A former collegiate church, now used as the Cathedral of the diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, but still most commonly refered to as Southwell Minster. It consists of a nave with N porch and two W towers, N and S transepts with crossing tower, choir screen and chapel to the N transept. The Romanesque portions are entirely a three-storey elevation, with a gallery in the nave and presumably the former E end. Beyond the choir screen is the presbytery with two lateral chapels to N and S, vestries and an octagonal chapter house on the N side of the presbytery complete the structure. The Romanesque portions of the structure are the nave, the crossing and W towers, the N porch and the transepts.

Southwell is mentioned in the Domesday Book as being held by the Archbishop of York though a church is not mentioned. Land at Southwell granted by Eadwig King of the English to Oskytel Archbishop of York and by the early 11thc St Eadburh Abbess of Repton had been buried at Southwell. Nothing now remains of the pre-Conquest building though according to a report of 1853 cited by Pevsner some late Saxon carved stones we reused in the piers.

Building work began at Southwell in 1108 under Archbishop Thomas of York: although nothing remains above ground of the original Romanesque E end, we know it to be square-ended rather than apisdal at least on the exterior. The 2 E apses to the transepts have also gone. The nave and transepts all date from the 12th century. Like Ripon and Beverley, Southwell seems to have been a former Saxon minster that was used by the bishops of York as a kind of pro-cathedral, its canons helping in the administration of the enormous diocese.

The E end was rebuilt by Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York in 1234-1241 with eastern transepts, whilst the octagonal chapter house, with its famous foliate capitals, dates from the late 13thc. The pulpitum under the E crossing arch was added in the middle of the 14thc whilst the extremely large window at the W end of the nave dates from the 15thc. In the 19thc there was a programme of restoration under Ewan Christian which included the pointed roofs for the NW and SW towers in 1879-81 and the new roof to the nave in 1881-88.

The carving of the nave pier capitals are very similar to those of the E responds and first piers of the nave arcades at Worksop Priory. Kelly has remarked on the inspiration for the historiated capitals of the E arch of the crossing being found in contemporary illuminated manuscripts, and that they form a site-specific Eucharistic iconography for the threshold of the sanctuary. Although there are some barriers to its interpretation, it should be remarked that a cohesive scheme for a group of historiated capitals is very unusual.