Wow! Salisbury was awesome a very beautiful place. It’s a town of 40,000 people, so not a huge place. The town has an amazing Cathedral, the Avon river runs straight through the town and the town is full of great eateries and pubs.
After a wet arrival and full day of rain on Saturday, Sunday dawned clear and we set off first to check out Old Sarum, set high on a commanding ridge, first settled in the Iron Age in 500 BC and later by the Saxons and the Normans. First as a fort, then a castle, and at one time a royal palace, then the original Salisbury cathedral were built within the site. The site was once a great centre of the region. The first cathedral being wood only lasted 5 days and burnt to the ground when struck by lightening. It was rebuilt on the same site in stone. But after another new larger and far grander cathedral was built about 2 miles downhill and required lots of workers to build it, most of the people moved to the surrounds of the new site and Old Sarum was no longer needed and fell in disrepair.
Old Sarum
At the Pub
Salisbury
Cathedral
many years of work by stonemasons and expert craftsman to complete such an artwork.
Chapter House and Magna Carta
Oh and we also saw the Magna Carta document which is housed in the Chapter House section of the cathedral. This is the best preserved of only four surviving original parchments dating back to 1215 and is the only one on permanent display.
Unfortunately they don't allow photographs to the taken of the document.
