A Visit To Salisbury Cathedral

It's taken me a bit of time to get this post done, and for that I apologise. I was going to write this when I got home last Monday, but given the news about my dear friend I am sure you can understand why I put it off. At any rate, last Monday (4th Nov), I took myself off for a morning in Salisbury. I have always loved Salisbury, and when I was younger I used to go to gigs at the arts centre there and the little pub named "The Winchester Gate". Of course, the history of the city is utterly fascinating, and I am in love with the cathedral.

So I hopped on a train and toddled off to Salisbury Cathedral. A building so full of history.

Briefly, the original cathedral was on the site of Old Sarum. I was planning on heading up there during my trip but couldn't really be bothered to walk the two miles through the city, or find a bus. Yes, I'm lazy. At any rate, there is a wonderful story that an archer stood upon Old Sarum and fired an arrow. Where the arrow landed it was decided the new cathedral would be built. The cathedral we see today was started in 1220, and the tower and spire were completed during the 1330's.

Random fact: If any of you have seen "Pillars of the Earth" you will recognise the front face. Simply, the cathedral in the show was based on Salisbury Cathedral.

Random fact No 2: David Oakes who plays William Hamleigh is from Salisbury, and his father works for Salisury cathedral.

Once I had rambled around the cathedral and visited the shop (I ALWAYS make sure I visit the shops in places like this, and picked up a Bernard Cornwell novel - he's my friend on Facebook. True story!) I made my over to the museum.

I was slightly disappointed to find that the archaeology sections were closed off due to a lot of work going on at the museum. However it was still nice to wander around this small museum. As I wandered around there were particular displays on dress throughout the years and as I wandered through that gallery? Christ, the dummies scared the hell out of me. There was also a display on ceramics. I had a wander through, paying particular attention to the older stuff i.e. the samian ware, as well as the medieval stuff. But as it got more modern I found myself growing bored and took myself for a wander elsewhere.

Little disappointed I didn't get to see the Amesbury archer...

This guy dates to the bronze age and was found near Stonehenge during a housing development. It's morbid, but I have a bit of a thing for human bones...

At any rate, I couldn't see him and a lot of the archaeological stuff. Still, the museum itself is a wonderful place and I recommend visiting. I brought a wonderful book from their shop on the archaeology of death and burial. Morbid reading, but incredibly interesting. 

In all, an interesting morning. A shame I couldn't stay longer, but I am planning on going back on my next day off to spend a whole day there looking back around the Cathedral, the museums in the close and heading up to Old Sarum. Keep your eyes peeled for further posts on Salisbury.