Dorchester Abbey
Summary
One of the earliest Christian sites in Britain, Dorchester Abbey stands
on the site of a 7th century Saxon cathedral. The large church is all
that remains of an Augustinian abbey, which was founded in 1140.
Dorchester
Abbey Photo Gallery >>
Beginnings
The picturesque village of Dorchester on Thames is home to the largest
public building in south Oxfordshire, the parish church of St Peter
and St Paul, more commonly known as Dorchester Abbey. This quiet Thames
village was the site of one of the earliest successful Christian missions;
in 635 AD Pope Honorius I sent Bishop Birinius to convert the people
of Wessex to Christianity. Just south of Dorchester at Church Nob, Birinius
preached to King Cynegilis.
 The
bishop proved to be persuasive, and Cynegilis was baptised - perhaps
in the Thames - and he granted Birinius land at Dorchester to build
a cathedral church. In those days a cathedral was not a grand structure
like the later medieval cathedrals that survive today; Birinius's church
would have been a very simple affair of wood. The most likely site of
this early church is the site now occupied by the abbey. Birinius was
buried at Dorchester in 650 AD.
Saxon period
The bishopric was split, and transferred to Lindsey and Leicester, but
in 870 AD Leicester was under threat from Danish attack and the bishopric
returned to Dorchester. To get some sense of how important Dorchester
was, the diocese administered by Bishop Wulfwig in 870 stretched from
the River Thames to the Humber River near modern Kingston upon Hull.
 Norman
period
The first Norman bishop, Remigus, rebuilt the Abbey church, and some
of the work begun by Remigus can still be seen. However, the fortunes
of Dorchester was about to take another turn. The village remained a
quiet backwater, and the growth of other urban areas made a move of
the bishopric inevitable. Sometime between 1070 and 1086 the bishopric
moved to Lincoln and Dorchester reverted to a simple parish church.
In 1140 Dorchester was refounded as an Augustinian monastery, and pilgrims
flocked to Dorchester to see the relics of St Birinius.
This was a time of prosperity for Dorchester, and the
church was extended greatly, with the present tower and aisles added,
a shrine for the saint's relics, a People's chapel, and a great Jesse
window. The monastery was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536 and the relics
of St Birinius were scattered.
Post Dissolution
The wonderful church building might have suffered the fate of other
monastic buildings if not for the efforts of a local merchant, Sir Richard
Bewfforeste, who purchased the church from the crown and gave it to
the village to serve as a parish church. The other monastic buildings
were lost, save for the abbey guesthouse, which now serves as a local
museum.
What's it like to visit?
See images in our Dorchester
Abbey Photo Gallery >>
Entry
Free, donation requested. Free public car park within a few hundred
yards of the abbey in Bridge Street.
Details
Dorchester, Abbey of St Peter & St Paul
Dorchester on Thames
Oxfordshire
England
Location: In the centre of Dorchester village
Website: Dorchester, Abbey of St Peter & St Paul
OS SU580942
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