 Ranulf worked to complete the cathedral which his predecessor, William de St-Calais, had begun; fortified Durham with a wall around Durham Castle, built Norham Castle to help defend the Tweed River; and endowed the collegiate church of Christchurch, Hampshire. He built or expanded other churches, including the one at Christchurch in Hampshire which he had endowed, and St. Martin's in Dover. The first stone bridge at Durham was completed by his instruction in 1120, the so-called Framwellgate Bridge, a bridge described as "of wonderful workmanship." He cleared and levelled the Palace Green in Durham between the castle and the cathedral. While the chroniclers mainly condemned Ranulf for his morals, his own cathedral chapter held him in high esteem because of his building activities and his defence of the rights of Durham. Although he usurped some of the income of the cathedral chapter, the money from those rights was used to complete the cathedral rebuilding, and later restored the income to the monks as well as increasing the endowment. At his death, the cathedral walls were complete up to "the covering", which probably means the vault instead of the roof.
