I recently got to spend some time back in my hometown of Norwich, UK. One of the most striking buildings within this fine city is Norwich Cathedral. Construction started in the year 1096 and through many changes and additions was finally finished in the year 1480, at 315 feet it is the second tallest cathedral in England, and one of three of the only cathedrals in England not to have a ring of bells.

Here is an excerpt from the wiki -

Norwich Cathedral was built following the removal of the see to the city from Thetford. At the time of the Norman Conquest it had been at North Elmham.The new cathedral incorporated a monastery of Benedictine monks.

The structure of the cathedral is primarily in the Norman style, it having been constructed at the behest of Bishop Herbert de Losinga, who had bought the bishopric for £1900, and retains the greater part of its original stone structure. Building started in 1096 and the cathedral was completed in 1145. It was built from flint and mortar and faced with cream coloured Caen limestone. An Anglo-Saxon settlement and two churches were demolished to make room for the buildings and a canal cut to allow access for the boats bringing the stone and building materials which were taken up the Wensum and unloaded at Pulls Ferry, Norwich.

You can read the full article here.

Its always nice to go back and visit these places when I'm back home in England now, growing up and working in the city I used to walk through these grounds on a daily basis and not even so much as glance at the amazing history that this city has. While I love living here in California and appreciate its beauty on a different level, there is nothing quite like the rich and long history of England and its towns, especially for a photographer.

I traveled light this time to the UK, forfeiting my heavy DSLR equipment and glass for my lighter more neck-friendly Leica X1, there is something about the X1 and how it captures architectural images, the fixed Elmarit 24mm lens is extremely detailed and the minimal distortion it offers seems to fit my style and shoots buildings beautifully.