Salisbury - Table of Contents ......................Architecture Around the World

Miscellany - Salisbury, England
TEXT Beneath Illustrations


Click on illustrations for larger size -- and additional information

Poultry Cross

Poultry Cross

Tudor style half timbering

Dragon shape finial

Vase-shaped balustrade adorns oriel

Bell roof tops bow window

The Kings Head Inn.
Bridge Street

Row houses

Pedimented entrance hoodmolds

Clipped gable roof

Pointed Gothic door

Carved corbels

Terra cotta ridge crests and roof tiles

Terra cotta wall shingles

Terra cotta wall shingles

Terra cotta wall shingles

Battered brick buttress


Situated at the confluence of four rivers, the Avon, Bourne, Nadder and Wylye, with the Ebble joining 2 miles to the south, the medieval city of Salisbury (or New Sarum, to give it its official name) became established on its present site in 1220, when the former settlement at Old Sarum (known to the Romans as Sorbiodunum) was abandoned by the clergy and subsequently declined rapidly in importance.

This was due to the Norman decision to build both a castle and a cathedral on the site. There are reports of brawls between the soldiers and the clergy, and matters came to a head when soldiers terrorised the canons and kept them from the town.

In petitioning the Pope for permission to build a new cathedral elsewhere, the clergy used the excuse of weather and lack of water on the hill.

Gradually the new city replaced the old as a trading centre of regional importance. A garrison continued to be maintained at Old Sarum for some time after, but the old cathedral was demolished in 1327, with much of the stone being used for building the wall around the new Close.

The (new) city centre has traditionally been divided into two distinct areas, the Cathedral Close and the commercial area centred on the Market Place. This sense of there being two aspects to Salisbury, the ecclesiastical and the business, still exists today. This separation of 'God from Mammon' is in evidence today as the gates to the Cathedral Close are locked at 11.30pm every night through to 7.00 next morning..


Photos and their arrangement © 2003 Chuck LaChiusa
| ...Home Page ...| ..Buffalo Architecture Index...| ..Buffalo History Index... .|....E-Mail ...| ..

web site consulting by ingenious, inc.