Norwich Cathedral world from the creation; the cloister includes series showing the life of Christ and the Apocalypse. In 1463 the spire was struck by lightning, causing a fire to rage through the nave which was so intense it turned some of the cream-coloured Caen limestone a pink colour. In 1480 the bishop, James Goldwell, ordered the building of a new spire which is still in place today. It is of brick faced with stone, supported on brick squinches built into the Norman tower. At high, the spire is the second tallest in England; only that of Salisbury Cathedral is taller at
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral building, as part of a wider phase of citywide construction and renovation. Only the earlier spire was retained for the new building. The older part of this church was described in 1862 as Doric in style, attached to a featureless modern tower with an "ill-formed" spire. The building was widely considered to be poorly designed. The "Dublin Builder" described it as "a shabby apology for a cathedral which has long disgraced Cork", while "The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland" judged it "a plain, massive, dull, tasteless, oblong pile, totally destitute of what is usually regarded as cathedral character, and possessing hardly