xlvili. WIMBORNE, BADBURY, AND KINGSTON MEETING. 



opinion, of being the finest and most interesting church of Dorset if I dare 

 express that opinion in the presence of our worthy Hon. Secretary, who may 

 perhaps put in a like claim for his own Abbey Church of Milton. But why is this 

 church of Wimbome called a Minster ? The usually accepted derivation of the 

 word minster is " monasterium " a monastery, and therefore, in strictness, we 

 should use the word ' ' minster " in cases like that of Westminster, where the church 

 once belonged to a monastic body. But the word was, and is, more loosely used, 

 in some places, of any church something more than parochial. The Archbishop's 

 Cathedral Church at York is often spoken of as York Minster ; and this church at 

 "Wimbome, which is now a parish church, but was once a collegiate church 

 belonging to a dean and a body of canons, is also called a minster. Old as the 

 oldest parts of this building are, it was not the first that stood in this town ; 

 whether on the same site or not is uncertain. In the days of the great Christian 

 King of the West Saxons, Ilia, who was on the throne 1 ,200 years ago, for he reigned 

 from 688 to 725, the first church was founded by one of his sisters, St. Cuthberga, 

 as she is generally called.* No trace of this first church remains. It was 

 probably swept away by the "heathens of the northern sea," who before the 

 end of the eighth century made their appearance on the English shores. 

 Ethelred I., brother and immediate predecessor of Alfred on the West Saxon 

 throne, was buried here. If Alfred restored the old religious house in honour of 

 his brother, we do not know, but a king of the name of Edward, probably 

 "Edward the Uiiconquered,'' son and successor of Alfred, founded a house of 

 secular canons here. It is mentioned m Domesday Book as a collegiate church 

 and a deanery in charters of Henry III. It continued to exist till 1547, when 

 the religious house was dissolved, and it became a royal peculiar under three 

 priest vicars, elected by the Corporation. This three-vicar system continued till 

 1876. The oldest part of the church is the centre, namely, the tower and its 

 supports. You will notice the nearly semi-circular form of the Norman arches, 

 nearly but not quite semi -circular, for since a wider space has to be spanned on 



* Mention must be made of a saint better known in Germany than in England, 

 Walburga or Walpurgis. Born in Sussex, niece of St. Boniface, she was 

 educated at Wimborne, took the veil and remained here for 27 years ; then, at her 

 uncle's request, she started with some other nuns to found religious houses in 

 Germany. In 752 she founded one at Bischofsheim. In 754 she became Abbess of 

 Heidenheim in her brother Wilibald's diocese, and another of her brothers was 

 Abbot of a monastery there. He died in 760, and Walburga took charge of his 

 house, in addition to her own, till her death in 779. She was buried in a cave 

 near Eichstiidt, Wilibald's cathedral city. From this cave a bitumenous oil 

 exuded, which was afterwards known as St. Walpurgis' oil, and was supposed to 

 have miraculous properties. She is commemorated on May Day, a festival 

 previously kept with heathen ceremonial to celebrate the birth of summer ; some 

 of these heathen rites survived. All readers of Goethe's Faust will remember 

 how the witches of the Harz mountains kept " Walpurgis' night." 



