DURHAM CATHEDRAL

The wealthy Prince Bishops of Durham would certainly have been very used to the breath-taking view of the Cathedral, third only to Canterbury and York in ecclesiastical significance, excelling them in architectural splendour. Towering over the roofs of Durham, the land of the Prince Bishops, the magnificent bulk of Durham Cathedral dating from 1081, is the finest and grandest example of a Norman building of anywhere else in Europe.

Inside, even more significantly, are the tombs of two of the greatest figures of the early Christian Church in England: the remarkable St Cuthbert (AD635-687) Shepherd Saint of Northumbria, and the Venerable Bede (AD673-735), Saint and Scholar.

The Founder of the present Cathedral was William de St Calais, Bishop of Durham from 1081 to 1096. He brought with him holy relics and a group of monks from the area. In August 1093, it is said in a brilliant hot summer of that year, the foundation stones of this great new Cathedral were laid, a witness being none other than King Malcolm III of Scotland, famed as the soldier who slew Macbeth in battle.

The main part of the great building was erected in a mere 40 years, but the ensuing centuries have seen more magnificent work and superb detail added. The Episcopal Throne, said to be the highest in Christendom, and the Neville Screen were added in the 14th century.

The impregnable fortress-like quality of the Cathedral, with its famous carved columns, retains a visual splendour that makes it a very special place. Fragments of simple carved wood which survive from St Cuthbert's coffin are now kept in the "Treasures of St Cuthbert" Exhibition, within the Cathedral, together with examples of the Prince Bishop's very own silver coins.

Durham Castle shares the same rocky peninsula, and standing close to the Cathedral was founded in 1072, and belonged to the Prince Bishops. It is reputedly haunted by no less than three ghosts, one of them, as is usual in such places, a cowled Monk.

The castle at Bishop Auckland, however, is still the official palace of the Bishop of Durham. "The Cross Keys" Inn, in the picture-postcard village of Hamsterley, is opposite the vicarage, a smart greystone building, in which the Vicar of 1881, started life there by letting run wild in the gardens, several rare breeds of Hamsters. This Inn is five miles from the Castle, where the Bishop of Durham still resides. It is said some of these Hamsters got out, and invaded the Bishop's famed Knot Garden, who was whispered by some of the garden staff of the day, to be not very pleased about it.

Rosemary Goulding