Minster of St Cuthburga, Wimborne

More than 1,300 years of pilgrimage are celebrated at this former monastery church, the tradition still going strong as the parish welcomes visitors to enjoy its many treasures

‍Highlights

• ‍‍Early missionary centre for the conversion of Germany
• Saxon reliquary
• Possible site of St Cuthburga’s grave

The community of nuns at Wimborne is more famous in Germany than it is in England. This Dorset town became a training ground for foreign missionaries, and as a result, much of Germany has Wimborne to thank for its conversion to Christianity in the 8th century.

It all started when St Cuthburga founded an abbey in Wimborne around 705. She became a nun on the death of her husband, a Northumbrian king, and created a centre of learning and missionary zeal that trained up to 500 nuns at a time. She was clearly an immensely successful teacher of strong and independent women. Later writers describe her as being strict to herself but unfailingly kind to others.

Some of the current building dates from Saxon times, along with a reliquary chest carved from a single block of oak. A holy well or pond bearing St Cuthburga’s name was once nearby, but members of the congregation told me they had never heard of it. However, St Cuthburga’s saintly body is thought to lie in the minster building to this day, perhaps by the chancel wall. Her saint’s day is celebrated on 31 August.

One of her famous protégés is St Thecla, who founded an abbey in Bavaria and is still honoured for bringing the faith to the people of southern Germany. A stone sculpture in the crypt, depicting this great missionary, was carved and donated to Wimborne Minster by the people of Ochsenfurt in 1989.

This conversion of Germany was led by St Boniface of Crediton. He drew on the huge resources of Wimborne’s abbey to aid his work. Among the other saints from the abbey remembered for their missionary work are St Walburga, St Gunthildis, St Leoba, and St Agatha, all of whom died in the 8th century.

Another saint who stayed at Wimborne is St Tetta, who followed St Cuthburga in the role of abbess. There is even a royal burial on the site – King Ethelred, who is commemorated with a brass plaque just to the left of the high altar, apparently the only royal brass in the whole of England. Ethelred was King Alfred’s brother, and not the more famous Ethelred the Unready (who was buried at St Paul’s in London).

Other treasures include a 14th-century astronomical clock that shows its age: the earth is at the centre of the solar system. There is a famous carved stone corbel of Moses, to the right of the high altar, dating from the 12th century. The minster has one of only four chained libraries in the world surviving from medieval times.

Directions‍

The Minster, High Street, Wimborne BH21 1HT

www.wimborneminster.org.uk

W3W: stripped.imply.striving

GPS: 50.7990N 1.9883W‍

The minster is on the corner of King Street and High Street (the B3073), in the southwest side of town. It is open Mon–Sat 9:30am–5:30pm (4pm Nov–Feb), Sun 2:30pm–5:30pm, with earlier closing at Christmas and New Year. The chained library is open most days from Easter to the end of October, but check if making a special trip.