From the breathtaking beauty of the country’s tallest cathedral to quaint medieval alleys, fine restaurants, friendly watering holes and cosmopolitan arts festivals, Simon Heptinstall says there are few places to compare with Salisbury
Even today, Salisbury Cathedral catches your eye long before you reach the city. From all directions, its elegant spire rises 404 feet (or 123 metres) from Wiltshire’s landscape like a signpost pointing to heaven.
Britain’s tallest church—and the highest medieval structure in the world—is your first clue that you are approaching a special city. For Salisbury has a long and fascinating history dating back to the 13th century. But it has much more to offer than its past. Take its exciting arts venues, thriving galleries, fascinating museums, award-winning restaurants and stylish bars. It also has an impressive nine pubs recommended by the Good Pub Guide and an award-winning nightclub. You can also picnic by the river, join in the fun of an arts, music or food festival, or browse the high-street stores and quirky independent shops. With so much to offer, it was no surprise when Salisbury was voted one of the top 10 cities to visit in Britain by The Observer readers last year.
Any tour of Salisbury must start with the Cathedral, one of the most quickly constructed medieval cathedrals: the main building took just 38 years, from 1220 to 1258. That’s why it has uniformity of style, making it one of England’s prettiest. It is also one of the country’s most important historic buildings. It has the oldest working clock in Europe. The cloisters are the largest and oldest of any English cathedral. And it houses the best-preserved original Magna Carta—one of the most significant documents in our history. Explore the roof spaces on a tower tour, listen to the choir at evensong and browse the Cathedral shop. The café’s not bad either—look up through the glass roof from your table to see the spire above you.
Outside, the Cathedral Close (or “The Close”)—originally enclosed in the 1330s as protection against the “riotous citizenry”—has protected the homes of Salisbury’s great and good through the ages. There are more than 80 acres of neatly manicured lawns and beautiful historic buildings. And its grand houses are now major visitor attractions. Step into an intact Medieval Hall and watch a film about the city’s history, or wander around the Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum, home to a nationally important collection. Also worth a visit is The Wardrobe military museum, which has a pretty garden leading down to the river and a licensed tearoom. There’s another garden that is definitely worth seeing at Mompesson House, a perfect Queen Anne mansion that is now a National Trust property. If the magnificent oak staircase and charming walled tea garden seem familiar, you may well have spotted them in the 1995 film of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, in which the house was used as Mrs Jennings’ London home.
Spreading out from the Cathedral, through old gates in the stone wall, is a web of wonderfully preserved medieval streets leading towards the Market Square, which was built around the hexagonal Poultry Cross, a relic from the 15th century. The names of alleys such as Fish Row, Butcher Row and Silver Street reveal which traders and craftsmen originally worked there. Now the bustling Market Square is packed with pavement cafés. If the Cathedral had never been built, then the St Thomas Church would receive greater acclaim. Its 15th-century “doom painting” of the Last Judgement is the largest of its kind in England.
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Old Sarum, an
Iron Age hill-fort |
But the story of Salisbury doesn’t start in these ancient cobbled streets. The roots of Wiltshire’s only city lie on a hill on the northern outskirts. Known as Old Sarum, it was originally an Iron Age hill fort, later occupied by Romans, Saxons and the Normans—this is where William the Conqueror reviewed his army in 1070. Later, a cathedral, castle and palace were built here, and a flourishing medieval city developed.
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