Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral is renowned as a masterpiece of Romanesque (or Norman) architecture. It was begun in 1093 and largely completed within 40 years. It is the only cathedral in England to retain almost all of its Norman craftsmanship, and one of few to preserve the unity and integrity of its original design.

The Cathedral was built as a place of worship, specifically to house the shrine of the North's best-loved saint, Cuthbert, in whose honour pilgrims came to Durham from all over England. It was also the home of a Benedictine monastic community.
The Cathedral also served a political and military function by reinforcing the authority of the prince-bishops over England's northern border.
The Cathedral is built on a peninsula of land created by a loop in the River Wear and the west end towers over a precipitous gorge. The northern front of the Cathedral faces onto Palace green and here the full 143 metres length from west to east can be seen. The nave, quire and transepts are all Norman, at the west end is the twelfth-century late Norman style Galilee Chapel and at the east end the thirteenth-century Chapel of the Nine Altars is in the Gothic style. The western towers date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and the great central tower is the most recent addition, it dates from the fifteenth century and displays perpendicular Gothic detailing.
Durham, North East England.