That Southwell held an important position in the diocese of York before the Norman Conquest is certain; but it is difficult to fix a date for the foundation of the church. Mr. Livett writes: “Tradition points to St. Paulinus as the founder of a church here--the founder alike of York and Lincoln, the friend and companion of St. Augustine, the great missionary of Northumbria under King Edwin, and the first Archbishop of York, A.D. 627-633. This tradition rests upon statements to this effect contained in certain _private histories_ of the church, which are no longer extant. They are quoted, however, by Camden, in his ‘Magna Britannia,’ which first appeared in 1586, and were probably lost during the civil wars of the following century, when most of the church records were either destroyed, or, for safety, carried away. They tell us how St. Paulinus founded the church at Southwell when he was baptizing the people of this district in the Trent; and a careful consideration of the Venerable Bede’s account of the missionary work of St. Paulinus gives support to the statement. The ecclesiastical historian makes no direct reference to Southwell, but internal evidence in his account of Paulinus’ missionary work, more especially the evidence of the place-names mentioned, is strong in favour of the view that Paulinus extended his labours to the close neighbourhood of Southwell.” No part of the present fabric, with the exception of one or two fragments, dates farther back than the 12th century; but there is abundant evidence that a stone church of considerable size existed here at any rate in the previous century. The Norman parts of the church, as it stands, remarks Mr. Livett, contain unmistakable evidence of an earlier building. “In the north transept, over the doorway leading to the newel by which one ascends the central tower there is a large sculptured stone which is worked into the building in such a way as to show at a glance that it is old material used up again. It is supposed by good judges to have formed the tympanum of an early Norman doorway.” The year 1110 is the date assigned to the nave and transepts. The choir is of the Early English period (1230-50), and appears to have been built during the episcopate of Walter Gray, for in Torre’s “Collectanea,” in the library at York, is preserved an indulgence, addressed by Walter Gray to the bishops and archdeacons of his province, “granting a release of thirty days from penance enjoined to all who, being truly penitent, should contribute to the construction of the church of Southwell, since the means of the church were insufficient for the consummation of the fabric a while since begun.” Torre gives 1235 as the date of the indulgence, but the document itself says, “in the nineteenth year of our Pontificate,” which, according to Drake, would be 1233.