Wimborne Minster

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Image:Wimborne Minster - Dorset dot.png Image:Dorset wimborne minster.jpg Wimborne Minster is a town in south east Dorset, England, and the name of the church in that town. The town has a population of 6,418 (as of 2001) and is situated at the confluence of the River Stour and River Allen, five miles north of Poole.

The minster, dedicated to St Cuthburga, sister to Ina, King of the West Saxons, was founded in Saxon times, but the surviving building is predominantly Norman in design and construction, with Gothic components from various periods. It is built in a combination of Dorset limestone and New Forest stone. The most important tomb in the church is that of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his duchess, the maternal grandparents of King Henry VII of England, constructed out of alabaster and Purbeck marble. It has been suggested that the semi-mythical Pope Joan may have spent her youth at Wimborne.