Salisbury Cathedral

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Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral from the northeast
Basic information
Location	Salisbury
Full name	Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
County	Wiltshire
Country	England
Ecclesiastical information
Denomination	Church of England
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	Salisbury
Diocese created	1220
Website	www.salisburycathedral.org.uk
Building information
Dates built	1220-1320
Architectural style	Early English Gothic
Height (choir)	25.6m
Towers	1
Tower height(s)	63.8m (without spire)
Spires	1
Spire height(s)	123m

Salisbury Cathedral
Information
Location	Salisbury,England
Status	Complete
Constructed	1220-1258(tower, spire, chapter house added by 1315
Height
Antenna/Spire	123m/404ft*

Salisbury Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture.^[1] The main body was completed in only 38 years.

The cathedral has the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom (123m/404ft). Visitors can take the "Tower Tour" where the interior of the hollow spire, with its ancient wood scaffolding, can be viewed. The cathedral also has the largest cloisterand the largest cathedral close in Britain (80 acres).^[1] The Cathedral contains the world's oldest working clock (from AD 1386) and has one of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta (all four original copies are in Britain).^[1] Although commonly known as Salisbury Cathedral, the official name is the Cathedral of Saint Mary. In 2008, the cathedral is celebrating the 750th anniversary of its consecration in 1258.^[2]

It is the Mother Church of the Diocese of Salisbury, and seat of the Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt. Revd. David Stancliffe.

Contents  [hide] 1 History 1.1 Chapter House and Magna Carta 1.2 Clock 1.3 Choir 1.4 Depictions in art, literature and film 2 Organs and Organists 2.1 Organ 2.2 Organists 3 Gallery 4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External links

History

This sculpture on the west front of the Cathedral is ofBishop Poore, who oversaw the early years of its construction, beginning in 1220. He is holding a modelof the Cathedral.

As a response to deteriorating relations between the clergy and the military at Old Sarum, the decision was taken to resite the cathedral and the bishopric was moved to its present place in Salisbury.^[3] The move occurred during the tenure of Bishop Richard Poore, who was a wealthy man and donated the new land for construction. The new cathedral was also paid for by donations, principally by all the canons and vicars of the south-west, who were asked to contribute a fixed annual sum until its completion.^[4]. Legend has it that the Bishop of Old Sarum shot an arrow in the direction he would build the cathedral, the arrow hit a deer and the deer finally died in the place where Salisbury Cathedral is now.

The foundation stone was laid on 28 April 1220.^[5] 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, transeptsand 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 Cloisters, Chapter house, tower andspire, which at 404 feet (123 metres) dominated the skyline from 1320. Whilst 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. Without the addition ofbuttresses, 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 rood 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 plan shows the doubletransepts with aisles and extended east end, but not the cloisters or chapter house.

Chapter House and Magna Carta

The chapter house is notable for its octagonal shape, slender central pillar and decorative mediæval 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 andJacob. 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 atRunnymede 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.

Clock

Main article: Salisbury cathedral clock

The clock dating from about 1386 is the oldest working medieval clock in the world.^[6] 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. 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.^[7]