Salisbury Cathedral
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Salisbury Cathedral in the early morning light. |
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Salisbury Cathedral from the Bishop's Grounds by John Constable c.1825. |
Salisbury Cathedral is an
Anglican cathedral located in
Salisbury,
United Kingdom. The cathedral boasts the tallest church spire in the UK, the largest
cloister in England, and one of the four surviving original copies of
Magna Carta.
Building commenced when the
bishopric was moved to Salisbury from
Old Sarum in
1220 during the tenure of
Richard Poore. Due to the high water table in the new location, the cathedral was built on only four feet of foundations, and by
1258 the
nave,
transepts and
choir were complete. The west front was ready by
1265. The cloisters and chapter house were completed around
1280. Because the cathedral was built in only 38 years, Salisbury Cathedral has a single consistent architectural style,
Early English Gothic.
The only major sections of the cathedral built later were the
tower and
spire, which at 404
feet (123
metres) dominated the skyline from
1320. While the spire is the cathedral's most impressive feature, it has also proved to be troublesome. Together with the tower, it added 6,397 tons (6,500 tonnes) to the weight of the building and but for the addition of
buttresses, bracing arches and
iron ties over the succeeding centuries, it would have suffered the fate of spires on other great ecclesiastical buildings (such as
Malmesbury Abbey) and fallen down; instead, Salisbury is the tallest surviving pre-1400 spire in the world. To this day the large supporting
pillars at the corners of the spire are seen to bend inwards under the strain. The addition of tie beams above the
crossing led to a false ceiling being 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
choir screen and demolition of the
bell tower which stood about 320 feet (100 metres) north west 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. The organ was built in 1877 by
Henry Willis & Sons.
The cathedral is the subject of famous
paintings by
John Constable. The view depicted in the paintings has changed very little in almost two centuries.
The
chapter house is notable for its octagonal shape, slender central pillar and decorative medieval
frieze. The frieze circles the interior, just 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 the
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. Later, Elias became a
Canon of Salisbury and supervised the construction of Salisbury Cathedral.
Image:Font_At_Salisbury.jpg|The Font of Salisbury.Image:Salisbury 01.jpg|Image:Salisbury 02.jpg|One of the oldest working clocks in the world.Image:Salisbury 03.jpg|Image:Salisbury 04.jpg|*
List of tallest churches*
Photographs of Salisbury Cathedral*
Panoramic Tour*
Official website*
Adrian Fletcher's Paradoxplace â€" Salisbury Cathedral and Magna Carta Page
