Salisbury Cathedral Reviews (Salisbury, England)

The World's Greatest Cathedral

Northampton, United Kingdom

June 13, 2010

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Best of IgoUgo Salisbury Cathedral has been important to me for as long as I can remember. As a small child I played in the Cathedral Close whilst my mother was at the college nearby. When I foolishly (and unhindered by even the teensiest bit of talent) started to ...Read more Salisbury Cathedral has been important to me for as long as I can remember. As a small child I played in the Cathedral Close whilst my mother was at the college nearby. When I foolishly (and unhindered by even the teensiest bit of talent) started to take clarinet lessons at the age of 8, I used to walk through the Close every Saturday morning to get to my lessons. At school we took frequent trips to the cathedral, walking in crocodile through the town with clipboards and worksheets under our arms to spend an hour or two messing around in the city’s holiest building. I played in concerts in the cathedral as part of the school orchestra, sitting awestruck under the mighty pillars that support the spire, normally so distracted that I forgot to follow the music and just joined in when it felt ‘more or less right’ or miming when I was totally lost. My school had Christmas carol services there and we’d file in past the enormous Christmas tree that was covered in decorations, to sit on cold seats and sing along with the organ. At 16 we were told to do two weeks ‘work experience’ and for some bizarre reason that I no longer recall, I volunteered in the cathedral shop and cafeteria, learning from the guides where many of the weirdest and most unusual parts of the cathedral were hidden away. I forget the precise location now but I used to know where to find the memorial stone of the child who died before it was born – a puzzle that one of the guides kept dangling for many days before finally revealing*. In the summer between leaving school and starting university, and then again the summer after, I escaped from my holiday job in town to have my lunch in cathedral close every day, a great way to escape the claustrophobic staff room and get a daily dose of my favourite building.

When I moved away I never forgot my cathedral – it is MINE you see, in every possible sense this building is in my DNA. Every time I approach the city my spirits are lifted by the sight of the spire. Every time I go to the city I have to go back – not necessarily to go inside, but if the doors are open, I can’t resist. My parents moved into the city a few years back, living less than five minutes walk from the cathedral. On our last few visits we’ve been in the Close at least two or three times every day – usually with my camera in my bag because there’s always a new angle to find or something I’ve not noticed before. At Christmas some friends from Philadelphia were in London and we persuaded them out to Salisbury, tempting them with a visit to Stonehenge first (it’s over-rated, honestly!) and then off the Cathedral for afternoon tea and the Magna Carta.

Everybody who lives or has ever lived in Salisbury considers themselves an expert on the beautiful, grey giant at the heart of the city – we all have our favourite bits and the bits we think that nobody else knows. And every one of us swears there’s no other religious building in the world that compares to our home cathedral. I know where to find the brass rubbing with the rabbits and I have my favourite tombs I like to show people. I can never resist the shock factor of taking people through the Cloisters to the Chapter House to see the best remaining original copy of Magna Carta. My American friends nearly fell over with shock. From the outside I have my favourite angles – especially from the east end where hardly anyone ever goes, most being lured in by the brash show-off West facade and missing the stepped profile of the Eastern end but if I show you the West facade I’ll point you towards the newest of the statues of an African bishop who was added only a couple of years ago.

Many years ago as part of a city festival my parents booked tickets for our family to go up the tower. You can’t – sadly or not so sadly depending on your head for heights – go up inside the spire but you can get to the top of the tower up a network of wooden staircases. Stop and look at the medieval graffiti left by workmen who built the tower and spire as well as the views.
Legend has it that the location of the cathedral was defined by an arrow fired by the town’s finest bowman from high up on the hill at Old Sarum, the old Roman hill fort that was home to the Norman Cathedral whose ruins can still be visited. Frankly it’s nonsense. Unless the arrow were magically caught by a passing eagle and flown down to the site of the cathedral, there’s no wind on earth that could have taken an arrow so far. But that doesn’t matter – it’s just a nice story.

Construction started in 1220 and was never going to be a straightforward job. The site is on a water meadow so building a massive building on unstable land was always going to be challenging but just 38 years later it was consecrated and opened for business making it one of the most effective building programmes in history. The cloisters and chapter house were finished later and work on the tower and spire – the highest in the country and the tallest 14th Century structure in the world – wasn’t finished until 1330. Work on a building this big and this old is never finished and every time you visit there’s scaffolding up somewhere. The spire was covered for many years, then the West Front was hidden for many more. At the moment the section being worked on is one of the less photo-critical so you can still get lots of great pictures just by choosing your angles.

Most visitors will enter either through the doors in the West end of the cathedral – if the ticket booth is closed, this is the route in. In high season you usually have to enter through the door to the side of the West front you’ll still find yourself stepping into the nave at the west end. Be prepared to gasp when you see the height of the nave, the tall pillars and the simple grey stone of the building. If like me you tend to go clockwise round buildings, one of the first highlights you’ll reach is the clock. Admittedly it doesn’t LOOK much like a modern day clock but this is allegedly the oldest clock in the world that’s still in working order. It dates back to 1386 and never fails to impress. Heading down the left side of the nave take a look at the tombs you pass and check out the stained glass windows – my favourite is the one dedicated to the armed forces. At the end of the long arm of the nave you’ll reach the beautiful wooden pulpit. Head to the middle of the room and if it’s open, walk up the centre through the choir stalls, all of them in ornate carved wood. Turn back and carry on down the left size, checking out the displays in the south transept before heading east past several small family chapels. At the east end admire the deep blue stained glass windows which I still think of as ‘new’ but they’ve been there since the 1970s. Walking back down the right side one of my favourite tombs is the Mompesson Tomb with a wealthy man and his wife lying side by side in a brightly painted tomb. Nearby are statues of bishops in their finery. Most visitors won’t get into the room where the clerical vestments are stored but this is in this part of the cathedral and is where we used to prepare for performances in the cathedral. On the North transept are a couple more small chapels and this is where you’ll find the door to the cloisters, one of my favourite parts of the building. The grass in the garden in the middle of the cloisters has been a disgrace the last few times I’ve been but it’s still a lovely spot and a good place to catch some great shots of the spire. The chapter house is home to the Magna Carta and has a stunning Minton tiled floor. Back into the cloisters and a stop in the cafe for a well deserved drink and views of the spire through the glass roof.

The secret of the child who died before it was born lies in the dates –it was born days before the change from Julian to Gregorian calendars in 1582. The date of death in the new system was earlier than the date of birth in the old. Close

From journal Salisbury Highlights

Salisbury Cathedral: The Chapter House/Magna Carta

by stomps

Houston, Texas

July 1, 2007

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Best of IgoUgo While many may praise the Chapter House, built at the same time as the cloisters and finished in 1284, for being a most delicately beautiful, light-filled, fan ceilinged, octagonal chapter house (now that's a mouthful of adjectives), its main points ...Read more While many may praise the Chapter House, built at the same time as the cloisters and finished in 1284, for being a most delicately beautiful, light-filled, fan ceilinged, octagonal chapter house (now that's a mouthful of adjectives), its main points of interest are the historical relics that it contains.

The most important of these relics is one of four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. It sits in a case on the opposite side of the huge room designed after the Chapter House at Westminster Abbey. One word of warning: while pictures are allowed in all other parts of the cathedral, neither these nor videos are allowed here, even without flash.

The Magna Carta was a charter signed by King John in 1215 and was a predecessor to such documents as the American Bill of Rights. It came about because many English barons felt that the king was abusing his power and captured the city of London in June of that year; these barons then forced the king to sign the "Articles of the Barons" in a meeting at the meadow of Runnymeade. No one knows quite how many copies of this document were made to send to the various barons and other high-ranking officials, but as I've stated above, it is known that only four still exist, and none that bear the royal seal.

The charter was supposed to limit his rights and make him respect the law. However, throughout the Middle Ages, it did not quite serve this function, and by the 1800s, the majority of the charter was no longer part of British law. In fact, King John had the charter revoked as soon as the angry barons left, and the Pope even renounced it, saying it was "a shameful and demeaning agreement, forced upon the king by violence and fear." Luckily, the Bill of Rights has had a slightly better fate!

The guide standing next to the case holding the charter, written on vellum, was very knowledgeable and answered everyone's questions about the charter and its origins. More people than I ran into in the entire cathedral seemed to be crowded around the case, politely jostling for a look at the charter. It did take quite a close look to actually read the charter, since it was written in tiny, perfect hand.

Many people stopped to look at the many other relics in the Chapter House, but I didn't dilly-dally too much longer after seeing the Magna Carta, being a bit tired from a long day of touring. You could definitely spend more time than I did in there though, especially if you are a history buff. Close

From journal Historic Villages and Cathedrals of Wiltshire

Salisbury Cathedral: The Cloisters

by stomps

Houston, Texas

July 1, 2007

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Best of IgoUgo The Cloisters were one of the later additions to the cathedral and were finished around 1284; Salisbury Cathedral propaganda touts them as the largest cloisters in Britain. I'm no cloisters expert, but they did seem to be a good size. I noticed that ...Read more

From journal Historic Villages and Cathedrals of Wiltshire

Salisbury Cathedral: The Prisoners of Conscience

by stomps

Houston, Texas

July 1, 2007

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Best of IgoUgo Clearly the most distinct stained glass in Salisbury Cathedral, the Prisoners of Conscience windows are set in the walls behind the High Altar and immediately catch your attention as you walk into the cathedral near the West Front, 449 feet away. ...Read more Clearly the most distinct stained glass in Salisbury Cathedral, the Prisoners of Conscience windows are set in the walls behind the High Altar and immediately catch your attention as you walk into the cathedral near the West Front, 449 feet away. Their blazing sapphire pulled my attention away from the tall vaulted ceilings and everything else in my path; my eyes just seemed to naturally fixate on the brilliant blue light. As I got closer, the windows only became more fascinating, and they managed to work their way into nearly all of my pictures of the nave and Quire.

These windows are a modern splash in the oldest part of the cathedral, the Trinity Chapel, and area recent replacement for stained glass blown out in World War II. The Prisoners of Conscience windows are very distinct from any other stained glass windows I have ever seen, not only because of their vibrant color but because of the people depicted in the windows' scenes. These bodiless people had the most expressive eyes; many of them looked serene, while others seemed to be in deep distress. Central of these prisoners was Jesus himself, who was depicted, from what I could tell, many times on the window. The central vision is of Christ, the original prisoner of conscience, on the cross.

Sitting below the windows in the center of the chapel was a large stone slab marking a tomb, which was surrounded in lit candles.

The High Altar is outside the Trinity Chapel itself and is best seen from within the Quire. You cannot walk right up to the altar, which is situated at the top of some stairs some distance behind a metal guardrail, but you can stand and admire it. The cloth (at least, I think that's what it was, even though it definitely looked painted) that covered the altar was a swirl of much paler blues than those in the window just behind it. A golden cross stood out in the center of the whirlpool of white, cerulean, sky blue, and steel blue. The archway and windows behind and the Gothic ceilings above made a perfect frame for the altar.

The entire time that I was in the Quire, exploring the fine 16th century woodwork, I felt like the little German children that had wreaked so much havoc at the Sibirica Minor Font had found the cathedral's organ. Named the "Father Willis Organ" and built in 1877, I didn't think that children would be allowed anywhere near it (and besides that, I could see the little German girls attempting to crawl under the barrier between the Quire and the High Altar), but it certainly sounded like someone was haphazardly banging on the keys. I wouldn't have been surprised to hear "Chopsticks"! It carried on for so long that it became part of the cathedral and it took me a few minutes to realize when whoever it was had stopped playing! Close

From journal Historic Villages and Cathedrals of Wiltshire

Salisbury Cathedral: The Medieval Clock & The Nave

by stomps

Houston, Texas

July 1, 2007

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Best of IgoUgo I actually missed the Medieval Clock on my first pass through the cathedral. Instead of taking the recommended route, which leads to the left of the nave, I walked up the center to the Sibirica Minor Font, which I have described in another review. I ...Read more I actually missed the Medieval Clock on my first pass through the cathedral. Instead of taking the recommended route, which leads to the left of the nave, I walked up the center to the Sibirica Minor Font, which I have described in another review. I suppose I was so fascinated by it, so amused by the girl baptizing her umbrella in it, and so taken by the extraordinary expanse of the cathedral that I headed straight towards the Quire and completely skipped the clock.

Even though it is not hugely exciting, I still wanted to see the oldest working clock in Europe, so when a kind man handed me his extra brochure (which I seemed to have missed getting at the front entrance) and I saw that it was behind me, I retraced my steps and found the ancient contraption.

The clock had no face, being constructed no later than 1386 to simply toll each hour. It was a strange contraption of ropes, metal bars, and weights that I could not even begin to explain with my rudimentary knowledge of physics. It was slowly ticking away though, which after 625 years is not a bad accomplishment at all.

The clock sits to the left of the nave (when seen from the entrance at the West Front) near a miniature of the Cathedral. It used to have its own bell tower, but that was demolished in the late 1700s, so it is now just a showpiece.

I have already mentioned the nave in my West Front & The Font review, but it is worth mentioning again, being so gargantuan yet seeming so much more friendly than your average cathedral. The nave was brightly lit, courtesy of the Gothic lancet windows above the archways on each side of it. When I say brightly lit, I mean more than your average, dark and gloomy large church that makes you feel sad and tired if you spend any period of time inside (although it is quite possible this was the goal of church in the Middle Ages), but the dismal day outside wasn't doing us any favors.

An amazing thing about this cathedral is the fact that the vast majority of it was built all in one go. Most cathedrals have bits and pieces added on throughout a long period of time, each with a slightly different character and design, but Salisbury was built mostly within the 30-year timespan preceding its consecration in 1258. This was a huge task to take on and it is admirable that the builders constructed such a marvel--and the best example of Early English Gothic architecture in the country--in such a short period of time. The later add-ons to the cathedral were the Cloisters and Chapter House--built in the late 1200s--and the huge tower and spire that were added in the 1300s, which severely taxes the original structure of the Cathedral and adds some 6000 tons of weight for the pillars below to support! Close

From journal Historic Villages and Cathedrals of Wiltshire

Salisbury Cathedral: The West Front & The Font

by stomps

Houston, Texas

July 1, 2007

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Best of IgoUgo After paying my "optional" entry fee into the cathedral (see the Overview for more information), I walked in to see a stunning sight. Stretching in front of me was the vast body of the cathedral, the Nave and Quire leading off to the horizon and the ...Read more After paying my "optional" entry fee into the cathedral (see the Overview for more information), I walked in to see a stunning sight. Stretching in front of me was the vast body of the cathedral, the Nave and Quire leading off to the horizon and the ceilings towering high above me. These ceilings were beautifully vaulted, yet not overdone; they were not decked out in the obscene ornateness of, say, the Chapel Royal in Hampton Court. While Salisbury Cathedral is huge and definitely makes a statement, it is clear that it was designed for worship, rather than the people that would be doing the worshiping.

The rows of plastic chairs filling the nave were only broken to make way for the Sibirica Minor Font in the center. This Font is actually a water sculpture designed by William Pye which is on loan to the cathedral. The first thing that struck me about the font was exactly what Pye himself said about it. He said, "The sculpture captures two states of water in one piece, contrasting its still reflective quality with the more animated overflowing spouts at each of the four corners." This is very true; the water in the font seemed to be completely still--so still that it perfectly reflected the ceilings and the stained glass of the cathedral in a way very difficult to capture on film. It was hard to believe that the cascading streams from each of its four corners could possibly be coming from such smooth water.

A sign near the font stated that the sculpture represented the "abundant grace of God given us in Baptism," and from what I understand, it has been used for quite a few baptisms since being installed in the cathedral in March, 2005. In fact, I was lucky enough to see a baptism while I was there, albeit, a slightly unconventional one. Two German women had two very unruly children that had obviously been kept inside most of the day due to rain; they were treating this house of God like it was a house of Ronald McDonald, climbing on anything they could. One little girl was armed with an umbrella, and when she saw the Font I swear she got a gleam in her eye before she ran up to it, popped open her umbrella, and stuck it underneath one of the falling streams of water. Not content that her umbrella had been fully baptized, she let it fill to the brims and overflow all over the stone floor of the nave. It was only then that the mother realized what was happening and ran over to whisk her away. Unfortunately, she didn't realize quite how much water her daughter had collected, and managed to soak both herself and the majority of the nave in the process. Needless to say, neither the mother nor the cathedral staff were very amused! Close

From journal Historic Villages and Cathedrals of Wiltshire

Tour Guide Entry Ten - William Longspee

by GB from Devizes

Devizes, United Kingdom

February 22, 2005

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William Longspee was half-brother to King John and served him well as a military commander, as well as a formidable statesman. He was among the advisors on the formulation of the Magna Carta and was responsible for bringing the cathedral's Magna ...Read more

From journal The Scintillating Jewel in Salisbury's Crown

Tour Guide Entry Nine - The Mompesson Tomb

by GB from Devizes

Devizes, United Kingdom

February 22, 2005

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Sir Richard Mompesson and his wife Catherine resided in The Close adjacent to the cathedral. He died in 1627 and was laid to rest within the cathedral alongside his wife. The figures are facing west instead of the usual east because the tomb was ...Read more

From journal The Scintillating Jewel in Salisbury's Crown

Tour Guide Entry Seven - The Chantry Chapel

by GB from Devizes

Devizes, United Kingdom

February 22, 2005

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The Chantry Chapel of Edmund Audley is dedicated to the bishop of that name who sat here from 1502 until 1524. It is built in the perpendicular style, with much of the original colouring remaining today. Notice also the fine fan tracery. The Virgin ...Read more

From journal The Scintillating Jewel in Salisbury's Crown

Tour guide entry six - The Morning Chapel

by GB from Devizes

Devizes, United Kingdom

February 22, 2005

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The chapel here is famous for the revolving glass prism engraved in 1985 by Laurence Whistler. It is protected by remains of the original 13th-century stone screen that separates the Quire and the Nave and was removed in 1790.

From journal The Scintillating Jewel in Salisbury's Crown

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Salisbury Cathedral

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The World's Greatest Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral: The Chapter House/Magna Carta

Salisbury Cathedral: The Cloisters

Salisbury Cathedral: The Prisoners of Conscience

Salisbury Cathedral: The Medieval Clock & The Nave

Salisbury Cathedral: The West Front & The Font

Tour Guide Entry Ten - William Longspee

Tour Guide Entry Nine - The Mompesson Tomb

Tour Guide Entry Seven - The Chantry Chapel

Tour guide entry six - The Morning Chapel

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The World's Greatest Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral: The Chapter House/Magna Carta

Salisbury Cathedral: The Cloisters

Salisbury Cathedral: The Prisoners of Conscience

Salisbury Cathedral: The Medieval Clock & The Nave

Salisbury Cathedral: The West Front & The Font

Tour Guide Entry Ten - William Longspee

Tour Guide Entry Nine - The Mompesson Tomb

Tour Guide Entry Seven - The Chantry Chapel

Tour guide entry six - The Morning Chapel