St. Birinus was the first bishop of Dorchester. He was known as the ’ Apostle to the West Saxons’ for his conversion of the Kingdom of Wessex to Christianity. He was a Benedictine monk. He was made bishop by Asterius in Genoa. Pope Honorius especially created the commission for St. Birinus to convert the West Saxons. St Birinus promised to ‘sow the seed of the holy faith in the hearts of these English who lived beyond the others, in other parts where no teacher had preceded him’. His mission was successful. In 635 King Cynegils, who had allowed St. Birinus to preach and baptise his son and grandson, was trying to create an alliance with Oswald of Northumbria, a pagan king. to fight the Mercians. The ‘sticking point’ was that Oswald was a pagan. When Oswald was converted and baptised the alliance was made. St.Birinus was then given Dorchester-on-Thames as his episcopal see. He established several churches in Wessex - he supposedly laid the foundations for St. Mary’s in Reading. He was responsible for turning many from paganism to Christianity. There is a church to St. Birinus in Calcot, Reading. That was our local church when we lived there. St, Birinus died in Dorchester on 3 December c649. Source Wikipedia 70 Great Christians by Geoffrey Hanks

Cedd was a bishop in Northumberland. He was an evangelist of the Middle Angles and East Saxons in England. He was a significant participant in the synod of Whitby, a meeting which resolved important differences within the Church of England. He founded many churches and monasteries. Sources Wikipedia 70 Great Christians by Geoffrey Hanks