The present Durham Cathedral, replacing an earlier church erected to house the relics of the seventh-century-era Saint Cuthbert, had been designed and built under William of St. Carilef (or William of Calais) who had been appointed as the first prince-bishop by William the Conqueror in 1080.

Since that time, there have been major additions and reconstructions of some parts of the building, but the greater part of the structure remains true to the Norman design.

Construction of the cathedral begins in 1093 at the eastern end.

The three-towered cathedral’s Latin cross plan calls for the innovative use of pointed arches and stone ribbed groin vaults that will allow the use of windows to admit light directly into the nave.

This scheme will overcome the problem of dark, windowless naves (as, for example, in the contemporaneous church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse) that receive only indirect light from small windows along the side aisles.