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| Tourist Information - Salisbury | |
Salisbury Cathedral is unique in Britain. Unlike its cousins, Salisbury did not evolve gradually over centuries, with constant additions and renovations. Rather, it was built nearly to completion within a single generation. As a result, it presents a unity of vision that is remarkable. Every year over 600,000 visitors come from all over the world to the Cathedral and Close, the largest and best preserved Cathedral Close in Britain. |
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The Cathedral was begun in 1220, and finished, with the exception of the tower and spire, in 1258. Constable painted it, and generations of artists with paintbrush or camera have attempted to capture its beauty rising above the water meadows of the River Avon. At 404 feet, it is the tallest spire in England, a fact known by most schoolchildren. |
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| What is not so well known is that the medieval; builders of the spire accomplished their masterpiece with foundations only 5 to 6 feet deep in the wet ground to take the strain of 6400 tonnes. Because of that wet ground, the cathedral has been subject to structural stress over the centuries. In 1668 Sir Christopher Wren was called on to survey the spire. |
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The Cathedral is more than the spire, however. An old saying records that there are as many pillars as there are hours in the year, and as many windows as there are days. Many of those pillars are made from beautiful, dark Purbeck Marble, which isn't actually marble but crystalline limestone, and isn't from Purbeck, but from Corfe Castle, Dorset. The cathedral library houses an original copy of the Magna Carta, brought here by the William Longpre, Earl of Salisbury and half-brother to King John. Longpre is buried in the cathedral, the first person so honoured. In the nave you can see what is probably the oldest working mechanical clock in the world, dating to 1386. There are no hands and no clock face; rather, it rings a chime of bells every hour. It was originally built to call the bishops to services. Just as there is more to the cathedral than the spire, so there is more to the city than the cathedral. A wide green space, The Close, surrounds the Cathedral. The Close, essentially a walled city within the city, is ringed by wonderful period houses. The most memorable houses in the Close are Mompesson House, a National Trust property finished in high Georgian style, and Malmesbury House, originally built in 1327, but later remodelled in Georgian fashion also. |
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