Salisbury Cathedral

This landmark cathedral marks the start of a 38-mile pilgrimage to Winchester and is also served by a number of day routes, one of which visits the ancient site of Old Sarum‍

Highlights

• Cathedral: Grave and shrine of St Osmund, cathedral exhibits and architecture
• Town church: Wall painting of St Osmund, Doom painting
• Old Sarum: Site of St Osmund’s original cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral is effortlessly holy, a building so serene it communicates the peace of God from miles away. Its enormous spire, the largest in Britain, is an ecclesiastical beacon, famously rising to 123m. Constable painted it from the nearby water meadows, a view that is unaltered two centuries later.

Its architectural perfection is mirrored quite literally by the modern font installed in the centre of the nave in 2008. This deep pool of water has a dark bottom, reflecting back the symmetry of the ceilings and windows.

All this devotion by design finds focus at the cathedral’s main shrine, which has been quietly revived in recent decades. The saint in question is St Osmund, the last person to be canonized in medieval England. He died in 1099 but was only officially recognised as a saint in 1457. It took nearly 500 years for the next English saint to be canonized, St John Fisher in 1935.

St Osmund’s shrine is at the far eastern end of the building in the Trinity Chapel, beyond the high altar. There are a few sites connected with his veneration, most important of which are the saint’s possible grave, lying unmarked in the middle of the chapel, and the stone shrine that once held his relics at the side of the chapel. A dark grey slab that perhaps lay over his grave has recently been moved to the north side of the nave. The slab’s inscription reads Anno MXCIX, or 1099, which is the year when he died.

The grave slab and shrine date from St Osmund’s canonisation in 1457. There are seats around the Trinity Chapel, and a candle stand and paper for prayer requests provided at the shrine structure. The series of holes underneath allowed pilgrims to come closer to the saint’s relics, for healing and intercession. There was no icon or image of the saint when I visited, but his sculpture can be seen a few steps away in the south choir aisle, in a row of four painted figures installed in the 20th century.

St Osmund was a Frenchman, a scholar who wrote and copied books with great skill. He understood the need for continuity after the Conquest, and defended the veneration of some of England’s leading Saxon saints, including St Aldhelm. He helped develop the Sarum Rite, a distinctively English take on Roman ritual which later inspired reformers establishing the Church of England in the 16th century.

Elsewhere in the cathedral, the Chapter House has some original stone sculptures all the way around its circumference, a 13th-century frieze that tells the story of Genesis and Exodus in a series of little scenes. The same room also houses one of the four original versions of the Magna Carta, written in 1215 – a document which gave the world trial by jury among many other legal and political innovations.

The cathedral also houses England’s oldest choir stalls, at the back of the choir, dating from the first building program of 1236. And the world’s oldest working clock can be seen in the cathedral too, in the north nave aisle. It is a rudimentary device that has no hands or face but simply strikes the hours.

Most of this huge cathedral was built in a ridiculously short space of time, from 1220 to 1258. It is England’s only cathedral built in a single architectural style, in this case, Early English Gothic. Only the spire was added later, in 1320. The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.‍

When in Salisbury

A beautifully preserved medieval painting of St Osmund can be seen in a town-centre church five minutes’ walk from the cathedral. He appears on the bottom right-hand corner of the chancel arch in the church of St Thomas and St Edmund.

The entire chancel painting survives in this church, in surprisingly good condition too. At first glance its bold colors look no older than Victorian, when the painting was heavily restored. Closer examination, however, reveals a thoroughly medieval mind at work: the entire composition is original, said to be the only intact Doom in England.

It is a classic example of the genre. The figures of the dead discard their shrouds and rise naked to meet their fate, the saved on the left and the damned opposite. Christ sits in the center on a rainbow, the heavenly city on either side busy with turrets, walls, and churches crowded with the saints. It was painted in 1475 and found again under whitewash in the 19th century.

Three more medieval paintings can be seen in the south choir aisle, their detail as clear but colours more faded. The Blessed Virgin is depicted with her hair uncovered, a surprisingly human figure, as she hears the Annunciation and celebrates the birth of Jesus in the stable.

This church’s artworks made the news in 2019 when a unique three-headed carving of the Holy Trinity was uncovered during restoration work.

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Old Sarum

On the way out of the city to the north lies Old Sarum, the former site of Salisbury’s cathedral and town. There is little left of the cathedral other than its foundations, which give a good sense of the scale of this building (100m long compared with the new cathedral’s 150m).

The building was constructed from 1075–1092 by St Osmund, Bishop of Sarum. It was less than 150 years old when a decision was made to abandon the town of Old Sarum and move downhill, closer to the river. Old Sarum cathedral was demolished in 1219.

St Osmund was originally buried at Sarum, and moved into the new cathedral in 1226 – not yet a saint, but already highly revered. Much of the fabric was taken away too, and re-used to build the current cathedral.

Directions‍

Salisbury Cathedral of St Mary, The Green, Salisbury SP1 2EJ‍

www.salisburycathedral.org.uk‍

W3W: vines.shins.cake

GPS: 51.0650N 1.7982W‍

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St Thomas and St Edmund’s Church, St Thomas’s Square, Salisbury SP1 1TD‍

www.stthomassalisbury.co.uk‍

W3W: regime.levels.myself

GPS: 51.0690N 1.7972W‍

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Old Sarum, Castle Road (A345), Salisbury SP1 3SD‍

www.english-heritage.org.uk (search: Old Sarum)

W3W: cove.coping.ridgeGPS: 51.0932N 1.8036W

Salisbury railway station 800m‍

The cathedral is on the south side of town. It is open every day 9 am–5 pm, with restricted access on Sunday mornings and during services. At the time of research entry was free with a suggested voluntary donation: £7.50 adults, £4.50 concessions, £3 children. The nearest car parks are Old George Mall or Crane Street.

For the church of St Thomas and St Edmund, head north from the cathedral entrance through the cathedral green. Keep going straight ahead through the medieval archway on High Street. At the crossroads on the opposite side, you can detour left if you want to see the famous water meadow view: walk 500m along Crane Bridge Road and take the footbridge on your left over the river into the meadows. For the church, carry straight on at the crossroads along the pedestrianised High Street and the church is on your right, 500m in total from the cathedral.

Old Sarum is by the A345 on the north side of Salisbury, 2 miles from the city center. The grounds including the cathedral ruins are open to the public, and the central castle is an English Heritage site opening 10 am daily, closing times vary depending on season; tickets £5.40 adults, £4.90 concessions, £3.20 children.

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