Westminster Cathedral
The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of Westminster was purchased by the Diocese of Westminster in 1885, and construction was completed in 1903. Westminster Cathedral is the largest Catholic church building in England and Wales and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.
Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England
Built between 1079 and 1532, Winchester Cathedral has had an unusual architectural history. The exterior, apart from the modified windows, gives the impression of a massive Norman building and indeed, it is the longest medieval church in the world. However, the west front is now Perpendicular, with its huge window filled with fragments of medieval glass. Inside, only the crypt and the transepts have retained their Norman appearance. The spectacular Perpendicular nave with its tall arcade arches and strong vertical emphasis has been literally carved out of the original Norman interior. A former Dean, the Very Rev. Norman Sykes, wrote of it “Well might the visitor who enters … by the west door gasp with amazement.” Winchester is also famous for its carved wooden fittings of many different periods,these including two sets of mediaeval choir stalls, those in the Quire, complete with 72 misericords, being of an early date, circa 1308, and in the Lady Chapel, a later set of circa 1415, uniquely the only pre-Reformation wooden stalls to survive complete in a Lady Chapel.