Which English cathedral has the tallest spire among English cathedrals?

Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest spire among English cathedrals.

Its spire rises approximately 404 feet, or 123 metres, above the cathedral. The tower and spire were completed around 1330, adding a dramatic vertical climax to a building otherwise celebrated for the unified Early English Gothic style of its nave, transepts and choir.

Salisbury’s distinction became especially secure after taller historic spires disappeared. Lincoln Cathedral’s great spire collapsed in a storm in 1548, and the spire of Old St Paul’s Cathedral was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1561. Salisbury’s surviving masonry spire therefore became England’s tallest, a status it retains.

The height also creates engineering problems. The tower and spire place enormous loads on the crossing piers, which have been reinforced over the centuries. Christopher Wren designed strengthening work in 1668, including tie-beams that helped prevent further deformation. Visitors can climb 332 steps to the base of Salisbury’s spire, a detail sometimes confused with Strasbourg Cathedral’s identical step count.