As you may remember janisj I have benefited from your advice regarding England, so I'm not disputing you. And I would take your advice over mine!

Just personally, I prefer a day trip to the Cotswold having been to both cities.

Medieval cathedrals in cities small enough to be partly defined by them:

Bury St Edmunds
Canterbury (it's utter bollocks to allege it has "very little on your list", and as a tourist you really can't be snobbish about others)
Carlisle
Chester
Chichester
Durham
Ely
Gloucester
Hereford
Lichfield
Lincoln
Norwich
Oxford (its nano-cathedral doesn't help define the city, though the college it's part of does. But there's no conventional cathedral close, so it doesn't feel like a real cathedral)
Peterborough
Ripon
Rochester
Salisbury
Southwell
St Albans
Wells
Winchester
Worcester
York

Of this list, only Ripon. Southwell and Wells don't have a station: Hereford and Carlisle are over 3 hrs by train from London

A couple of other towns with relatively huge medieval churches and a high density of pre-18th century architecture: Tewkesbury and Beverley, though both have accessibility probs.

I'd argue that Carlisle, Norwich, Oxford and Peterborough are just too busy to meet your underlying criteria. And some of our finest cathedrals - Salisbury, Gloucester and Worcester for example - are islands of wonder in seriously crap towns.

Which raise another point. Cathedral cities are almost invariably regional centres, with good train and road connections, large (by UK standards) universities and a tendency to be far more affluent than their hinterland. So they're mostly packed with shoppers, tourists, stag and hen parties, misbehaving students and an infinite range of other riffraff.

Ripon, Southwell, Wells and Beverley are much closer to the kind of place Trollope was writing about.

Red phone boxes are most easily found sheltering plastic gnomes in suburban gardens.

Haha - this cracked me up

'islands of wonder in seriously crap towns'

I tend to agree!

Yes, I laughed at that too.
And a small correction to Flanner's post - Bury St Edmunds might have a beautiful cathedral but it is a town and not a city.

Ely and Cambridge would be a good combination, and they are only minutes apart by train. Yes, Bury St Edmunds is a cathedral town, with an old abbey and timbered buildings in the centre. Well worth a diversion if you have the time.

Morgana - if it has a cathedral it is a city.

"Morgana - if it has a cathedral it is a city"

Nonsense. A myth that is regularly rolled out by people who don't live in England.

I can assure you that Bury St Edmunds (which is my home town by the way) DOES have a Cathedral but is NOT a city. It is a town.

"Seriouly crap towns" - I was certainly glad I stayed in Worcester and day tripped to Gloucester (and Hereford). I really liked Worcester, and it would meet the criteria except it is at least 2:15 from London. Pity the OP is only considering a day trip, otherwise there are a number of combinations that would work, like Bath and Wells.

Morgana - I may not live in England now, but I was born there, educated there, and worked there for a while, so the myth is not confined to foreigners.

A little checking online establishes that city status is a royal not a religious prerogative, and even that Bury St Edmunds was thinking of applying for it in 2010.

not to confuse tailsock...

Yes, city status is one that many places covet for various reasons, and apply for. New cities are being made/named all the while. But put as simply as I am able -

You can be a town WITH a Cathedral.

And you can be a city WITHOUT a Cathedral.

Holy roasted potatoes flanneruk! That's a healthy dollop of suggestions! thank you and to the others for your help. The more I think the more I'm probably thinking of more of a city than a town or village. A few years back I was looking at a guide book that had everything.. just can't remember which city it was but it could possibly be too far. I don't want to travel anymore than 2 hours by train.

I'll be looking at those suggestions tonight.

ttt

wow Peterborough and Nottingham have AMAZING city squares. The search continues...

ttt

Can't wait to hear your decision. I've been to York, Lincoln, Chester, Wells.. among others. The one that sticks in memory is Wells.

Warrington