taken from the Winchester diocese
during the episcopacy of Daniel, Hedda's successor, and by way of
compensation he was only able to add the Isle of Wight, hitherto
unattached to any see. When the West Saxon kingdom became, in the ninth
century, practically the kingdom of England, Winchester, of course,
assumed a very important position. S. Swithun, who was chosen as bishop
in 852, had great influence with King Ethelwulf, and his cathedral
correspondingly became an object of veneration. The see suffered,
however, from the Danish raids which occurred during the next two
reigns; but with Bishop Athelwold its prestige was quite restored. To
him is due the establishment of a Benedictine monastery at Winchester,
the previous convent having been one of secular (and non-celibate)
canons. With the supremacy of the Danes, we find Cnut both elected king
and subsequently buried at Winchester. Edward the Confessor, moreover,
was crowned in the cathedral on Easter Day, 1043, so that Winchester
maintained its position well up to this date. Further invasions of the
Northmen then very much wasted the south coast, and gradually Winchester
began to yield its pride of place to Westminster.

However, the town remained a place of considerable importance, for, as
Mr H. Hall says in his "Antiquities of the Exchequer," "although
Westminster possessed an irresistible attraction to a pious sovereign
through the vicinity of a favoured church, Norman kings, engrossed in
the pleasure of the chase and constantly embroiled in Continental wars,
found the ancient capital of Winchester better adapted for the pursuit
of sport, as well as for the maintenance of their foreign communications
through the proximity of the great mediaeval seaport, Southampton." This
traffic between London and the two Hampshire towns passed through
Southwark, which always had a close connection with Winchester,
remaining even to this day in a modified degree. The Norman bishops, if
they found Winchester no longer the chief town of England, certainly
added to the glory of the church by the erection and beautifying of a
new cathedral. Immediately after the death of Walkelin, the first bishop
of the conquering race, there was a vacancy in the see which lasted for
nine years, owing to the vexed question of investiture. When Giffard was
finally installed, he displayed considerable activity. Among his other
works, he built the town residence of the bishops of Winchester at
Southwark.