Southwell Minster
Southwell Minster
Southwell Minster, formally the Cathedral and Parish Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a Grade I Church of England cathedral on Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, the seat of the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham.
- Location
- Southwell, Nottinghamshire
- Country
- England
- County
- Nottinghamshire
- City / town
- Southwell
- Address
- Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, NG25 0HD
- Postcode
- NG25 0HD
- Built
- Norman nave and towers c.1108–c.1150; choir c.1234–60; chapter house 1290–1300
- Architect
- Nineteenth-century restorations include Richard Ingleman, William Wilkins Snr and Ewan Christian
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Mary
- Diocese
- Southwell and Nottingham
- Parish
- Southwell Minster
- Grade
- I
- Style
- Romanesque, Early English and Decorated
- Materials
- Ashlar with lead roofs
- Grid reference
- SK 701 538
- Opening hours
- Southwell Minster is open every day of the year, from 8am to 7pm in summertime (March to October); and in wintertime until 6.30pm or dusk.
- Access
- Non-accessible toilets in church. Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby. Accessible toilets in church
Overview
Historic England lists the minster church and attached chapter house. The Norman nave, aisles and west towers date from about 1120–1250 on the site of an Anglo-Saxon church. The choir, aisles and east transept chapels were built about 1233–1260; the chapter house about 1290–1300. A choir screen of about 1337 and later fourteenth- and fifteenth-century windows complete the medieval sequence. Fabric is ashlar with lead roofs, in Romanesque, Early English and Decorated styles: an aisled nave with clerestory and twin west towers, north porch, transepts, crossing tower, aisled choir and octagonal chapter house.
Wikipedia records a minster established after King Eadwig granted land to Archbishop Oskytel of York in 956. Norman reconstruction began in 1108. The church became a cathedral in 1884 (often dated 1888 in older summaries). After a fire of 1711–14 the south-west tower, nave and crossing were reroofed. Richard Ingleman removed the western spires in 1801; William Wilkins Snr reroofed the chapter house in 1803; Ewan Christian reinstated the west-tower spires and renewed nave and transept roofs in 1880. The chapter house is celebrated for its carved foliage. The minster is open every day.