The earliest structure on the site of the current Gloucester Cathedral was an abbey dedicated to St Peter in 678. The abbey was rebuilt in 1058, and again, to its current foundation, in 1104.
The cathedral has a stained-glass window depicting the earliest images of golf. This dates from 1350, over 300 years earlier than the earliest image of golf from Scotland. There is also a carved image of people playing a ball game, believed by some to be one of the earliest images of medieval football.
While there are many funerary monuments in the Cathedral, the most notable is the beautiful canopied shrine of Edward II of England. Edward died in 1327 under suspicious circumstances, at nearby Berkeley Castle, shortly after being overthrown and imprisoned by his wife, Isabella of France (who was sometimes described as The She-Wolf of France), and English nobleman Roger Mortimer.
The amazing fan vault designs on the ceilings of the cloisters at Gloucester are the earliest surviving examples of this type, and date to between 1351 and 1377. They were designed by Thomas of Canterbury. The cloisters also doubled as the halls of Hogwarts Castle in many of the Harry Potter films : )
