There are many great cathedrals in England: Salisbury, Ely, York Minster, Lincoln, Durham, but I chose Norwich.
This magnificent Anglican cathedral’s spire is higher than any in England except Salisbury’s and its cloisters must be the largest. The church is almost identical to the original. I took the wonderful guided tour.
Work began in 1096 by the Anglo Normans who brought the limestone used to construct it by boat from France. It is 141m long.
Its most striking feature is the superb 1461 rib-vaulted ceiling – among the spidery stonework are 1200 sculpted roof bosses depicting Bible stories – one of the finest achievements of medieval masonry. Bring binoculars to see them well. A local high school band was practicing when I was there.
The font is unique – two huge bronze bowls kept to a high shine that came from a local chocolate factory.
Similar bosses are much easier to see in the cloister (1297-1430), originally built to house 100 monks. The differing tracery of the arches shows its long construction time line.
Outside is the grave of WW I heroine Edith Cavell, a Norfolk born nurse executed in 1915 for helping hundreds of Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. A mountain in the Rocky Mountains of Canada is named after her.