<P> While in most cases a Norman church entirely replaced a Saxon one, at Ripon the cathedral uniquely retains its early Saxon crypt, while a similar crypt also survives below the former cathedral of Hexham . At Winchester the excavated foundations of the 10th - century cathedral--when built, the largest church in northern Europe--are marked on grass of the cathedral close . At Worcester, a new cathedral was built in the Norman style from 1084, but the crypt contains re-used stonework and columns from its two Saxon predecessor churches . Elsewhere, the abbey church of Sherborne preserves much masonry from the former Saxon cathedral, in the west front, transepts and crossing, so that the nave and crossing of present late medieval abbey retains the proportions of the previous Saxon structure . </P> <P> The comprehensive reconstruction of the Saxon cathedral churches of England by the Normans represented the single largest ecclesiastical building programme of medieval Europe and when built, these were the biggest structures to have been erected in Christian Europe since the end of the Roman Empire . All the medieval cathedrals of England, with the exception of Salisbury, Lichfield and Wells have evidence of Norman architecture . Peterborough, Durham and Norwich remain for the greater part Norman buildings, while at many others there are substantial parts of the building in the Norman style, such as the naves of Ely, Gloucester and Southwell, and the transepts at Winchester . The Norman architecture is distinguished by its round - headed arches, and bold tiers of arcades on piers, which originally supported flat wooden roofs of which two survive, at Peterborough and Ely . Columns, where used, are massive, as in the nave at Gloucester, and are alternated with piers at Durham . Mouldings were cut with geometric designs and arcading was a major decorative form, particularly externally . Little figurative sculpture has survived, notably the "barbaric" ornament around the west doors at Lincoln, the bestial capitals of the crypt at Canterbury and the tympanum of the west door at Rochester . </P> <P> Many of the cathedrals have major parts in the late - 12th - to - early - 13th - century style known as Lancet Gothic or Early English Gothic, and defined by its simple, untraceried lancet - like openings . Salisbury Cathedral is the major example of this style, which is also seen at Wells and Worcester, at the eastern arms of Canterbury, Hereford and Southwark, in the retrochoir at Winchester and the transepts of York . Also of this period is the spectacular façade of Peterborough, and the less grand but harmonious façade of Ripon . </P> <P> The Decorated Gothic style, with traceried windows, is further subdivided dependent upon whether the tracery is Geometric or Curvilinear . Many cathedrals have important parts in the Geometric style of the mid 13th to early 14th centuries, including much of Lincoln, Lichfield, the choir of Ely, at Winchester the quire east of the crossing and presbytery, and the chapter houses of Salisbury and Southwell . By the late 13th century the style of tracery evolved to include a greater number of narrow shapes that adapted easily to Gothic openings in combination with circular shapes as can be seen in the windows of the chapter house of York, the Octagon of Ely and the west window of Exeter . </P>

Who managed the design and construction of cathedrals in medieval europe