by Nick Ford

Created on: July 20, 2010

Norwich Cathedral is one of the finest Romanesque, or Norman, cathedral in England. Its full formal name is the Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. The cathedral is 461 feet (140 m) in length and has the longest nave in England. It has the second tallest spire in the land. The 315 foot spire which was completed in 1465 is only exceeded in height by the 404 feet spire at Salisbury. The cathedral and its spire can best be seen from St James’s Hill on Mousehold Heath.

The best way to approach the cathedral from the town is through one of two gates. The Ethelbert gate was built in 1316 by the townsfolk to make amends for riots in the previous century. The Erpinghan gate is more ornate. These lead into the Cathederal Close which contains buildings dating from the 15th through to the nineteenth centuries. The green is a good place from which to admire the many flying buttresses which carry the weight of the cathedral.

The story of the cathedral starts in 1095. In this year the see of Thetford moved to Norwich. This was part of a Norman policy to place cathedrals in their largest towns. Medieval Norwich was the one of the largest cities in the land. A Norman castle had already been built and Bishop Herbert de Losina was appointed to build a cathedral.

The circumstances were peculiar. King William II was short of money. Herbert de Losinga lent him £1,000 in exchange for the see of Thetford. Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury considered this to a be a sin and sent Herbert de Losinga to Rome to seek the absolution of Pope Urban II. The Pope was prepared to absolve the sin provided that de Losinga built a great new Cathedral for his diocese.

Bishop de Losinga’s began his project in 1096. While it was largely finished by 1145 the cathedral was not consecrated until 1278. The site was within the grounds of a former monastery close to the market place and the River Wensum. This was convenient because local quays could be used to import of Caen limestone from Normandy. These face flint and mortar walls. The quays can be seen today close to the picturesque fifteenth century water gate which often stars in paintings of Norwich scenes.

The first thing to look for in the nave is the unique two story cloister. This was built between 1300 and 1430. Looking up, the roof is magnificent. It contains over 800 roof bosses and is said to be without parallel in the Christian world. The roof is even more spectacular in the taller clerestory which was added in

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