Cathedrals of England

The medieval heritage of "merry England" is to be seen everywhere in the country in two contrasting forms. On the one hand, there are the many monasteries, which only survive today as "bare ruined choirs", the destructive handiwork of Henry VIII. On the other hand, there are the stately cathedrals still to be seen in every provincial city, representing the spiritual power as opposed to the secular power to be seen in the castles. Many of them are in the South, extending Westwards from Canterbury, Chichester and Winchester, by way of Salisbury and Exeter, to Bath and Wells. Then in the East we move Northwards from St Albans, Ely and Norwich, by way of Lincoln and York, to Durham and Carlisle, and finally in the North-West to Chester and St Asaph. The buildings are all medieval, astonishing Japanese visitors, who only know the Middle Ages as "dark ages", but the darkness is rather in their minds.