[johncalvinyoung]

Salisbury Cathedral (highest medieval spire surviving in the UK, at 404 feet!) was built on a floodplain close to the river, with shallow foundations only four feet deep. But the prior cathedral had been on a hilltop with much strife over access to water, and at least that would not be a problem at the new cathedral.

https://salisburycathedral.wordpress.com/the-spire/ is a glorious essay on the architecture of that spire.