Explore Salisbury Cathedral and also see the best preserved copy of Magna Carta.
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Why visit Salisbury cathedral?
See a beautiful, gothic cathedral with the tallest spire in the country. The cathedral stands alone in its own beautiful grounds so that you can have an unimpeded view all the way around and even enjoy a picnic. The cathedral that John Constable loved to paint.
Go on a tower tour and climb stairs to over 200 feet above ground level.
Stroll around the biggest cloisters in Britain.
See a beautiful interior and, as it lacks an interior screen, you can see from one end to the other.
See the oldest working medieval clock in the world.
See the best preserved of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta, one of the most important documents in the world.
If you are there when the choir is rehearsing, you will experience mindfulness and be at peace with the world.
What is there to see at Salisbury cathedral?
Originally built in Old Sarum but the site became too congested and so a new cathedral was built in the newly created Salisbury, between 1220 and 1258.
Who are all these people?
The front of the cathedral is decorated with numerous statues, some medieval but some more modern. I have picked out a few but in the guide book every statue is named in a double page spread.
King David, king of the Jews with his harp. In the Old Testament of the Bible, in the book of Samuel, “an evil spirit from the Lord continuously annoyed and upset, King Saul of Israel”. Apparently, music was believed to have healing qualities and so Saul summoned David, a notable player of the harp, to play for him and soothe his mind. David was so successful that he became very popular and aroused Saul’s jealousy to the extent that he tried to kill David! David managed to flee and eventually succeeded Saul as King of Israel.
Moses carrying the Ten Commandments. Moses was a highly important man/prophet in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. He led the Jews out of Egypt and across the Red Sea to safety in the new promised land. In the process he went up Mt Sinai and God gave him 10 rules, the Ten Commandments which Jews and Christians still follow today.
Abraham. In the part of the Bible called Genesis, Abraham was told by God to create a new nation in Canaan. God tested his faith and Abraham succeeded. Abraham’s children all become prominent people and from them come the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the so called Abrahamic religions.
St Peter with some keys. The Bible states that Jesus gave Peter the keys to heaven. Catholics also see the keys as a symbol of the Pope’s authority and the main church being St Peter’s basilica in Rome. (St Peter is traditionally considered to be the first pope).
St Nicholas with three golden balls and a staff. In secular terms, he is Santa Claus or Father Christmas. In his story, he rescued poor maidens from being sold into slavery. He threw golden balls through a window to save them with the balls landing in the stockings that had been left by the fire to dry. Oranges at Christmas time are said to represent the balls and candy canes are said to represent his staff or “crozier”. St Nicholas gave his gifts secretly and hence Santa Claus delivers his gifts secretly.
St George with a dragon. Patron saint of England and many other places in Europe. His reputation is based on killing a dragon that demanded human sacrifices.
St Osmond. He was the second bishop of the original Salisbury Cathedral when it was based in Old Sarum. He finished the building work only to see it struck by lightning and badly damaged by fire. Look out for his tomb at the far end of the cathedral.
King Henry III. King of England when the new cathedral that you see today was built. Note the tower and spire were added later , 1310-30.
In the photo above;
9. Noah. The Bible states that the time when the world was full of wicked people, God told Noah to build an ark to save himself and loads of animals from the flood waters that he was going to send. Noah was mocked by people thinking he was crazy but the flood came, Noah and his family were saved along with examples of all known animals. all the wicked people drowned and so all humans are descendants of Noah.
10. St Thomas of Canterbury. Famous for falling out with his old friend King Henry ll, after being made Archbishop of Canterbury, who called out in rage”will no-one rid me of this turbulent/troublesome priest”, to which four knights carried out the murder.
11. St Edmund the Martyr. He was Christian king of East Anglia in 855AD and was executed by the heathen Vikings for refusing to renounce God. Pictures were painted of him being tied to a tree by the Vikings and then having loads of arrows shot at him!
The photo above and the two below are photos of Salisbury’s cloisters, the largest in England 198 feet (59 m) square. These are 18 feet wide (5.5m) and were designed for processions as well as a place for reading. Salisbury has an impressive library for relaxation.
A fantastic view of the nave. In the centre you can see the font where people are baptised. This is relatively new, 2008 and is an amazing running water feature. When the Archbishop of Canterbury consecrated the font he made the sign of the cross on each side having dipped his fingers in holy oil. If you look carefully, you can still see those rather faint crosses.
As you move along the nave, on the left hand side you will be able to see the oldest working mechanical medieval clock (1386 AD). Unlike our clocks today, there is no clock face but the time is told through it chiming every hour.
Meet a knight who took part in in two of the greatest English victories
Moving around the cathedral you will come across some interesting effigies. Above is Sir John De Montacute who fought in two successful battles against The French in what is known as “The Hundred Years’ War. (Fighting did not take place for the entire 100 years, but was on and off during that period). Montacute was present at the famous Battle of Crecy, in August 1346, in which the English long bowmen played a vital role in defeating a much larger French army. He also participated under the leadership of Edward III’s son, The Black Prince, in the Battle of Poitiers in September 1356, where again, the long bowmen played a decisive role in again defeating a larger French army. This time, the French King, King John, was captured along with his youngest son. Montacute would have witnessed 2000 longbow men firing at least at a rate of 10 arrows a minute at the French. A simple calculation shows that if they all fired together 20 000 arrows were in the sky heading for the French every minute, an awesome sight for the English but a horrific sight for the French unable to dodge them.
The effigy used to thought to be William Longespee, the Younger, however, now he is known as an unknown knight because his armour comes from the wrong period. Longspee died in 1250 on the seventh Crusade but armour here is from a hundred years later!
Meet a knight who may have been mysteriously murdered!
Above. The effigy of William Longspee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and half brother of King John, often considered to be the worst ever king of England. Although King John lost several battles and as a consequence, Normandy, Longspee has a reputation of being a great warrior. There is a mystery surrounding his death after a dead rat was found in his skull when the tomb was opened in 1719 (see the insert at the bottom right). The rat had apparently died of arsenic poisoning and therefore some people have concluded that it must have eaten some of Longspee to have been poisoned. The conclusion being that Longspee was poisoned with arsenic. but by who? William’s last meal was with the very powerful Hubert de Burgh a man not avert to poisoning someone. Hubert de Burgh was given important governmental jobs by King John and later, when John died, by Henry III (John’s young son). He therefore had plenty of enemies and rivals. Others have suggested that the rat might have been poisoned before he got in the tomb and Longspee had died after being shipwrecked.
Just before King John died, he had renounced Magna Carta and the barons began fighting once more. This time they got the support of the heir to the French throne, Prince Louis, and even Longspee now deserted his brother to support the rebel barons and the French claimant to the English throne! This all came to a swift end when on John’s death, his son Henry III came to the throne and was helped by the legendary and powerful knight, William Marshall.
Go searching for the mysterious “Green Man “.
Above. The ceiling at the central crossing under the tower.
Below. I have zoomed in on one boss which is a “Green Man”. A Green man is usually seen as a human head with vegetation coming out him, or surrounding him or sometimes covering him. No-one knows what he stands for but it has been suggested that he stands for fertility whilst others say he stands for the closeness of humans to nature. Further theories suggest that he is a symbol of fertility and /or he symbolises the cycle of life, death and rebirth, a possible a pagan symbol that heralds the coming of Spring and lush vegetation growth after a deciduous, dark, winter.
In the photo below there is to many, a Green Man who looks like Santa Claus/Father Christmas with his red and white hat. Looking for it may give you neck strain but you will get a sense of achievement when you discover it. Feel free to ask one of the many volunteer guides to show you. They are very keen to help and are lovely people. There is a very good wooden green man in the quire (choir) stalls but when I visited, Covid restrictions meant that whole area was unfortunately closed.
Below are 2 photos showing a Green Man in the “Morning Chapel”.
Below. This is a close up of a Green Man from a collection of three in the “South Transept”.
Below is the Audley Chapel. Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions it was not open when I visited but as you can see from this photo, it has some beautiful stonework outside and some exquisite stonework including fan vaulting, inside. If you look up you can see red Tudor Roses representing Henry VIII and pomegranates representing Katherine of Aragon. Pomegranates are full of seeds and represents fertility, ie an emblem that means Katherine is very fertile and will provide Henry with children including at least one male heir and preferably two. The old phrase for this was an heir and a spare, note Henry was the spare and only became heir when his elder bother, Arthur died) If you like Tudor emblems look at my blogs on Hampton Court, The Vine and Ightham Mote.
Like all cathedrals, Salisbury has some beautiful stained glass windows both old and new. Below are 4 photos of some of them.
Above. The tomb of St Osmund. He is also featured outside at the front. He is number 7 in my photo. The circular holes in the tomb are for people to reach in and touch the inner part of the tomb, to get closer to St Edmund and no doubt get his help or forgiveness.
“There is more to this than at first, meets the eye”. Dig a little deeper and you get, royal intrigue, three secret marriages and imprisonment in the “Tower”!
Above is the tomb of The first Earl of Hertford, Edward Seymour and the first of his three wives Lady Catherine Grey. They have fascinating stories to tell.
Edward Seymour was the son of Edward Seymour, the former Protector, when King Edward was a minor ie a “regent” or adult who looked after the government whilst Edward was too young to understand government and politics.
Lady Catherine Grey was Lady Jane Grey’s sister, the lady who was queen for nine days when the Protestant King Edward VI died. Key advisers to the king did not want Catholic Mary on the throne because she would return the whole country to Catholicism. They therefore, made sure that before he died, Edward nominated Jane as his successor going against Henry’s Act of Succession of 1544, that proclaimed Princess Mary was next in line. Jane’s claim was that she was Henry VII’s great grand daughter. After just nine days as queen, Jane was overthrown and executed.
Lady Jane Grey. Image from the National Portrait Gallery
Lady Catherine Grey also had a similar claim to the throne being another of Henry VII’s great grand daughters and so needed royal permission to marry. In 1560 she married Edward Seymour, the first Earl of Hertford but in secret and without the permission of the new queen, Elizabeth I. She was after all , a rival claimant to Elizabeth’s throne, a distant claim but still a claim and so Elizabeth wanted to keep control of her rival. They had tried to keep their marriage a secret but when Catherine was pregnant, the secret got out. Their marriage would give Elizabeth some concern over future rivalry and so her response was to place both of them in the Tower of London. Edward was fined £15 000, a huge sum of money in those days for “seducing a virgin of the blood royal”. Whilst they were imprisoned in the Tower, they were able to produce a second son but Elizabeth declared that both sons were illegitimate.
Queen Elizabeth I, a formidable lady.
Sadly Catherine died in 1568 . Edward was now released and he got back in Elizabeth’s “good books”. In 1582 he secretly married Frances Howard and this time, he managed to keep this relationship secret for 10 years. By 1595, Edward wanted to end his second marriage and attempt to get his sons legitimised. Once more he was arrested.
Frances died in 1598 and so, in 1601, Edward got married in secret for the third time, this time to a wealthy widow, Frances Pranell who was 40 years younger. Oddly, her maiden name was Francess Howard too!
Edward died in 1621 but his grandson continued in his grandfather’s footsteps by marrying secretly, Arbella Stuart, another lady with royal blood and ending up being imprisoned!
The Chapter House
Your last port of call will be the amazing octagonal Chapter House. It was built in the mid 13th century as an area where officials sat down and discussed points of business etc. As you walk in and look up you are presented with this beautiful vaulted ceiling. As your eyes lower they come across a wonderful medieval frieze based on Bible stories that goes all away around the building. It is like a biblical comic strip that shows key episodes from the Bible that have been skilfully carved in stone.
Below. Shown in this part of the frieze are Adam the first man and Eve the first woman in the Garden of Eden. Eve, was encouraged by the serpent coiled around a tree, to offer Adam the apple from the forbidden “Tree of knowledge”. They now get greater knowledge but also negative ideas of shame and evil. Interestingly, in this version Eve was the first one to disobey God and got Adam to follow but in the Islamic version of the story, they are equally guilty. Note the wonderful head sculpted under the scene.
Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and from then on things “go downhill” to the extent that God decides to destroy the world including all the people except for the righteous Noah and his sons. In the scene below, God has told Noah to build an ark and Noah faithfully builds it.
Below. God sends the great flood and living thing not on the ark is killed. In the windows you can see all the saved creatures.
The best preserved copy of Magna Carta
The copy of Magna Carta is on show in a small tent feature to keep light from destroying this highly important document. No photos are allowed and so I purchased a mouse mat of Magna Carta and here it is. Salisbury’s copy does not have all the images of shields around it and is not titled Magna Carta in big letters. Its original name was, “The Charter of Liberties”. Online, a copy can be purchased for quite a lot of money but it is not very clear and has a reflection of four ceiling lights on the glass covering the document. (Not even removed with Photoshop!)
What is Magna Carta and why is it significant? (the story of Magna Carta)
King Richard the Lionheart fought in the Crusades in the “Holy Land “ to “liberate” Jerusalem and the surrounding area from Islamic rule. In the process, he needed a vast amount of money from the English people to pay for his campaigns. In England his brother John had to raise taxes to pay for these adventures and a ransom when Richard was captured and held hostage. When Richard died, the countries finances were still in a bad way and John exploited the situation further using what ever means he could dream up. John was defeated in France and lost Normandy, held since the time of William the Conqueror. To win Normandy back, John waged expensive and fruitless wars. Barons in England objected to John’s measures but John simply carried on. It all came to a head with the barons rising up against the king and in 1215, John was forced by the barons to stop continuing what the believed were illegal and tyrannical practices.
An unknown artists impression of King John’s seal on Magna Carta
Several clauses of the “Great Charter are still important today eg “No free man shall be seized or imprisoned , or stripped of his possessions except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land”. In Britain today, if a person is arrested and no court proceedings take place, the arrested person’s lawyer can ask for a “writ of Habeus Corpus “ and their client will be immediately released. John would arrest whoever he wanted, and even hold people hostage, until money had been handed over by the family of the hostage as he demanded. John would use his laws to get money from people or refuse justice until they had paid a substantial sum.
John charged and raised taxes as he pleased. All kings did, but John did it excessively. Magna Carta stopped this so that representatives of the people had to give consent. The charter barely lasted 10 weeks with John making a deal with the Pope whereby he was allowed to ignore it. The truce ended ended and war began once more.
Why is Magna Carta important?
Kings after King John have agreed to later versions of Magna Carta and its principles of freedom from arbitrary arrest and no tax rises without the people’s consent in some form are still valid today. One of the reasons for the English Civil War was that Charles I was arbitrarily raising taxes, he asked for “Ship Money” an ancient tax on coastal towns during war time but he asked everyone to pay the tax and England was not in a war. Furthermore, he tried to imprison anyone who refused to pay and he even attempted to arrest 5 MPs sitting in the House of Commons without getting any courts or judges involved.
In the USA, colonists opposing the British crown quoted Magna Carta, shouting no taxation without representation. Magna Carta strongly influenced the The American Constitution and several states’ constitutions. 1791 Bill of Rights cites Magna Carta and it has been quoted for legal purposes in the USA ever since.
Essential information
Getting there
Driving:
Salisbury lies on the intersection of the A30, the A36 and the A338 and is at the end of the A343, A345, A354 and A360. If you are using a GPS to navigate, the Cathedral’s postcode is SP1 2EJ. From London, take the M3 then the A303 and the A345, approximately a 1½ - 2 hour drive.
From the Cathedral website. Limited parking is available within the Cathedral Close at a fixed cost of £7.00 for the whole day (this includes disabled car park spaces) you will also receive a voucher for a free cup of tea or coffee from our Refectory Restaurant and 10% off in the Cathedral shop. The Cathedral Close is private land and we use revenue from our parking fees to upkeep the roads. If you are visiting for a shorter period of time you will find the park and ride sites (currently free to park) or city centre car parks more economical.
The closest parking to the Cathedral Close is at the Old George Mall and Lush House car park. The Central car park is a 10-minute level walk away. Alternatively use one of the five Park and Ride sites.
From London
Day trips from London are run by Evan Evans, Golden Tours and Premium Tours.
Bus or Coach
Salisbury has regular bus services from Southampton, Bournemouth, Ringwood, Swindon, Marlborough, Andover and Amesbury as well as coach services from Bath, Oxford, Brighton, Bristol and Cambridge.
Train
Two main rail routes intersect at Salisbury so getting here by train from London, Bath and the West Country is easy. The Cathedral is less than a 10-minute level walk from the station.
Southern Railway operate direct trains from London Waterloo to Salisbury (journey time 90 minutes).
First Great Western run routes from Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, Portsmouth and Southampton.
For train timetables visit the National Rail website.
Make a day of it.
Two exciting things to see to add to the Cathedral.
A 10 minute walk from the Cathedral is St Thomas’s church with its stunning “Doom painting”. Click here to go to my blog on the painting.
2. Visit the amazing Stonehenge which is only 9.5 miles away and about a 25 minute drive.
Tickets
All tickets are valid for repeat visits to the Cathedral for 12 months from the date of purchase.
This information is correct for June and most of July under Covid restrictions. The restrictions may well ease after July 19th 2021.
In line with goverment regulations all bookings are restricted to 6 people or 2 households in total. Face coverings are required throughout the Cathedral and Cloisters, unless you are exempt.
Please ensure you are ready to use the NHS Test and Trace app to check in when you arrive - it is available to download from the Google Play store here and Apple store here.
To find out what to expect when you come, please visit our frequently asked questions
Adults£8 advance, £9 on the dayStudents (13-18 years)£5 advance, £6 on the dayChildren under 13FreeResidents in SP1, SP2 and LaverstockFree (with proof of residence)
Monday to Saturday: There are bookable entry slots every 30 minutes from 10:00 to 15:00. You can enter up to 30 minutes after your time slot. The latest you will be able to enter the Cathedral is 15.30pm and all visitors will need to leave by 16:00.
We offer different ticket packages for varying group sizes - you may need a combination of tickets for your party.
All tickets qualify for a free annual visitor pass once purchased. This will enable you to return for free (in the same group) for a year.
When the purchase is complete, you will be sent one document which contains one ticket for each member of your group.
It will also contain your annual pass with your “Annual Pass Number” which you will need for booking further visits
Book tickets here or go to the main Cathedral website https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk
Coffee and toilets Salisbury Cathedral has both and a shop.
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