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Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Salisbury
Cathedral of Saint Mary
Salisbury Cathedral from the East
Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Salisbury Location within Wiltshire
Coordinates: 51°03′53″N 1°47′51″W / 51.06472°N 1.79750°W / 51.06472; -1.79750
Location	Salisbury, Wiltshire
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Tradition	Anglo-Catholic[1]
Website	salisburycathedral.org.uk
Architecture
Previous cathedrals	2
Architect(s)	Richard Poore; Elias of Dereham
Style	Early English Gothic
Years built	1220–1320
Specifications
Length	224 feet (68 m)
Choir height	84 feet (26 m)
Number of towers	1
Tower height	225 feet (69 m) (without spire)
Number of spires	1
Spire height	404 feet (123 m)
Administration
Diocese	Salisbury (since 1220)
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Nick Holtam
Dean	Nicholas Papadopulos
Precentor	vacant Acting: Ed Probert
Canon Chancellor	Ed Probert
Canon Treasurer	Robert Titley
Laity
Organist(s)	John Challenger, David Halls
Chapter clerk	Jackie Molnar
Lay member(s) of chapter	Jane Barker Luke March Lydia Brown Eugenie Turton

Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, and one of the leading examples of Early English architecture.^[2] The main body of the cathedral was completed in 38 years, from 1220 to 1258.

Since 1549, the cathedral has had the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom, at 404 feet (123 m).^[3] Visitors can take the "Tower Tour" where the interior of the hollow spire, with its ancient wooden scaffolding, can be viewed. The cathedral also has the largest cloister and the largest cathedral close in Britain at 80 acres (32 ha).^[2] It contains a clock which is among the oldest working clocks in the world, and has the best surviving of the four original copies of Magna Carta.^[2] In 2008, the cathedral celebrated the 750th anniversary of its consecration.^[4]

The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury, currently Nick Holtam.

History

Sculpture on the west front of the cathedral of Richard Poore who oversaw the early years of its construction, beginning in 1220. He is holding a model of the cathedral

Plan showing the double transepts with aisles and extended east end, but not the cloisters or chapter house

As a response to deteriorating relations between the clergy and the military at Old Sarum Cathedral, the decision was taken to resite the cathedral, and the seat of the bishopric was moved to New Sarum, or Salisbury.^[5] The move occurred during the tenure of Richard Poore, a rich man who gave the land on which the new cathedral was built. Construction was paid for by donations, principally from the canons and vicars of southeast England, who were asked to contribute a fixed annual sum until the building was completed.^[6] A legend tells that the Bishop of Old Sarum shot an arrow in the direction he would build the cathedral; but the arrow hit a deer that died in the place where Salisbury Cathedral is now. The cathedral crossing, Old Sarum, and Stonehenge are reputed to be aligned on a ley line, although Clive L. N. Ruggles asserts that the site, on marshland, was chosen because a preferred site several miles to the west could not be obtained.^[7]

The foundation stone was laid on 28 April 1220.^[8] Much of the freestone for the cathedral came from the Teffont Evias Quarry.^[9] As a result of the high water table on the new site, the cathedral was built on foundations only 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, and by 1258 the nave, transepts, and choir were complete. The only major sections begun later were the cloisters, added in 1240, the chapter house in 1263, the tower and spire, which at 404 feet (123 m) dominated the Wiltshire skyline from 1320. Because most of the cathedral was built in only 38 years, it has a single consistent architectural style, Early English Gothic.

Although the spire is the cathedral's most impressive feature, it has proved to be troublesome. Together with the tower, it added 6,397 tons (6,500 tonnes) to the weight of the building. Without the addition of buttresses, bracing arches and anchor irons over the succeeding centuries, it would have suffered the fate of spires on other great ecclesiastical buildings (such as Malmesbury Abbey, 1180 to 1500; Lincoln Cathedral, 1311 to 1549; and Chichester Cathedral, 1402 to 1861) and fallen down; instead, Salisbury became the tallest church spire in the country on the collapse at Lincoln in 1549. The large supporting pillars at the corners of the spire are seen to bend inwards under the stress. The addition of reinforcing tie-beams above the crossing, designed by Christopher Wren in 1668, halted further deformation.^[10] The beams were hidden by a false ceiling, installed below the lantern stage of the tower.

Significant changes to the cathedral were made by the architect James Wyatt in 1790, including replacement of the original rood screen and demolition of a bell tower which stood about 320 feet (98 m) northwest of the main building. Salisbury is one of only three English cathedrals to lack a ring of bells, the others being Norwich Cathedral and Ely Cathedral. However, its medieval clock does strike the time with bells every 15 minutes. In total, 70,000 tons of stone, 3,000 tons of timber and 450 tons of lead were used in the construction of the cathedral.^[11]

On 25 October 2018, there was an attempted theft of the Magna Carta from the cathedral; the alarms were triggered and a 45-year-old man was later detained on suspicion of attempted theft, criminal damage and possession of an offensive weapon. The glass case containing the document was broken, but the Magna Carta itself suffered no damage.^[12]

Building and architecture

West front

The west front is of the screen-type, clearly deriving from that at Wells. It is composed of a stair turret at each extremity, with two niched buttresses nearer the centre line supporting the large central triple window. The stair turrets are topped with spirelets, and the central section is topped by a gable which contains four lancet windows topped by two round quatrefoil windows surmounted by a mandorla containing Christ in Majesty. At ground level there is a principal door flanked by two smaller doors. The whole is highly decorated with quatrefoil motifs, columns, trefoil motifs and bands of diapering.

The west front was almost certainly constructed at the same time as the cathedral.^[13] This is apparent from the way in which the windows coincide with the interior spaces. The entire façade is about 108 feet (33 m) high and wide. It has been said that the front was built on a scale smaller than was initially planned.^{[by whom?]} It lacks full-scale towers and/or spires as can be seen, for example at Wells, Lincoln, Lichfield, etc.^[14] The facade was disparaged by Alec Clifton-Taylor, who considered it the least successful of the English screen-facades and a travesty of its prototype (Wells). He found the composition to be unco-ordinated, and the Victorian statuary "poor and insipid".^[15]

The front accommodates over 130 shallow niches of varying sizes, 73 of these niches contains a statue. The line of niches extend round the turrets to the north, south and east faces. There are five levels of niches (not including the mandorla) which show, from the top, angels and archangels, Old Testament patriarchs, apostles and evangelists, martyrs, doctors and philosophers and, on the lower level, royalty, priests and worthy people connected with the cathedral. The majority of the statues were placed during the middle of the 19th century, however seven are from the 14th century and several have been installed within the last decade.

Nave

The nave

Salisbury Cathedral is unusual for its tall and narrow nave, and has visual accentuation due to the use of light grey Chilmark stone for the walls and dark polished Purbeck marble for the columns. It has three levels: a tall pointed arcade, an open gallery and a small clerestory.^[16] Lined up between the pillars are notable tombs such as that of William Longespée, half brother of King John and the illegitimate son of Henry II, who was the first person to be buried in the cathedral.^[17]

Chapter house and Magna Carta

The chapter house is notable for its octagonal shape, slender central pillar and decorative medieval frieze. It was redecorated in 1855-9 by William Burges. The frieze circles the interior above the stalls and depicts scenes and stories from the books of Genesis and Exodus, including Adam and Eve, Noah, the Tower of Babel, and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The chapter house also displays the best-preserved of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta. This copy came to Salisbury because Elias of Dereham, who was present at Runnymede in 1215, was given the task of distributing some of the original copies. Elias later became a canon of Salisbury and supervised the construction of the cathedral.

Clock

The medieval clock

The Salisbury cathedral clock dating from about AD 1386 is supposedly the oldest working modern clock in the world.^[18] The clock has no face because all clocks of that date rang out the hours on a bell. It was originally located in a bell tower that was demolished in 1792. Following this demolition, the clock was moved to the Cathedral Tower where it was in operation until 1884. The clock was then placed in storage and forgotten until it was discovered in 1929, in an attic of the cathedral. It was repaired and restored to working order in 1956. In 2007 remedial work and repairs were carried out to the clock.^[19]

Depictions in art, literature and television

Salisbury Cathedral by John Constable, ca. 1825.

The cathedral is the subject of famous paintings by John Constable. As a gesture of appreciation for John Fisher, Bishop of Salisbury, who commissioned this painting, Constable included the bishop and his wife in the canvas (bottom left). The view depicted in the paintings has changed very little in almost two centuries.

The cathedral is also the subject of William Golding's novel The Spire which deals with the fictional Dean Jocelin who makes the building of the spire his life's work. The construction of the cathedral is an important plot point in Edward Rutherfurd's historical novel Sarum, which explores the historical settlement of the Salisbury area. The cathedral has been mentioned^[20] by the author Ken Follett as one of two models for the fictional Kingsbridge Cathedral in his historical novel The Pillars of the Earth. It was also used for some external shots in the 2010 miniseries based on Follett's book and was shown as it is today in the final scene. The cathedral was the setting for the 2005 BBC television drama Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle, written by Rhidian Brook and directed by Susanna White. Kevin McCloud climbed the cathedral in his programme called Don't Look Down! in which he climbed high structures to conquer his fear of heights. The cathedral was the subject of a Channel 4 Time Team programme which was first broadcast on 8 February 2009.

Dean and chapter

As of 8 February 2019:^[21]

• 
  Dean – Nicholas Papadopulos (since 9 September 2018 installation)^[22]


• Canon Chancellor & Acting Precentor – Ed Probert (canon and chancellor since 4 April 2004 installation^[23]


• Canon Precentor – vacant since 30 November 2018^[24]


• Canon Treasurer – Robert Titley (since November 2015 installation)^[25]

Burials

The North transept

Prominent among later burials in the cathedral is Sir Edward Heath (1916–2005), who served as Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974 and as a member of parliament from 1950 to 2001, and lived at Arundells in the Cathedral Close for the last twenty years of his life.^[26] Other notable burials include:

• 
  William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, (c. 1165–1226)


• 
  Lady Katherine Grey, Countess of Hertford (1540–1568)


• 
  Saint Osmund, Bishop of Salisbury (1078–1099)


• 
  Roger of Salisbury, Bishop of Salisbury (1102–1139)


• 
  Josceline de Bohon, Bishop of Salisbury (1142–1184)


• 
  Robert de Bingham, Bishop of Salisbury (1229–1246)


• 
  Giles of Bridport, Bishop of Salisbury (1256–1262)


• 
  Walter de la Wyle, Bishop of Salisbury (1263–1271)


• 
  Nicholas Longespee, Bishop of Salisbury (1291–1297)


• 
  Simon of Ghent, Bishop of Salisbury (1297–1315)


• 
  Roger Martival, Bishop of Salisbury (1315–1330)


• 
  Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford (1378–1449)


• 
  Richard Mitford, Bishop of Salisbury (1395–1407)


• Robert Hungerford, 2nd Baron Hungerford (1409-1459)


• 
  Robert Hungerford, Lord Moleyns and 3rd Baron Hungerford (1431–1464)


• 
  John Cheyne, Baron Cheyne (c. 1442–1499)


• 
  Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury (1450–1482)


• 
  John Blyth, Bishop of Salisbury (1493–1499)


• 
  John Doget, Renaissance humanist (died 1501)


• 
  Edmund Audley, Bishop of Salisbury (1501–1524)


• 
  Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford (1539–1621), nephew of queen-consort Jane Seymour
  


• 
  Thomas Gorges, (1536–1610) and wife Helena, Marchioness of Northampton, (1548/1549–1635)


• 
  John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury (1559–1571)


• 
  Edmund Gheast, Bishop of Salisbury (1571–1577)


• 
  Mary Sidney (1561–1621), writer and patron


• 
  William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1580–1630), politician and courtier, buried in a family vault in front of the altar.


• Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke


• Philip Herbert, 7th Earl of Pembroke


• 
  Michael Wise (1648–1687), organist and composer


• 
  Alexander Hyde, Bishop of Salisbury (1665–1667)


• 
  John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset (before 1646–1675)


• 
  Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset in the Seymour Chapel (1662–1748)


• 
  John Thomas, Bishop of Salisbury (1761–1766)

Music

The Choir

The Trinity Chapel (Lady Chapel). The artwork below the stained glass window is the temporary exhibition of Nicholas Pope installation called "The Apostles Speaking in Tongues Lit By Their Own Lamps", shown at Salisbury Cathedral from 8 June until 4 August 2014

Organ

The cathedral's current organ was built in 1877 by Henry Willis & Sons.^[27]Walter Alcock, who was organist of the cathedral from 1916, oversaw a strictly faithful restoration of the famous Father Willis organ, completed in 1934,^[28] even going to such lengths as to refuse to allow parts of the instrument to leave the cathedral in case any unauthorised tonal alterations were made without his knowledge,^[29] while allowing some discreet additions in the original style of the organ (as well as modernisation of the organ's actions) by Henry Willis III, the grandson of Father Willis.^[30]

An earlier organ by Samuel Green was presented by George III in 1792^[31] and was installed on top of the stone screen, which, unusually, did not divide the choir from the nave, but rather came from an unknown location in the cathedral.^[32] The organ was later taken out and moved to St Thomas's Church.^[33]

Organists

It is recorded that in 1463 John Kegewyn was organist of Salisbury Cathedral. Among the notable organists of more recent times have been a number of composers and well-known performers including Bertram Luard-Selby, Charles Frederick South, Walter Alcock, David Valentine Willcocks, Douglas Albert Guest, Christopher Dearnley, Richard Godfrey Seal and the BBC presenter Simon Lole.

Choir

Salisbury Cathedral Choir auditions boys and girls aged 7–9 years old annually for scholarships to Salisbury Cathedral School, housed in the former Bishop's Palace. The boys' choir and the girls' choir (each 16 strong) sing alternate daily Evensong and Sunday Matins and Eucharist services throughout the school year. There are also many additional services during the Christian year particularly during Advent, Christmas, Holy Week, and Easter. The Advent From Darkness to Light services are the best known. Choristers come from across the country, some boarding. Six lay vicars (adult men) comprise the rest of the choir (singing tenor, alto and bass parts). In 1993, the cathedral was the venue for the first broadcast of Choral Evensong (the long-running BBC Radio 3 programme) to be sung by a cathedral girls' choir.^[34]

Cathedral constables

The cathedral previously employed five cathedral constables (known as "Close Constables"). Their duties mainly concerned the maintenance of law and order in the cathedral close. They were made redundant in 2010 as part of cost-cutting measures and replaced with "traffic managers".^[35]

The constables were first appointed when the cathedral became a liberty in 1611 and survived until the introduction of municipal police forces in 1835 with the Municipal Corporations Act.^[36] In 1800 they were given the power, along with the city constables, to execute any justices' or court order requiring the conveyance of prisoners to or from the county gaol (at Fisherton Anger, then outside the city of Salisbury) as if it were the city gaol (and, in so doing, they were made immune from any legal action for acting outside their respective jurisdictions).^[37] The right of the cathedral, as a liberty, to maintain a separate police force was conclusively terminated by the Local Government Act 1888.^[38][39]

In February 2016, the cathedral chapter placed Sophie Ryder's sculpture The Kiss stradling a path on the grounds where it was to remain until July. After only a few days, they had to move the work because pedestrians kept bumping into it while texting.^[40][41]

Peregrine falcons

Between 1864 and 1953, there were records of peregrine falcons being present at the Cathedral. More then arrived in 2013, and have been hatching every year since, with their nests on the cathedral's tower.^[42]

Gallery

The interior of the spire, showing the original supporting framework.

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  West Façade in wide contrast for detail
  

  
  

  
  


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  North front
  

  
  

  
  


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  Trenchard Memorial
  

  
  

  
  


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  The Cathedral from the northeast
  

  
  

  
  


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  Looking northwest
  

  
  

  
  


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  Sculptural detail
  

  
  

  
  


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  Detail from west front
  

  
  

  
  


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  The cloisters
  

  
  

  
  


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  Cloister walk, east side
  

  
  

  
  


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  Tomb of Giles of Bridport
  

  
  

  
  


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  Choir
  

  
  

  
  


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  View of the spire from the cloisters
  

  
  

  
  


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  Rib vault ceiling above clerestory windows
  

  
  

  
  


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  Lateral view of the west façade
  

  
  

  
  


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  The spire and west façade
  

  
  

  
  

See also

• Architecture of the medieval cathedrals of England


• Church of England


• English Gothic architecture


• 
  Francis Eginton, artist, painted the east and west windows, and ten mosaic windows


• List of cathedrals in the United Kingdom


• List of tallest churches


• Salisbury Cathedral School


• Bishop Wordsworth's School

References and sources

References

Sources

• Evans, Sydney. Salisbury Cathedral: A reflective Guide, Michael Russell Publishing, Salisbury. 1985.


• Martín-Gil, J; Martín-Gil, FJ; Ramos-Sánchez, MC; Martín-Ramos, P. The Orange-Brown Patina of Salisbury Cathedral (West Porch) Surfaces: Evidence of its Man-Made Origin. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 12(5):285–289. 2005.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Salisbury Cathedral.

• Official website


• Salisbury Cathedral Stained Glass website


• Adrian Fletcher's Paradoxplace — Salisbury Cathedral and Magna Carta Page


• 
  Sarum Use at OrthodoxWiki.


• A history of the choir


• Flickr images


• Salisbury official tourism website