The church of Winchester held the estate of Calbourne at the time of Domesday Book, when it consisted of 32 hides (Williams and Erskine 1989, 52v). A charter purporting from date to the 9thc but probably dating from the 10thc gives the bounds of this extensive estate (Margham 2006, 91-6). It is possible that the connection between Winchester and Calbourne originated with the grant of one quarter of the Isle of Wight to St Wilfred in the later 7thc (Finberg 1964, 216-17). It is not known when the bishop of Winchester established Swainston, near the eastern boundary of the parish, as a residence and administrative centre for the estate. This was presumably before the later 12thc, as the architectural evidence cited below would suggest. Swainston remained in the hands of the church of Winchester until 1283 when Edward I took possession (Lloyd and Pevsner 2006, 278).