VIEW OF THE OLD MINSTER Work started on the present Norman Cathedral at Winchester in 1079. Before this date there were two Saxon Cathedrals, side by side, on the same site. The problems thus caused were eventually solved by moving the New Minster, dedicated in A.D. 903, to Hyde Abbey outside the North Gate of the city in 1110. This model depicts the Old Minster as it would have looked about A.D. 980 - 990 when the extensive re-modelling of the west and east ends, under the guidance of Bishop Aethelwold, had been completed. The Old Minster was based upon the original church founded by King Cenwalh in A.D. 648, which contained the Shrine of St. Swithun and was one of the most important places of pilgrimage in England. The reconstruction was based upon excavation and analysis of the rubble filled trenches that used to contain the foundations of the Old Minster. This model shows the extent of the foundations, and the Minster itself, produced entirely using Constructive Solid Geometry. The data from the archaeological dig was made available by Birtha Kolbe-Biddle, a member of the Winchester Archaeological Trust.