Then when in 1075 the See was removed from Selsey to Chichester
the old church dedicated in honour of St Peter, which stood upon the
site of the present cathedral, was used as the cathedral church, and
the Benedictine nuns, to whom it then belonged were dispossessed in
favour of the canons. This, however, did not last long; by 1091 a new
Norman church, the work of Bishop Ralph, whose great stone coffin
stands in the Lady Chapel, had been built upon this site and dedicated
in honour of the Blessed Trinity, the old church being commemorated in
the nave, which still was used as the parochial church of St Peter
Major. This new building, however, was soon so badly damaged by fire
that it was necessary to rebuild it--this in 1114; but a like fate
befell it in 1187, and again the church was restored, this time by
Bishop Seffrid. Then in the thirteenth century came Bishop Richard. He
was consecrated in 1245, and ruled the diocese for eight years. This
man was a saint, and in 1261 he was canonised. Thus Chichester got a
shrine of its own, which became exceedingly famous and attracted vast
crowds of pilgrims, and thus indirectly brought so much money to the
church that great works, such as the transformed Lady Chapel, and the
many chapels which the Cathedral boasts, were able to be undertaken.
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