Cathedral at Durham

The construction of the pointed arch and its associated ribbed vaulting is clearly seen from a point immediately below its apex. Here at Durham all the major structural essentials of Gothic building - the ribbed vault, the pointed arch ,and the flying buttress- were first developed. They were to be exploited on the Continent at St. Denis between 1132 and 1144 and in other English cathedrals as the twelfth century drew to its close. Meanwhile the Romanesque merged with the new Gothic arch , whose advantages had yet to be fully realized.