The reasons that led to the choice of the new site by Bishop Poore were the many advantages offered, especially the abundance of water by New Sarum, as it was called, as set against the exposure to the stormy winds which it was alleged went even so far as to drown the voice of the officiating priest, the congestion of houses within its narrow limits, the difficulty of procuring water, and finally the despotism of the governor at Old Sarum. To rid himself of these inconveniences, Bishop Poore procured the papal authority to the removal of the Cathedral from Old Sarum to its present site in the year 1218, though not till the Reformation was the service discontinued in the old buildings. By then New Sarum had reaped the full benefit of the new conditions and surroundings. Though only two miles away, the old place, in proportion to the rising of the new township, sank to a few inhabitants, loth perhaps to part with old associations. The first building to appear in New Sarum, or Salisbury as we shall henceforth call it, seems to have been the wooden chapel of St. Mary, the erection of which was commenced in the Easter of the year 1219. This was followed in the year 1220 by the foundation of the new cathedral as planned by Bishop Poore. It was completed and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1258. The ground-plan is that of a Greek or double cross. With the slight exceptions of the upper part of the tower and the spire, which belong to a later date, the entire fabric represents the purest style of the Early English architecture. The cloisters, built by Bishop Walter de la Wyle, are the largest and most magnificent of any in the kingdom. They are of the late Early English style, and took, with the addition of the Chapter House by the same prelate, from 1263 till 1274 to complete. [Illustration: SALISBURY THE CLOISTERS] Shortly after, the upper part of the tower was built in the Decorated style by Bishop Wyville, about 1330. Five years later it was capped by the highest spire in England. A marvellous achievement of lightness of design, of slenderness and beauty of proportion, it reaches from base to crown to the remarkable height of four hundred and four feet. Its great height has caused much anxiety from time to time, through the enormous pressure exerted upon the tower beneath it. This unique example of a spire was followed next by a chapel built by Bishop Beauchamp between 1450 and 1482. Another was carried out by Lord Hungerford in 1476. These two chapels, together with an elegant campanile, were entirely swept away in the restorations that took place under the direction of the architect James Wyatt. No doubt the Cathedral required extensive repairs, but it seems regrettable that any architect should have caused such demolition, instead of endeavouring to make good the ravages of time. As for the old west front, the coloured drawing of Mr. Collins gives an excellent idea of its rich sculpturesque beauty.