Norman cathedral on a wooded river peninsula.
Durham Cathedral has stood on its rock in a loop of the Wear since the Normans began it in 1093, and it’s widely reckoned the finest Norman building in the country. St Cuthbert’s shrine lies behind the high altar, and the Venerable Bede — the same scholar who worked at St Paul’s in Jarrow — is buried in the Galilee Chapel at the west end. The nave carries the earliest surviving pointed rib vault, an idea that changed how great churches were built. It’s free to go in, a donation welcome, and the station is a ten-minute walk down the hill. With the castle alongside, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
