Lincoln Cathedral

... was once famous for its 160–metre spire, but it collapsed in 1548. I suppose you could say it was known for having once been the world's tallest building, but (according to Wikipedia) this is "doubted by some".

There are lots of other things that Lincoln Cathedral is famous for. Here are four:

•	it once held one of the four remaining copies of the original Magna Carta (now securely displayed in the nearby castle)
•	its imp (turned to stone by an angel, according to legend, after causing mayhem all over northern England)
•	Its two major rose windows – a highly uncommon feature among medieval architecture in England – known as the Dean's Eye and the Bishop's Eye
•	John Ruskin's description of it as "out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have."

If the claim of the 160–metre spire is true, Lincoln Cathedral was the world's tallest building from the completion of the spire in 1311 until its collapse in 1548. The next man–made structure to exceed its claimed height was the Washington Monument in Washington, DC – completed in 1884.