St Swithun's first appears in 13th century records, and under the fictional name of St Cuthbert's, is mentioned in Anthony Trollope's novel The Warden.
•
Located above the medieval Kingsgate, one of the principal entrances to the city, the church is unusual in forming a part of the fabric of the old city walls.
Church of England | Catholic Church | church | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | Russian Orthodox Church | church (building) | Church of Scotland | Bishop (Catholic Church) | Christ Church, Oxford | Eastern Orthodox Church | Church (building) | Seventh-day Adventist Church | Anglican Church of Australia | Moravian Church | Church of Ireland | Serbian Orthodox Church | Church | Evangelical Lutheran Church in America | Christ Church | Uniting Church in Australia | Church of Scientology | Congregational church | Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria | Church of South India | United Church of Christ | Methodist Episcopal Church | Greek Orthodox Church | Anglican Church of Canada | Unification Church | Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church |
The Hospital of "God's House" was originally founded in 1185 for pilgrims who were going either to the shrine of St Swithun at Winchester or to Canterbury; until 2011, the gateway housed the museum of archaeology.
The earliest documentary evidence of the church is in 1126 when Eudo, Dean of Worcester, gave permission for the nearby Benedictine priory to build a church on his land.
St Swithun's Church (Anglican), a Grade II* listed historic building, stands at the east end of the village, opposite Swanbourne House.
One of the Latin prayers is addressed to St Swithun, patron saint of Winchester Cathedral, whose relics were in the cathedral; the prayer mentions "sanctis quorum corpora in hac iuxta te requiescunt aula" (saints whose bodies rest in this church next to you)