Salisbury Cathedral
The cathedral was built with amazing speed, its main body completed in just 38 years, from 1220 to 1258. The tower and spire (added in 1320), is 404 feet (123m). Together they added 6,397 tons to the weight of the building, so that  buttresses, bracing arches and anchor irons had to be added over the succeeding centuries. Following the collapse of Lincoln’s spire in 1549, Salisbury’s  became the tallest in England. In addition to vast quantities of stone, the cathedral also required 2,800 tons of oak, which was donated by Henry III from his estates in Wiltshire and Ireland.
salisbury cathedral