Veneration
Swithun's feast day in England is 15 July and in Norway 2 July. He was moved from his grave to an indoor shrine in the Old Minster at Winchester in 971. His body was probably later split between a number of smaller shrines. His head was certainly detached and, in the Middle Ages, taken to Canterbury Cathedral. Peterborough Abbey also had an arm. His main shrine was transferred into the new Norman cathedral at Winchester in 1093. He was installed on a 'feretory platform' above and behind the high altar. The retrochoir was built in the early 13th century to accommodate the huge numbers of pilgrims wishing to visit his shrine and enter the 'holy hole' beneath him. His empty tomb in the ruins of the Old Minster was also popular with visitors. The shrine was only moved into the retrochoir itself in 1476. It was demolished in 1538 during the English Reformation. A modern representation of it now stands on the site.
As he was Bishop of Winchester, there are many dedications to Swithun at churches throughout the south of England, especially in Hampshire. An example is the church in Headbourne Worthy to the north of Winchester. It is surrounded on three sides by a brook that flows from a spring in the village. The lych gate on the south is also a bridge over the brook, which is unusual. Other churches dedicated to St Swithun can be found in Lincoln, Worcester and western Norway, where the cathedral in Stavanger is dedicated to him. He is also commemorated by having St Swithin's Lane in the City of London, St Swithun's School for girls in Winchester and St. Swithun's quadrangle in Magdalen College, Oxford named after him.
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