Visited: Feb 2019
I took a day trip to Salisbury. The highlights are the cathedral, a charming little down and some museums. There may be more but I had only 6 hours there. Here's a quick recount!
Like many small(ish) towns in England, Salisbury packs a punch for its size. Salisbury is situation 2 miles or so south (as defined by the cathedral location) of its original location at Old Sarum. I will not get into Old Sarum and its history aside from saying it played an important role for the Normans during their conquest and it's an English Heritage sight! Join the bloody English Heritage already it's brilliant! It even works now in Ireland (and somewhat in Scotland) - go figure.
The old part of town of town which nestles between the River Avon and some old walls and gates is quite typical of what I've seen in other English towns - cobblestone roads, old buildings and bridges, and modern chain retail stores and restaurants. Despite the modern shops it still certainly has its charm.
I arrived around noon via a direct train from Waterloo. Like all other stations Waterloo is chaos during rush hour so I was happy to have a train that left at 10:50. I walked from mine which was great save for that I almost missed the train - not entirely I guess I had 5 minutes to spare after my standard pre departure Pret visit. This time I could download the tickets onto my phone so I didn't have to find a machine to print them!
First stop was the cathedral although I took a few photos along the way as evidences by the below:
Photos of Salisbury - yes it is cloudy. It was windy too. But plus 7-8ish so decent for Feb!
I arrived at the cathedral and even though it's in theory free there is a very prominent 'info booth' which clearly relays the message that an £8 donation is welcome. Unlike the museums around London with also ask but you can slip by due to constant streams of people in front and behind you, I felt obliged to donate in this case being the only person around as I walked in. Not that I minded I may have done it anyway - it is a brilliant building! I flipped them a £10 on the way and left the change.
Salisbury Cathedral
I was trying to look up top 10 cathedrals in England and Salisbury Cathedral always came up.
Others that came up were some obvious ones like St. Pauls, Westminster (although not a cathedral), Canterbury, Winchester, York Minster and many more less obvious ones. I like this list because I've been to the top 4 in the list!
The brief history of the cathedral:
Originally at Old Sarum
Moved in the early 13th century ("The site was supposedly established by shooting an arrow from Old Sarum, although this is certainly a legend: the distance is over 3 km (1.9 mi). The legend is sometimes amended to claim that the arrow struck a white deer, which continued to run and died on the spot where the cathedral now rests"
Tallest Church Spire in the UK at 404 ft
It contains the best preserved known copy of the Magna Carta
English Parliament met at New Sarum a few times in the 14th century
The town and cathedral were named New Sarum until 1972 when the name was changed to Salisbury
I walked around in the cathedral for around 45 minutes, including a visit to the Magna Carta. It is a beautiful building, filled with the chapels, resting places, nooks and sections you would expect. Unfortunately the organ was under repair hence there was scaffolding all over the Quire. I wasn't able to find the proper official tour but I did find a random tour and jumped on for a bit. Apparently the Radnors and Pembrookes are a big thing in the area. The Radnors being new money and the Pembrookes old land owners who don't like them Radnors. Typical English entitlement thinking.
Some interesting facts:
Cathedrals are the seat of the Bishop - the name Cathdra (Latin for chair)
Bishop Hubert Walker helped negotiate with Saladin during the 3rd crusade
It contains one of the oldest working clocks in the world
Lady Katherine Grey is buried there
As are many of the Seymours including relatives of Jane Seymour - indeed an influential area during H-VIII's time.
Some photos! Model of the cathedral during construction, Trinity chapel, a lovely side chapel and a gentleman who was involved in project managing construction and circulating the Magna Carta.
Non Cathedral Activity
Post cathedral I went to get my standard fish and chips lunch plus a cider pint. I ended up at The Old Ale and Coffee House. I would say it was not great. The pint was fine. They didn't have traditional fish and chips, instead a tofu version. I'm all for vegan items, but if you're a pub type venue have from fish and chips! I did get the fish burger and chips, and after removing the bun it was basically fish and chips. Unfortunately the fish tasted and smelled of ammonia and when I noted that I was told a strict 'no it's fresh today, it's fish Friday'. I didn't want to fight them on it. They did come back and refund the food which was decent. But I didn't like how they did not believe me about the quality.
After the pub I tried to get into Mompesson house which I wasn't able to go into as it was closed until March! Not that I minded I was only going because it was a National Trust site. Join the National Trust already! It's amazing.
Instead I went into Salisbury Museum and got 50% off due to my English Heritage membership. The museum was decent. Their biggest highlight was the archeological section on Old and New Sarum. I didn't stay in that section too long as I can only read so much history and see so many half ruined artifacts.
The general city history was decent, highlighted by the Salisbury Giant. Don't ask just read!
Post cathedral photos:
Cathedral, the Giant, Meteorite, nice house, nice door, more houses
Back to London
Like all good day trips I left feeling accomplished and happy to have seen Salisbury (at least to some extent). The trip back was slightly eventful in that I took an earlier train and someone finally busted me on it. If you book a specific train they want you on it. When my ticket was checked the guy kicked me off (an almost empty train) at the next stop because I was quite a few trains too early. So I got to see Basingstoke Station. I did not wait for my actual train (and wasn't really even sure which it was at that point), but I did get on a slightly later train with no issues. Lesson learn - however I will not change my strategy of early departures.
A nice walk back from Waterloo station was great. As usual lots of great sights to see in London.
Enjoy!
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