 The plan of Salisbury Cathedral is that most often reproduced in architectural histories for the purpose of comparing English Gothic architecture with that of France, Italy and other countries. It has many features that, on paper at least, are typical. The plan of Worcester Cathedral, for example, closely resembles that of Salisbury. Both have two transepts, a large central tower, a large porch to the north side of the nave, a cloister to the south, off which opens a polygonal chapter house. Internally, there are also strong visual similarities in the simple lancet windows of the east end and the contrasting profusion of Purbeck marble shafts. But the histories of the two buildings are very different. Salisbury Cathedral took 160 years to complete, from its foundations in 1220 to the top of its massive spire in 1380. Worcester took 420 years from its Norman crypt of 1084 to its chapel in memory of Prince Arthur in 1504. The history of Worcester is much more representative of the history of most of England ’ s medieval cathedrals than is that of Salisbury.
