The bishop died in 1253, leaving the church again complete, though not quite as it is now. The cloisters had not been erected, nor the towers carried to their full height. The eastern end still retained the apsidal form given to it by St. Hugh, and of the demolition of this part of the building it is now time to speak. The fame of the bishop grew fast, and annually attracted to Lincoln a vast crowd of pilgrims seeking bodily or spiritual benefit. Twenty years after his death, a decree of Pope Honorius III. announced his canonisation, and directed that the body should be removed to a more honourable place. Whether the immediate outcome of this was the extension of the semi-circular chapel at the north-eastern angle of the eastern transept, it is difficult to decide, but it is certain that before very many years had passed the fame of St. Hugh gave rise to the destruction of the apse which he himself had reared, and the demolition of part of the ancient city wall. This apse, did it still exist, would be the most remarkable eastern end of any cathedral in England; the one which replaced it is perhaps the most beautiful. Thus the Angel Choir of Lincoln was erected to contain the shrine of one of Lincoln's noblest bishops, and one of England's greatest saints; whose lowly tomb, placed in a corner at his own desire, for fear of its being in the way, had become the resort of such a vast concourse of pilgrims as to require the transformation of the eastern arm of the minster. In 1255, licence was obtained from Henry III. for the removal of part of the eastern city wall, which stood in the way, and in the next year the Angel Choir was probably begun. The work was carried on so rapidly, that within a quarter of a century the translation took place. The choir "was not, however, fully completed till the fourteenth century was well on its way, The work evidently lagged; episcopal appeals, letters of indulgence, and injunctions to the Rural Deans for its completion were issued by Bishop Oliver Sutton in 1297 and 1298, and by Bishop John de Dalderby, at various dates between 1301 and 1314. In 1306 a contract for the '_novum opus_' was entered into between the Chapter and Richard of Stow, or Gainsborough, '_cementarius_,' the plain work to be done by measure, and the carved work and sculpture by the day." [6] Richard of Gainsborough now lies buried in the cloisters of the minster. To those who have visited the Abbey of Crowland, on the southern borders of the county, the following statement by Sir G. G. Scott may be of interest. In speaking of the old ruined western front, he says that the details "are hardly to be surpassed, and are the more interesting as having been evidently the work of the architect of the eastern part of Lincoln Cathedral. Even the stone is from Lincoln" ("Lectures on Mediæval Architecture," vol. i. p. 194).