Salisbury

Interior of Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1220 by Bishop Richard Poore, the architecture of the cathedral is entirely Early English; the spire, not included in the original plan, was added in 1334, and at 123 m/404 ft is the highest spire in England.

City and market town in Wiltshire, south England, on the edge of Salisbury Plain 135 km/84 mi southwest of London; population (2001) 44,400. Salisbury is an agricultural centre, and industries include brewing and engineering. The nearby Wilton Royal Carpet factory closed in 1995. The cathedral of St Mary, built 1220-66, is an example of Early English architecture; its decorated spire 123 m/404 ft is the highest in England; its clock (1386) is one of the oldest still working. The cathedral library contains one of only four copies of the Magna Carta.

Another name for the modern city of Salisbury is New Sarum, Sarum being an abbreviated form of the medieval Latin corruption (‘Sarisburiensis’) of the ancient Roman name Sorbiodonum. Old Sarum, site of an Iron Age fort, cathedral, and town on a 90-m/300-ft hill to the north, was abandoned in 1220. Old Sarum was the most famous of the ‘rotten boroughs’ prior to the 1832 Reform Act.

Location The city lies amid level meadowlands, at the confluence of the Avon with three small rivers, the Nadder, Bourne, and Wylye, and surrounded by hills.

Features Salisbury was moved from Old Sarum at the beginning of the 13th century, and built on a settled plan 3 km/1.8 mi below the old citadel by Bishop Poore. The planning is indicated by the many straight and wide streets running north to south and east to west, forming ‘chequers’ or ‘squares’, with a fine open marketplace in the centre. Audley House, once owned by Mervin, Lord Audley, is a beautiful building, now used as the church house. ‘The Hall of John Halle’ was built in 1407 by the wool merchant John Halle. Poultry Cross is believed to have been erected in the early 16th century by a nobleman as an act of penance. It is in the form of an open hexagon with six arches and six piers, heavily buttressed. The Old George Hotel, built 15th-16th-century, was perhaps a lodging for pilgrims to the cathedral. The guildhall is on the site of the 14th-century guildhall and city jail. One of the finest examples of timber framing in Salisbury is the house of John A 'Port, built in 1425 by a merchant of that name, who was six times mayor of the city.

The Shoemakers' Guildhall, built in 1638, was added to the timber-framed house left to the Shoemakers' Company by one Philip Crewe, a schoolmaster. This house still overhangs the highway as it did centuries ago. The council house, Bourne Hill, off the London Road, is the historically interesting former college of St Edmund. In the grounds is the only remaining portion of the city rampart. In St Ann Street is the Salisbury, Southern Wiltshire, and Blackmore Museum, containing a large and representative collection of local exhibits. The finely timbered Joiners' Hall, also in St Ann Street, is one of the old halls of the ancient trade guilds of the city. It is Elizabethan, and was purchased by the National Trust in 1898. The Salisbury diocesan training college is on the site of the old deanery in the Close. Salisbury is the ‘Melchester’ of Thomas Hardy novels and the ‘Barchester’ of Anthony Trollope's.

Churches Apart from the cathedral, the three oldest churches of the city are St Martin's, St Thomas's of Canterbury, and St Edmund's. The tower, chancel, and font of St Martin's are Early English, the nave and aisles are 15th century. The present 15th-century Perpendicular church of St Thomas replaced a 13th-century church. From early times it was a chapel of ease to the cathedral. About the end of the 15th century the great west window and finely carved Tudor roof were added to the nave, and later the remarkable fresco of the Last Judgement over the chancel was executed. St Edmund's, which adjoins the Council House, is dedicated to St Edmund of Abingdon, Archbishop of Canterbury. It is part of a large collegiate church which was built in 1407 to replace one built in the 13th century.