Portal:Anglicanism/Selected article/6
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The medieval cathedrals of England, dating from between approximately 1040 and 1540, are a group of twenty-five buildings which together constitute a major aspect of the country’s artistic heritage. Though diversified in style, they are united by a common function. As cathedrals, each of these buildings serves as central church for an administrative region (or diocese) and houses the throne of a bishop (“catedra” from the Latin). Each church also serves as a regional centre and a focus of regional pride and affection.
One of the points of interest of the English cathedrals is the way in which much of the history of medieval architecture can be demonstrated within a single building which typically has important parts constructed in several different centuries and with no attempt whatever to make the later work match or follow through on an earlier plan. For this reason a comprehensive architectural chronology must jump backwards and forwards from one building to another. Only at one building, Salisbury Cathedral, is stylistic unity demonstrated.
