Thursday, 24 July
6.10pm

The finer, pointed arches of Gothic architecture came to Britain in the Middle Ages, courtesy of French masons who learned it from Arab architects.

Opening up the dark and sombre Norman style, Gothic cathedrals became places of light and space. Little wonder they were often referred to as ‘heaven on earth’.

Gothic became known as the architecture of learning as the buildings of Oxford were constructed in this style. The amazing weight-bearing capacities of Gothic style are born out in the magnificent Salisbury Cathedral where a spire 150 metres high sits atop the structure built on a boggy paddock, with just 1.3m deep foundations.