page_title: Norwich Cathedral
section_title: Later Medieval period
hierarchical_section_title: Norwich Cathedral / History / Later Medieval period
caption_attribution_description: English: Norwich cathedral This is the Norman cathedral at Norwich, taken from the battlements of Norwich castle.
context_page_description: Norwich Cathedral is an English cathedral located in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites.
  The cathedral was begun in 1096 and constructed out of flint and mortar and faced with a cream-coloured Caen limestone. An Anglo-Saxon settlement and two churches were demolished to make room for the buildings. The cathedral was completed in 1145 with the Norman tower still seen today topped with a wooden spire covered with lead. Several episodes of damage necessitated rebuilding of the east end and spire but since the final erection of the stone spire in 1480 there have been few fundamental alterations to the fabric.
  The large cloister has over 1,000 bosses including several hundred carved and ornately painted ones.
  Norwich Cathedral has the second largest cloisters in England, only exceeded by those at Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral close is one of the largest in England and one of the largest in Europe and has more people living within it than any other close.
context_section_description: The cathedral was damaged after riots in 1272, which resulted in the city paying heavy fines levied by Henry III, Rebuilding was completed in 1278 and the cathedral was reconsecrated in the presence of Edward I on Advent Sunday of that year.
  A large two-storey cloister, the only such in England, with over 1,000 ceiling bosses was begun in 1297 and finally finished in 1430 after the Black Death had plagued the city.
  The Norman spire was blown down in 1362. Its fall caused considerable damage to the east end, as a result of which the clerestory of the choir was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style. In the 15th and early 16th centuries, the cathedral's flat timber ceilings were replaced with stone vaults: the nave was vaulted under Walter Hart (bishop, 1446–72), the choir under James Goldwell (bishop, 1472–99) and the transepts after 1520. The vaulting was carried out in a spectacular manner with hundreds of ornately carved, painted and gilded bosses. The bosses of the vault number over 1,000; one of the world's greatest mediaeval treasures, and certainly a near miraculous survival of Tudor and Cromwellian vandalism. Each boss is decorated with a theological image, and as a group they have been justly described as without parallel in the Christian world. The nave vault shows the history of the world from the creation; the cloister includes series showing the life of Christ and the Apocalypse.
  In 1463 the spire was struck by lightning, causing a fire to rage through the nave which was so intense it turned some of the cream-coloured Caen limestone a pink colour. In 1480 the bishop, James Goldwell, ordered the building of a new spire which is still in place today. It is of brick faced with stone, supported on brick squinches built into the Norman tower. At 315 feet (96 m) high, the spire is the second tallest in England; only that of Salisbury Cathedral is taller at 404 feet (123 m).
  The total length of the building is 461 feet (141 m). Along with Salisbury and Ely Cathedrals, Norwich lacks a ring of bells, which makes them the only three English cathedrals without them. One of the best views of the cathedral spire is from St James's Hill on Mousehold Heath.
caption: Cathedral viewed from Norwich Castle to the southwest
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