Salisbury Cathedral, Part C, Anglophile Friday

Site of Old Sarum

from English Heritage

(Site of the original cathedral)

I shot an arrow into the air,

It fell to earth, I knew not where;

For, so swiftly it flew, the sight I fear

Could not follow it to... the heart of the deer.

 And where the deer we saw 'twas kilt,

We knew the cathedral must be built. *

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

In case you missed them, Salisbury Cathedral, Part A contains photos of the exterior of Salisbury Cathedral. Salisbury Cathedral, Part B is of the beautiful interior.

One of the treasures of Salisbury Cathedral is this medieval clock, above. It is thought that the same builders that made this clock may also have built the clock at Wells Cathedral.

From the Plaque Behind the Clock:

This clock was made in or before 1386 and was originally located in a separate Bell Tower (demolished 1792) just to the north of the Cathedral. It is probably the oldest working clock in existence - and like all clocks of that date had no face but struck the hour on a bell (now located in the Cathedral roof space.)

In 1956 it was repaired and restored to its original condition by The Friends of Salisbury Cathedral and set up here.

 Tomb of Giles De Bridport

This is a sampling of tombs found in Salisbury Cathedral.

 Tomb of Walter De La Wyle

Tomb of Edward Seymour

Tomb of Simon of Ghent

Tomb of William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury

d. 1226

William Longespee, a half brother of King John, was the first person to be buried in this cathedral. He was present when the foundations for the cathedral were laid and was an adviser when the Magna Carta was being drawn up.

Unidentified Tomb, possibly of Bishop Roger, North Wall

There's another tomb, supposedly also of Bishop Roger, AKA Roger le Poer,

in the South Aisle. Seems there's some uncertainty here.

 A model of the building of the cathedral stands

against the north wall.

So where does Old Sarum fit into all this?

Old Sarum, meaning 'fortress by a gentle river' was situated on a hilltop a couple miles from present day Salisbury. As you can see from the first picture in this post, the iron age fort was shared by a cathedral and the military.  There seemed to be frequent disagreements between the clergy and the military, and it was decided to move the cathedral to another location. The Dean of Old Sarum, Richard Poore, chose to build on 80 acres that were owned by him and his brother, Herbert, Bishop of Salisbury 1194-1217, after the Pope granted permission to build in a more favorable location.

*So, contrary to legend that Richard 'shot an arrow into the air' to determine where to build the new cathedral, it just ain't so.  Legend also says that when they found the arrow, two miles away as the crow (or arrow) flies, it was in the side of a deer. They must have had GPS on that arrow. Who comes up with this stuff anyway?

The Refectory

A nice place for a bite to eat

when you're finished touring the cathedral

A Room With A View

'Salisbury is a real peach' (quoting one who would know), but all of the cathedrals we visited are amazing works of art and architecture. It was such a privilege to see them in person.

And just because I think it's interesting:  Westminster Abbey is neither a cathedral nor a parish church. It is a 'Royal Peculiar,' under the jurisdiction of a Dean and Chapter, subject only to the Queen and not to an archbishop or bishop.

Linking to:
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Salisbury Cathedral, Part B, Anglophile Friday

Here we are, back at Salisbury Cathedral for Part B, the interior.  See last week's Anglophile Friday for Part A. The exterior of the cathedral is really quite spectacular. And although we marvel at the architecture of these English cathedrals,  we must bear in mind that they were built to be houses of worship, places where the Christian community gathers to worship King Jesus, Lord of the universe. Still true today, Salisbury Cathedral's mission is worship and outreach.

At the back of the nave, the first thing you can't miss is the beautiful, modern baptismal font, 'living water,' by William Pye. It was consecrated on September 28, 2008, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, on the 750th anniversary of the original consecration of the cathedral.  Designed to be cruciform in shape, it is a beautiful work of art.

The font is nearly 10' wide in order to allow for total immersion baptism, which I'm certain is more convenient than having to march down to the River Avon. The original white alabaster font was rescued by a visiting rector from South Australia, and taken to his church there. I like knowing that rather than being discarded,  it's being used in another part of the world.

Now we have several shots of the nave and quire with their beautiful ceilings and columns.

Pulpit near entrance to the quire

Transept, viewing the quire ceiling on the left, nave and upper gallery on right.

Rib Vault Ceiling of the Quire

Scissor Arch

'In Memory of the Choristers of this Cathedral Church and other Members of the Cathedral School who fell in the World Wars 1914-1918 and 1939-1945.'

 Saints Sculptures

Quire

The fan vaulted ceiling of the chapter house

rises from a single column.

 The Trinity Chapel was the first part of the cathedral
to be completed. It was consecrated in 1225.
Its location is behind the altar, at the east end of the cathedral.

Prisoner of Conscience window, commissioned in the late 1970s,
'reflecting a Christian response to worldwide violence and injustice.'

I have decided to add a Part C to my Salisbury Cathedral posts, because I'm afraid there are several more photos of some interesting things I'd like to include, but they would make this post far too long. So next week, I hope you'll join me for Part C of Salisbury Cathedral, Anglophile Friday.

Oh. And I neglected to mention in last week's post that this cathedral, the foundation stones of which were laid in 1220, is the 'new' cathedral. I'll try to come up with a summary paragraph about Old Sarum by next week. :-)  Has anyone read the book Sarum: The Novel of England by Rutherfurd?  I was wondering if it was worth reading.

Recognizing my tendency to ramble when there's a keyboard under my fingers, I'll just stop here and wish you all a great weekend.

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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.

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Have a great weekend, everyone!