| Page Views: 13,368 Last Visit to Salisbury: August, 2000 | Salisbury, Wiltshire, England by al_mary - last update: Feb 12, 2006 |
Salisbury - A Small Catherdral City
Salisbury, pronounced "Solsbree" or "Sauls-bree" is a small cathedral
city in Wiltshire, England. It is the main town in the Salisbury district.
The city's origins go back to the Iron Age, and the Romans called it
"Sorviodunum". There was a battle between the West Saxons and the
Britons here, after which the place was called "Searoburh".
The Normans built a castle and called it "Searesbyrig" or "Seresberi".
By 1086, in the Domesday Book, it was called "Salesberie".
The site of the castle is now known as Old Sarum and is uninhabited.
The bury element is a form of borough, which has cognates in words
and place names in virtually every Indo-European and Semitic language,
as well as others ......
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|  | Tallest Cathedral In The UK
The city's origins go back to the Iron Age,
and the Romans called it "Sorviodunum".
There was a battle between the West Saxons
and the Britons here, after which the place was
called "Searoburh".
The Normans built a castle and called it
"Searesbyrig" or "Seresberi". By 1086, in the
Domesday Book, it was called "Salesberie".
The site of the castle is now known as Old
Sarum and is uninhabited. The bury element
is a form of borough, which has cognates in
words and place names in virtually every Indo
European and Semitic language.
The name "Sarum", which is often mistakenly
taken to be the Roman or Norman name for the
old city and castle, came into use when documents
were written in contracted Latin and it was easier
to write Sar with a stroke over the "r", than write the
complete word "Saresberie".
That mark of contraction was also the common
symbol for the Latin termination "um". Hence "Sar"
with a stroke over the r was copied as "SarUM".
One of the first known uses of "Sarum" is on the
seal of Saint Nicholas Hospital, Salisbury,which
was in use in 1239. Bishop Wyville (1330-1375)
was the first Bishop to describe himself
"episcopus Sarum".
The first cathedral was built at Old Sarum by
St Bishop Osmund between 1075 and 1092.
A larger building was subsequently built on the
same site in 1120.
However, deteriorating relations between the
clergy and the military at Old Sarum led to the
decision to resite the cathedral elsewhere.
Thus the city of New Sarum, known as Salisbury,
was founded in 1220, and the building of the
new cathedral begun by Bishop Richard Poore
in that year.
The main body was completed in only 38 years
and is a masterpiece of Early English architecture,
the stones which make up the cathedral came
down from Old Sarum.
The spire, which is 404 feet (123 metres) tall, was
built later and is the tallest spire in the UK. The
cathedral is built on a gravel bed with unusually
shallow foundations of 18 inches upon wooden
faggots, and the site is supposed to have been
selected by firing an arrow from Old Sarum,
although this is clearly legend due to the distance
involved, although it is sometimes claimed the arrow
hit a white deer, which continued to run and died on
the spot where the Cathedral now exists ......
The cathedral's library contains the best surviving of
the four remaining copies of the Magna Carta.
Click On Photo To Enlarge
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Salisbury Mechanical Clock
In 1386, a large mechanical clock was installed at
Salisbury Cathedral.
It is the oldest surviving mechanical clock in Britain
and probably anywhere ......
Click On Photo To Enlarge
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| In A Nutshell: | "A Must To See If Your In The UK" |
al_mary's Salisbury Travel Tips
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