Salisbury Cathedral (and its battlefield crosses)

I have seen a few cathedrals in my time and strangely always think that it would be hard to be impressed by yet another, but I found Salisbury more fascinating than most. The really engaging display boards throughout the cathedral helped, even with something as surprising as a display about the tools used to record the wind speed on the spire (complete with an utterly terrifying video showing the anemometer being changed).

Salisbury Cathedral

The cathedral has much to admire, including an astonishing modern cruciform font with water constantly overflowing; a rotating glass engraving of the cathedral in remembrance of Rex Whistler; an angel-like stainless steel figure by Anthony Gormley (a temporary installation); a beautifully decorated iron chapel; the oldest mechanical clock in the world from 1386 (superbly demonstrated); the astonishing medieval stone carved frieze in The Chapter House; and the comparatively new statue of Sudanese priest Canon Ezra on the West Front.

My family has long remembered a connection to the cathedral which goes back a century now. My grandmother, Hetty, was in service for the Fulton family at The Elms, 35 The Close, in the 1920s when she was in her late teens/early twenties.

One of Hetty’s duties while she worked for the family was to place flowers at the wooden crosses from the battlefields in the cloisters of Salisbury Cathedral for the two sons of Helen Fulton (formerly Dodgson) that had been killed during the First World War. The cathedral was just a short walk across the lawns from the rear of the house but even in the 1990s Hetty still vividly remembered it being just a little creepy in the evenings when she had to perform this duty.

Battlefield crosses in the cloisters at Salisbury Cathedral

It was interesting to see the crosses for myself. Sad to see that one of the crosses was stolen in 2015 and has since been replaced with a replica.

An added bonus to anyone visiting Salisbury Cathedral over the summer is a wonderful exhibition of Grayson Perry’s tapestries The Vanity of Small Differences in Salisbury Cathedral (29 June-25 September 2022).

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A summer weekend in Salisbury

I have long meant to visit Salisbury, after changing trains there on many an occasion, but it has taken over 30 years to get around to this. I wondered why after a day of marvelous sightseeing at Salisbury Cathedral; The Rifles (Berkshire and Wiltshire) Museum; The Salisbury Museum; and Arundells, the fascinating home of former Prime Minister Ted Heath. Astonishing that all of these are within a minute’s walk of each other!

The Wardrobe, home to The Rifles (Berkshire and Wiltshire) Museum

We also made sure to stop by the nearby church of St Thomas of Beckett to see the rather remarkable doom painting (1475) which shows the good folk being raised to heaven and the damned being sent to hell. Hard to imagine what it must have been like worshipping with that scene confronting you every Sunday! Perhaps it is no wonder that they whitewashed it and left it hidden for centuries…

On our second day we made the trip out to Old Sarum, the location of the original cathedral, then followed that up with a wonderful guided tour of Longford Castle, home of the Earl of Radnor. The Radnor/Pleydell-Bouverie family name will be familiar to anyone from Folkestone, having influenced the development of the town in the 18th-19th centuries and long been woven into its history.

The astonishing art collection at Longford Castle was terrific to enjoy at close quarters, with the display in the round parlour a particular delight. You can particularly appreciate the importance of their connection with the National Gallery seeing the quality of works that are still in the collection, and those which are now in the possession of the National Gallery. An external view of the stunning and unusual castle buildings and gardens capped off a wonderful afternoon.

Thank you to Alexandra and Debbie for such an informative guided visit, and to the family for allowing access to their home for such tours.

Longford Castle

During our short stay in Salisbury we lodged in very comfortable rooms at The White Hart Hotel and enjoyed some superb food at The Chapter House, just down the road. The Chapter House offers a delicious British menu with a South African twist which I can thoroughly recommend (especially the traditional South African bobotie).

PS. The trip had a surprise or two – but none more so than the discovery of a statue of archaeologist Phil Harding, famous from almost 20 years on Time Team, at Salisbury Museum!

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