Canterbury Cathedral, founded soon after the Norman conquest, is 545 feet long and the greater transept is 170 feet. It has three towers, the central one being 230 feet high. The crypt, which extends under the entire structure, is the finest in England. In 1561 Elizabeth gave it to the Flemish and French refugees fleeing from the bloody wars of the Spanish Alva. The choir is the earliest example of the importation of the pure Ile-de-France style of transitional Gothic. After a fire which de stroyed the original choir (that of the Norman Church) the work of reconstruction was en trusted, in 1174, to the French architect, Wil liam of Sens, who naturally supplied a purely French contemporaneous design. As Canter bury was four centuries in building it contains specimens of all classes of Pointed Architec ture. The tomb of Stephen Langton, first sub scribing witness of the Magna Charta, is here. The shrine of Thomas a Becket, who was murdered here in 1170, became a pilgrimage place of great celebrity and veneration.
Salisbury Cathedral, begun in 1220 and fin ished in 1258, is universally selected as the best embodiment of Early English design; and this for the good and sufficient reason that it has the excellent quality of unity, which bears the same relation to architecture that com position does to painting. The plan is a double cross; extreme length, 474 feet, and width along greater transept, 230 feet. The great east win dow is the finest specimen of its kind in England.
In Lincoln Cathedral was developed the first complete form of the Pointed Arch. Lincoln greatly resembles the Cathedral of Dijon, but is earlier. It was begun by Hugh of Burgundy in 1185, after an earthquake had destroyed the earlier building. The Lincoln east front is regarded as almost perfect in design. The main stylistic divisions at Lincoln are given as: First, Saint Hugh's choir and east transept, 1191-1205; second, nave and west front, 1205 50; third, presbytery or Angel choir, 125640; fourth, upper portions of towers, 14th century. Lincoln Cathedral has a length of 524 feet ex ternally, and measurement inside gives 482 feet. Its central tower is 300 feet high.
Peterborough Cathedral has been called a monument of the latest English Romanesque style. The first part of this building to be erected was the apse, about 1120. A critic says: "nothing of the Romanesque architecture in England is quite so fine" as that rounded apse, the east end of Peterborough. According to the same observer, "the interior of the church is even more impressive, relatively speaking, than the outside, and is probably the finest early interior in England.°
There is much Early English work and some Perpendicular in this cathedral. The west front with its three enormous doors is famous.
Ely is one of the long and comparatively narrow English cathedrals, whose main struc tures, the nave and transepts, are Norman. Its length is 516 feet and its width 190 feet. The great west door is both Early English and Decorated and the Galilee Porch is one of the finest examples of Early English in existence. The Octagon, the work of Walsingham (13th century), is the gem of Ely. The choir-stalls are the finest Decorated stalls known.
The cathedral at York is 524 feet long, 250 feet wide and has a superb central tower. The nave is 93 feet high. This °King of Cathe drals" is always called York Minster. Gen erally speaking it is of the Perpendicular style. The west front is Early Decorated, Late Dec orated and Perpendicular. The towers rise to 200 feet. The south transept (1216-41) and the north transept (1241-60) are Early English. For stateliness and magnificence the choir is unrivaled. The glass is magnificent and there is more ancient glass here than in any other building in the world.
Winchester, the largest cathedral in Eng land, represents every style from pure Norman to early Renaissance. It has the most beautiful nave in England. The choir-stalls are magnifi cent. Alfred the Great was crowned here. It is pre-eminently a cathedral of royal associa tions.
Exeter is the best specimen of the Decorated style. The finest work of the 14th century is here. Its special features are the screen on the west front, lady chapel, bishop's throne, east window and minstrels' gallery with wonderful carvings.
Lichfield, Early English and Decorated, of the 13th and 14th centuries, is famed for its three lovely and delicate towers, west front and lady chapel.
Chichester, though small, is a treasure-house; for it contains every style without a break from the 11th to the 16th century. It is called an epitome of English architecture." Gloucester is noted for the most beautiful choir in England with the magnificent east window, 72 feet high and 38 feet wide, the largest window in Europe. The central tower, cloisters and lady chapel are also famous. Gloucester offers splendid examples of the transition from the Decorated to the Perpen dicular.
Wells is celebrated for the carvings of its capitals, its chain-gate, chapter-house, inverted arches in the nave, east end and singular west front. It was built in 1206-42.