But if the history of the see has its birth with Leofric, the story of the cathedral begins with the appointment in 1107 of Warelwast as bishop. This noteworthy man was a nephew of the Conqueror and chaplain to both William II and Henry I. Inheriting to the full the Norman passion for building, he pulled down the Saxon edifice and began to erect a great Norman cathedral in its stead. The transeptal towers attest the magnificence of his scheme. There is nothing quite like them anywhere else, though at Barcelona and Chalons-sur-Marne may be seen something similar. But they suffice to stamp him as an architect of exceptional genius. He laboured zealously in other matters, founding at Plympton a wealthy Augustinian priory; he also represented the king at Rome in his famous quarrel with Anselm. It is said that he became blind and died, an old man, at his priory of Plympton.
The next important date to notice is 1194, when Henry Marshall, brother of Walter Earl Marshall, was made bishop. For two years the episcopal throne had remained empty, the king being absent from England in the Holy Land. But with the appointment of Marshall a most important stage is reached. King John gave to the see the tithes of the tin in Devonshire and Cornwall. This must have largely increased the episcopal income, for Marshall quickly set about completing the work Warelwast had begun a hundred years before. To this end he granted the emoluments of St. Erth's Church, near Hayle, Cornwall, to be used towards defraying the cost of repairs. He also called upon each householder to show his interest in the work by subscribing, at Pentecost, an alms of "unum obolum ad minim." For the sufficient remuneration of the choral vicars he made over to them the church of St. Swithun in Woodbury, "with all its appurtenances."
To Marshall we owe extensive additions to the nave, the north porch, and the cloister doorway. He completed the Norman church begun by Warelwast, but there is no evidence that he extended to the eastward, as is sometimes stated. The position of the tomb in the "founder's place" on the north side of the choir indicates that it terminated only a few yards farther to the east. Beyond there must have been an open space between the Norman and the old Saxon cathedrals.