In the Middle Ages a small Chapel dedicated to Catherine of Alexandria existed on the same site as the present Church. Devotion to this saint seems to have started in the Holy Land on Mount Sinai. Although accounts vary, the fact remains that today there is still a monastery dedicated to St. Catherine. It is at the foot of Jebel Musa, the "Mountain of Moses" and was built at the beginning of the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian. In the centre of the monastery (which housed six to seven thousand monks in the first centuries of Christianity and three to four hundred during the Middle Ages) is the Church. Inside, near the central altar, is the "Crypt of St. Catherine". According to local tradition her cult can be traced back to the early fourth century when, during the reign of Maximinus, she left Alexandria in Egypt and retreated to a rocky valley in Sinai. There, Catherine devoted her life to God and managed to escape Caesars persecution. Ultimately, she was discovered and martyred. Approximately three centuries later some Sinai monks, in response to a dream, found her body on the mountain. It was reverently transferred to a golden casket in their Church.
The Catholic Church in Wimborne has been active in an unbroken line since 350 A.D. Right through the Reformation Mass continued to be said daily at Canford and Stapehill within the parish boundary. The stone Church of St. Catherine replaces an earlier wooden building where Mass was ce1ebrated for the first time on Christmas Eve 1926.
The opening of the present Church took place in November 1933. Inside there is an interesting stained glass memorial window dedicated "to the greater glory of God and in memory of the Rt. Hon. James Radcliffe 3rd Earl of Derwentwater and his wife Anna Maria daughter of Sir John Webb Bart of Canford in this parish, where the faith was kept alive during the Penal Times Feb.24th 1716 R.I.P." The Earl of Derwentwater was executed for his part in the 1715 Rebellion.
There is an ancient "link" also between the holy city of Rome and Wimborne. The Church "Santo Spiritu a Sassia" which stands on the site of a former hostelry, a house for pilgrims instituted in 726 A.D. by King Ina of Wessex, cherishes a picture of the Madonna thought to have belonged to King Ina. This same monarch donated land to his sister, St. Cuthberga, for the founding of Wimborne Minster in 713 A.D.
To find the cache just complete the jigidi puzzle
There is plenty of free parking in the nearby streets and plenty of paid parking in and around Wimborne.
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