Jack, As XX has clearly stated these buildings were erected by the labour of "the people" the masons, the carpenters etc etc.

Nothing so very clear about it, Raggytash - it's just rhetoric, and quite inaccurate at that. These buildings were erected by highly skilled labourers and master of various guilds in direct employ of the Church and it does us good to remember their artistry & cough up a miserly fee in the hope it's directed to the upkeep so that future generations may enjoy it too. Am I remembering that it costs somewhere in the region of £20,000 a week just to keep York Minster warm & dry?

This is hardly Folk Art we're talking about here, despite some cunning flourishes on the vernacular of the time, theological & otherwise. For £10 quid you're getting access to the enduring legacy of human ingenuity however ill-founded or mis-directed, but the same might be said of the Pyramids or Stonehenge or my humble old Victorian terraced house or the M6. So I happily pay my tenner for a few hour's time-travelling whilst seeking out the devil that endures in the details of the centuries.

I'm an atheist so God really has nothing to do with it.