ABSTRACT
The testimony of church building during the later Middle Ages shows that the conspicuous wealth of both the monasteries and cathedrals had largely slipped away. Although some cathedral churches such as that at Durham stand as magnificent, virtually complete monuments to the Norman achievement, the work of building and rebuilding continued throughout the Middle Ages. Another major difference between England and the Continent was that during the Middle Ages almost half the English cathedrals were also the abbey churches of great Benedictine monasteries, of which the bishop was also abbot. Rebuilding or restoration was a constant feature of the medieval cathedrals because of damage caused either by fire or subsidence, which were both permanent threats. In some cases increased revenue allowed an extension or even a complete rebuild in a new architectural style more suited to the tastes of contemporary sponsors.
