SALISBURY & STONEHENGE
In late August 2022, we spent two days in Wiltshire. One afternoon in Salisbury, famous for its cathedral and one morning at Stonehenge, a World Heritage Site. Enjoy the photos!
SALISBURY
Salisbury, formerly New Sarum, is quite a compact city. It is situated at the confluence of the Rivers Avon ( Hampshire Avon) and Wiley. It functioned historically as the principal town of Wiltshire and is the seat of an Anglican bishop.The origins of Salisbury lie in Old Sarum, an Early Iron Age fort 1.5 miles (2.5 km) north taken over by the Romans. Under the Saxons it became an important town, and by the 11th century it possessed a mint. The Normans built a castle on the mound, and Old Sarum became a bishopric when the see was transferred from Sherborne in 1075. The present cathedral was founded in the neighbouring valley, site of modern Salisbury, in 1220, and a new city quickly developed around it. The Black and Grey friaries were both established in the 13th century. An earthen rampart was built around the city in 1310, and soon afterward gates were added. The cloth and wool trades flourished in the Middle Ages, and the making of cutlery also became prominent.
Today the city centre remains much as it was in medieval times, laid out in gridiron fashion. The cathedral and a large number of timber-framed buildings survive.
SALISBURY CATHEDRAL
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican (Church of England) cathedral. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The building is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English Gothic architecture. Its main body was completed in 38 years, from 1220 to 1258.
The spire, built in 1320, at 404 feet (123 m), has been the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom since 1561. Visitors can take the "Tower Tour", in which the interior of the hollow spire, with its ancient wooden scaffolding can be viewed. The cathedral has the largest cloister and the largest cathedral close in Britain at 80 acres (32 ha). It contains a clock which is among the oldest working examples in the world, and has one of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta.
As a response to deteriorating relations between the clergy and the military at Old Sarum Cathedral the decision was taken to re-site the cathedral, with the seat of the bishopric being moved to New Sarum, or Salisbury. The move occurred during the tenure of Richard Moore, 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. A legend tells that the Bishop of Old Sarum shot an arrow in the direction he would build the cathedral; the arrow hit a deer, which 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.
The foundation stones were laid on 28 April 1220 by William Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and by Ela of Salisbury, 3rd Countess of Salisbury. 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 skyline from 1320. Because most of the cathedral was built in only 38 years, it has a single consistent architectural style. 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.
Although the spire is the cathedral's most impressive feature, it has proved 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 and fallen down; instead, Salisbury became the tallest church spire in the country on the collapse at St Paul's (as the result of a fire) in 1561. 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 Sir Christopher Wren in 1668, halted further deformation. 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 the 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 and Ely. However, its medieval clock does strike the time with bells every 15 minutes.
GRAYSON PERRY EXHIBITION
Inside the cathedral (as you will see) was an exhibition by the artist GraySon Perry "The Vanity of Small Differences".
This is the description.
Grayson Perry's The Vanity of Small Differences tells the story of class mobility and the influence social class has on our aesthetic taste. Inspired by William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress the six tapestries, measuring 2m x 4m each, chart the 'class journey' made by young Tim Rakewell and include many of the characters, incidents and objects Grayson Perry encountered on journeys through Sunderland, Tunbridge Wells and The Cotswolds for the television series "All in the best possible taste with Grayson Perry"
The television programmes were first aired on Channel 4 in June 2012. In the series Perry goes on 'a safari amongst the taste tribes of Britain', to gather inspiration for his artwork, literally weaving the characters he meets into a narrative, with an attention to the minutiae of contemporary taste every bit as acute as that in Hogarth's 18th century paintings.
Grayson Perry is a great chronicler of contemporary life, drawing us in with wit, affecting sentiment and nostalgia as well as, at times, fear and anger. In his work, Perry tackles subjects that are universally human: identity, gender, social status, sexuality, religion. Autobiographical references – to the artist’s childhood, his family and his transvestism – can be read in tandem with questions about décor and decorum, class and taste, and the status of the artist versus that of the artisan.
The building is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English Gothic architecture. Its main body was completed in 38 years, from 1220 to 1258.
The spire, built in 1320, at 404 feet (123 m), has been the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom since 1561. Visitors can take the "Tower Tour", in which the interior of the hollow spire, with its ancient wooden scaffolding can be viewed. The cathedral has the largest cloister and the largest cathedral close in Britain at 80 acres (32 ha). It contains a clock which is among the oldest working examples in the world, and has one of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta.
As a response to deteriorating relations between the clergy and the military at Old Sarum Cathedral the decision was taken to re-site the cathedral, with the seat of the bishopric being moved to New Sarum, or Salisbury. The move occurred during the tenure of Richard Moore, 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. A legend tells that the Bishop of Old Sarum shot an arrow in the direction he would build the cathedral; the arrow hit a deer, which 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.
The foundation stones were laid on 28 April 1220 by William Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and by Ela of Salisbury, 3rd Countess of Salisbury. 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 skyline from 1320. Because most of the cathedral was built in only 38 years, it has a single consistent architectural style. 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.
Although the spire is the cathedral's most impressive feature, it has proved 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 and fallen down; instead, Salisbury became the tallest church spire in the country on the collapse at St Paul's (as the result of a fire) in 1561. 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 Sir Christopher Wren in 1668, halted further deformation. 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 the 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 and Ely. However, its medieval clock does strike the time with bells every 15 minutes.
GRAYSON PERRY EXHIBITION
Inside the cathedral (as you will see) was an exhibition by the artist GraySon Perry "The Vanity of Small Differences".
This is the description.
Grayson Perry's The Vanity of Small Differences tells the story of class mobility and the influence social class has on our aesthetic taste. Inspired by William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress the six tapestries, measuring 2m x 4m each, chart the 'class journey' made by young Tim Rakewell and include many of the characters, incidents and objects Grayson Perry encountered on journeys through Sunderland, Tunbridge Wells and The Cotswolds for the television series "All in the best possible taste with Grayson Perry"
The television programmes were first aired on Channel 4 in June 2012. In the series Perry goes on 'a safari amongst the taste tribes of Britain', to gather inspiration for his artwork, literally weaving the characters he meets into a narrative, with an attention to the minutiae of contemporary taste every bit as acute as that in Hogarth's 18th century paintings.
Grayson Perry is a great chronicler of contemporary life, drawing us in with wit, affecting sentiment and nostalgia as well as, at times, fear and anger. In his work, Perry tackles subjects that are universally human: identity, gender, social status, sexuality, religion. Autobiographical references – to the artist’s childhood, his family and his transvestism – can be read in tandem with questions about décor and decorum, class and taste, and the status of the artist versus that of the artisan.
STONEHENGE
The history of Stonehenge is long and too complex to describe here. I would recommend reading the book "Stonehenge" by Mike Parker Pearson.
The Stonehenge World Heritage Site we see today is the end result of several episodes of construction, after an intervening 4,000 years of destruction and decay. Various stones are fallen or missing, making the original plan difficult to understand.
EARTHWORK ENCLOSUREThe first major construction at Stonehenge was a circular ditch, with an internal bank and a smaller external bank, built about 3000 BC. Today the ditch and inner bank are visible as low earthworks in the grass, but the outer bank has largely been ploughed away. The ditch on the eastern side is deeper because this half was excavated in the 1920s.
There were two original entrances to the enclosure – a wide one to the north-east and a smaller one on the southern side. There are many more causeways and gaps in the circuit today, mostly the result of later tracks which once crossed the monument.
Set just inside the bank were 56 pits, known as the Aubrey Holes. About half of these have been excavated, and were marked in the 1920s with white concrete circles.
SARSEN TRILITHONS AND CIRCLEThe stones of the central cluster, brought to the site about 2500 BC, are of two types – the larger sarsens and the smaller bluestones. The sarsens were erected in two concentric arrangements.
The inner one is horseshoe of five trilithons (two vertical stones capped by a horizontal lintel). Of these, three complete trilithons still stand (one fell in 1797 and was re-erected in 1958), and two are partly fallen. Near the centre is the Altar Stone, which is mostly buried beneath the fallen stone of the tallest trilithon.
Around the horseshoe are the remains of the outer sarsen circle, capped with lintels. There were probably once 30 stones in this circle, but many have fallen and most of the lintels and a few uprights are missing from the site.
BLUESTONE SETTINGSStanding among the sarsens are the remains of the bluestone circle and inner oval. Some of the remaining stones were shaped to enable them to fit together: two have mortice holes, others have signs of tenons and some have grooves or tongues down their sides. This suggests that probably in this first arrangement there were some lintels and others stones that fitted together.
Today, some of the bluestones have fallen and others are just stumps – they seem to have been chipped and broken from an early date.
OTHER STONES AND AVENUEAround Stonehenge there are several outlying stones. Two of four ‘Station Stones’ remain in position, marking the corners of a rectangle. These may be related to the setting out of Stonehenge, or to the solstice alignment (see below).
Immediately outside the north-east entrance is the Heel Stone, a huge unshaped sarsen boulder. It may have been an early stone at the site, raised upright from its original position nearby. Also near the north-east entrance is the Slaughter Stone, a fallen sarsen that once stood upright with one or two other stones across the entrance causeway.
Extending from the entrance of the earthwork enclosure is the Avenue, built to connect Stonehenge with the river Avon and the small henge on its bank, discovered in 2008, at West Amesbury. Today it can be seen in part as low parallel banks enclosing a corridor about 12 metres wide.
ALIGNMENTS AT STONEHENGEThe main axis of the stones is aligned upon the solstitial axis. At midsummer, the sun rises over the horizon to the north-east, close to the Heel Stone. At midwinter, the sun sets in the south-west, in the gap between the two tallest trilithons, one of which has now fallen.
These times in the seasonal cycle were obviously important to the prehistoric people who built and used Stonehenge.
The Stonehenge World Heritage Site we see today is the end result of several episodes of construction, after an intervening 4,000 years of destruction and decay. Various stones are fallen or missing, making the original plan difficult to understand.
EARTHWORK ENCLOSUREThe first major construction at Stonehenge was a circular ditch, with an internal bank and a smaller external bank, built about 3000 BC. Today the ditch and inner bank are visible as low earthworks in the grass, but the outer bank has largely been ploughed away. The ditch on the eastern side is deeper because this half was excavated in the 1920s.
There were two original entrances to the enclosure – a wide one to the north-east and a smaller one on the southern side. There are many more causeways and gaps in the circuit today, mostly the result of later tracks which once crossed the monument.
Set just inside the bank were 56 pits, known as the Aubrey Holes. About half of these have been excavated, and were marked in the 1920s with white concrete circles.
SARSEN TRILITHONS AND CIRCLEThe stones of the central cluster, brought to the site about 2500 BC, are of two types – the larger sarsens and the smaller bluestones. The sarsens were erected in two concentric arrangements.
The inner one is horseshoe of five trilithons (two vertical stones capped by a horizontal lintel). Of these, three complete trilithons still stand (one fell in 1797 and was re-erected in 1958), and two are partly fallen. Near the centre is the Altar Stone, which is mostly buried beneath the fallen stone of the tallest trilithon.
Around the horseshoe are the remains of the outer sarsen circle, capped with lintels. There were probably once 30 stones in this circle, but many have fallen and most of the lintels and a few uprights are missing from the site.
BLUESTONE SETTINGSStanding among the sarsens are the remains of the bluestone circle and inner oval. Some of the remaining stones were shaped to enable them to fit together: two have mortice holes, others have signs of tenons and some have grooves or tongues down their sides. This suggests that probably in this first arrangement there were some lintels and others stones that fitted together.
Today, some of the bluestones have fallen and others are just stumps – they seem to have been chipped and broken from an early date.
OTHER STONES AND AVENUEAround Stonehenge there are several outlying stones. Two of four ‘Station Stones’ remain in position, marking the corners of a rectangle. These may be related to the setting out of Stonehenge, or to the solstice alignment (see below).
Immediately outside the north-east entrance is the Heel Stone, a huge unshaped sarsen boulder. It may have been an early stone at the site, raised upright from its original position nearby. Also near the north-east entrance is the Slaughter Stone, a fallen sarsen that once stood upright with one or two other stones across the entrance causeway.
Extending from the entrance of the earthwork enclosure is the Avenue, built to connect Stonehenge with the river Avon and the small henge on its bank, discovered in 2008, at West Amesbury. Today it can be seen in part as low parallel banks enclosing a corridor about 12 metres wide.
ALIGNMENTS AT STONEHENGEThe main axis of the stones is aligned upon the solstitial axis. At midsummer, the sun rises over the horizon to the north-east, close to the Heel Stone. At midwinter, the sun sets in the south-west, in the gap between the two tallest trilithons, one of which has now fallen.
These times in the seasonal cycle were obviously important to the prehistoric people who built and used Stonehenge.