Maps & Background Information : Salisbury

• Dorset
• Bournemouth
• Corfe Castle
• Isle of Purbeck
• Jurassic Coast

• Neolithic England
• Round & Long Barrows
• Salisbury
• Stonehenge
• The New Forest

The bustling Wiltshire city of Salisbury is one of the most historically important in Britain. Its age and relatively small size make it a great place to wander around on foot: medieval history shoulder to shoulder with modern commerce.

A View from a Hill! As you approach Salisbury from the north a strangely shaped hill is apparent. Flat topped and angular, this is Old Sarum, the original site of the city of Salisbury. Evidence suggests that it has been inhabited for at least 5000 years. The Romans recognised the value of the high hill on the edge of Salisbury Plain, the spectacular view from the top gives Old Sarum great strategic value. The Normans carried on this tradition, fortifying the hill with stone walls, a castle and, soon after, the first Salisbury Cathedral. This period of civil and ecclesiastical harmony was not to last and in 1219 the Bishop of Salisbury ordered the construction of a new cathedral on the banks of the river Avon and the foundation of the new city of Salisbury. The site of Old Sarum slowly fell into disuse although a market continued to be held there for many years after.

A Spire to aspire to! Salisbury’s skyline is dominated by its cathedral. Rising elegantly above the city, it is the tallest cathedral spire in the U.K. and was completed in around 1330, a later addition to the original building. As well as the spire, Salisbury Cathedral is famed for possessing one of the last four surviving copies of the Magna Carta and for its clock, certainly the oldest mechanical clock in Great Britain and, maybe, the world. Surrounding the cathedral is the Close, a walled area of ancillary buildings, grass and trees. Only a few steps from the city centre, it's a great place to picnic and enjoy the ambience of the ancient buildings.