It was founded between 899 and 902 by Alfred the Great's widow Ealhswith,[1] who was described as the 'builder' of the Nunnaminster in the New Minster Liber Vitae.
Sometime after 963 Bishop Æthelwold re-founded the monastery and re-endowed it, imposing the stricter Benedictine rule.
[4] Æthelwold may also have translated the relics of Edburga, now recognized as a saint, to a more prominent shrine within the Nunnaminster; however, this event is only attested in Osbert of Clare's much later Vita S.
The house became impoverished during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but thanks to various grants and concessions it recovered its position and was in a healthy state at the time of the suppression.
The house was suppressed as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in November 1539,[7] with pensions granted to the abbess, prioress and nuns.