ng is a translation:--

The City is celebrated
In the whole Empire of the Britons
The road to it is steep
It is surrounded with rocks
And with curious plants
The Wear flows round it
A river of rapid waves
And there live in it
Fishes of various kinds
Mingling with the floods.
And there grow
Great Forests,
There live in the recesses
Wild Animals of many sorts
In the deep valleys
Deer innumerable.

As soon as possible a stone chapel was built, in which the body of S.
Cuthbert was placed. Bishop Aldhun, not satisfied with this, determined
to establish a great church. Work was immediately commenced and
progressed so rapidly that the building, known as "the White Church,"
was consecrated in A.D. 999. Of this there would seem to be no authentic
remains existing; although some authorities think portions of it are
included in the present cathedral. Bishop Aldhun died in 1018. The next
date of importance is the year 1081, when William of Saint Carileph was
appointed Bishop by the Conqueror. He was a monk of the Benedictine
order, and at once drove out and dispossessed the secular clergy at
Durham, replacing them from the Benedictine Monasteries which were
established at Jarrow and Monkwearmouth. Bishop Carileph is the man to
whom we owe the present Cathedral of Durham. In 1088 he was obliged to
flee into exile in Normandy, where he remained three years, through his
having taken part in the rebellion against William II. It was probably
during this time of banishment that he conceived the idea that if he
returned to Durham he would build a more worthy church, such as were
already erected and in course of construction in Normandy.

Soon after his return in 1091 he commenced to carry out his scheme; and
we learn that on the 11th of August 1093, the foundation stone of the
new church was laid, with great pomp.

The work proceeded rapidly, commencing at the east end. By the time of
Bishop Carileph's death, which occurred in 1096, the walls of the choir,
the eastern walls of the transepts, the tower arches, and a portion of
the first bay of the nave, were completed. It is also very probable that
the lower portion of the walls of the whole church are of Carileph's
time.

After the death of Bishop Carileph the see of Durham remained vacant for
three years. The monks, however, were not idle during this period, and
they continued the work vigorously, completing the west walls of the
transepts a