Durham Cathedral’s official name is ‘the Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham’. It is the home of the shrine of St Cuthbert and burial place of the Venerable (aka ‘Venomous’) Bede. The cathedral, along with Durham Castle, occupies a rocky promontory high above the river Wear – originally an excellent defensive position, now dramatic and picturesque. It was founded in 1093 and the outstanding architectural feature (probably) are the massive, soaring, Romanesque/Norman arches in the nave. There’s a wonderful simplicity about Durham Cathedral.
The Bishops of Durham – ‘the Prince Bishops’ used to wield temporal, as well as spiritual, power and effectively ruled the diocese for 850 years. That did not stop Oliver Cromwell using the Cathedral to hold 3,000 Scots prisoner after the Battle of Dunbar in 1650; many of them died within the Cathedral.
Durham Cathedral, along with the adjacent Castle, is a World Heritage Site.