Salisbury Cathedral, Part A - Anglophile Friday

Salisbury Cathedral

 Salisbury, just 1 hr.24 min. from London's Waterloo Train Station,

and just a large stone's throw from...

 ...but that's another story for another day.

There were a few things that I found most notable about Salisbury Cathedral. The amazingly tall spire, the medieval clock, the Magna Carta, the baptismal font...okay, I guess there were several things. But today we'll start with the exterior of the cathedral, and its remarkable spire.

Salisbury Cathedral, west front

The foundation stones for Salisbury Cathedral were laid in 1220, and most of the main work on the cathedral was completed within 40 years. That is amazing, in itself! The spire was added later.

'The main body of the cathedral was finished by the consecration on 29 September 1258. But the whole project also included the West Front, the Cloisters, the Chapter House, and the (now demolished) detached Bell Tower, which stood between the High Street Gate and the Cathedral. All of these were probably completed by 1266.'

Salisbury Cathedral, tower and spire
Tallest spire in England - 404 feet!

'...the Cathedral was enlarged upwards between 1300 and 1320, by the incomparable tower and spire. This development was not unique to Salisbury – the cathedrals in London (old St Paul’s) and Lincoln both had taller spires, if only of timber and lead – but this one has proved the longest-lived, and since the late 16^th century has been the tallest in England, standing at 404 ft/123m. It seems likely the spire was severely damaged within a few years of completion, and so needed repairs for which the still-existing internal scaffolding was built.'

So how'd you like to be the one climbing up the internal scaffolding to work on that spire?! 

  

Today, a lunatic conservator climbs out onto the outside of the spire and scales his way to the top to change the anemometer.  If you're squeamish about heights, I wouldn't recommend that you watch the following short video. But if your curiosity is greater than your fear of heights, be sure to watch it. It's incredible. BTW, There's no amount of money that could entice me to take that job. And I do hope he gets paid a ton!

'In 1921 the weather vane was removed from the top of the spire and replaced with a cross. The cross you can see on top of the spire today was made in 1950 and is 12’ high. It is made of copper with brass finials protruding from each point of the cross.' 

Another interesting bit about the spire, is that in the years following WWII, some were wondering why Salisbury hadn't been bombed. It seems that the German Luftwaffe, approaching from the south, had used Salisbury Cathedral as a landmark to guide them as they made their way to more strategic targets, for example, turning northeast toward London.

 Salisbury Cathedral, buttresses and cloister

Such intricate stonework!

Are these all starting to look alike? :-)

Sitting on eighty acres, Salisbury Cathedral has the largest cathedral close of all cathedrals in England. Also, unlike other cathedrals, it has no crypt because it rests so close to the water table. In fact, while Mr. C. was off wandering about the cathedral, he saw a guide lift a cover from a hole in the floor and use a rod to measure how far they were from the water. It measured FOUR FEET!

Cathedral, north side:

"A cloister is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth." (garden)

And a couple photos of the cloister garth below.  I wonder if Garth Williams knew that his name meant 'garden.' I would mention Garth Brooks, but I don't want you to have to live with that word association.

Cloister Garth

There are so many more photos of Salisbury Cathedral in my photo files*, but we'll stop with these for today. (I can hear you breathing a sigh of relief.) I think we'll go indoors next time. It's an amazing building. (And yes, I know I use the word 'amazing' far too often. But really...)

All information in quotations is from the cathedral's website, www.SalisburyCathedral.org.uk, with the exception of the definition of cloister. That's from Wikipedia.

There is so much more information on the cathedral website. I hope you'll visit!

My favorite photo is yet to come, in the interior.


*Aren't we all so grateful for camera cards! Imagine what it would have cost to have about 3,000 photos (on film) developed, and not know how they were going to turn out until they were printed! Does anyone out there remember film??? or is it just me.

***

Check out my natural, handcrafted vegan soap!
Buy any 5 or more, Get 1 FREE

Country Gentleman

Lady Mary

(Downton Abbey inspired, of course)

Matthew is going to come back. He was just faking it, I'm sure.
 

Natural Vegan Soaps


...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at
 
HomemadeSoapNSuch


and at


Our ETSY Shop

Linked to InSPIREd Sunday
and Mosaic Monday

and Our World Tuesday

and Roses of Inspiration

Have a great weekend, everyone!