The Spire The Spire The Spire is a 1964 novel by the English author William Golding. "A dark and powerful portrait of one man's will", it deals with the construction of the 404-foot high spire loosely based on Salisbury Cathedral; the vision of the fictional Dean Jocelin. In this novel, William Golding utilises stream of consciousness writing with an omniscient but increasingly fallible narrator. Jocelin, the Dean of the cathedral, directs the construction of a towering spire funded by his aunt, Lady Alison, a mistress of the former King. The project is carried on against the advice of many, and in particular
Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England against the openwork spires of Germany and France), and tallest spire in the world that remains from the Medieval period that has not been entirely rebuilt. However, it was greatly surpassed in height by the spires of Lincoln and Old St. Paul’s. At Lincoln, between the early 14th century and 1548, the central tower was surmounted by the tallest spire in the world at about but this fell in a storm. Lichfield Cathedral, uniquely in England, has three medieval masonry spires. Although single western towers are common in English parish churches, only one medieval cathedral, Ely, retains a centrally placed