Norwich Cathedral necessitated rebuilding of the east end and spire but since the final erection of the stone spire in 1480 there have been few fundamental alterations to the fabric. The large cloister has over 1,000 bosses including several hundred carved and ornately painted ones. Norwich Cathedral has the second largest cloisters in England, only exceeded by those at Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral close is one of the largest in England and one of the largest in Europe and has more people living within it than any other close. The cathedral spire, measuring at , is the second-tallest in England despite being
Spire Spire A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, often a skyscraper or a church tower, similar to a steep tented roof. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word "spir", meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass. Currently, the largest spire to be part of the architecture of another building is the one mounted on the recently completed Q1 residential tower on the Gold Coast in Australia. Symbolically, spires have two functions. Traditionally, one has been to proclaim a martial power of religion. A spire, with its reminiscence of