Newland, now available at Amazon.co.uk. Visit the Dark Dorset website, or blog
and open the door to a world of fascinating folklore and legends.