Its ecclesiastical history is no less important. A British church here is said to have been destroyed during the Diocletian persecution (A.D. 266) and restored subsequently and dedicated to St. Amphibalus, the martyr. Heathendom returned with the Saxons, until they were converted by St. Berinus, and by the baptism of King Kynegils the triumph of Christianity was assured. He built a new Cathedral, which was again rebuilt by Bishop Ethelbold (980) and consecrated by Dunstan, and this church remained until the Norman builders came with the Conqueror, and began, under his kinsman, Walkelin, to erect that stately fane which we are now about to visit. Winchester is unlike Salisbury, which was, for the most part, completed in one period of architecture; the former was the work of several builders at different eras. A large part of the Early Norman Cathedral remains; the crypt and transepts and the core of the walls being all Norman work. The eastern aisles and chapels are the work of Bishop de Lucy (1189-1204), built in the Early English style, during the troubled reigns of Richard I. and John; the noble nave was begun by Bishop Edingdon in 1345, and not finished until the time of Waynflete, in 1496, while the dawn of the Reformation saw the building of the side aisles of the presbytery and the east part of the Lady Chapel. The celebrated William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, Chancellor of Edward III., the founder of the Colleges of Winchester and New (Oxford), was the chief architect of the nave. We approach the Cathedral by an avenue of stately elms, and reach the west door. The best exterior view is obtained from the north side of the close. The tower is low massive Norman work, built in the time of the first Henry, the first tower having fallen, as some said, because William Rufus, the bad king, was buried beneath it. The west front has been recently restored. It is evidently Perpendicular work, and was probably constructed by Bishop Edingdon.