The Cathedral City of Salisbury and Old Sarum

The magnificent medieval city of Salisbury and its world famous Cathedral and spire will be brought to life in this tour with tales of saints and sinners, rich merchants, Kings and Bishops and the occasional ghost. Salisbury stands alone as an historic city founded in 1220 when the Cathedral moved to its present site. Once, one of the wealthiest cities in the country it has a rich architectural heritage heritage. You will discover the halls of rich wool merchants, one of which is now the world's oldest cinema foyer and the late Gothic church of St Thomas which contains the recently restored medieval doom painting depicting the last judgement. The exclusive Cathedral Close, the home of elegant Georgian houses built on earlier medieval canonries is dominated by the the sublime Gothic masterpiece which is Salisbury Cathedral and its famous 123 meter spire. Inside are to be found the World's oldest working clock and one of four surviving copies of the Magna Carta, along with many other treasures.

The tour starts at Old Sarum, the Iron Age hill fort just outside Salisbury where the first Cathedral was built. We then make our way to the City & the impressive market place which dates back to 1227 & is dominated by the 18th-century Guildhall from which the City was governed and justice administered. Proceeding alongside the River Avon we will visit St Thomas's Church and the incomparable doom painting. A short walk via the cinema, home of John Halle's house, brings us to the fortified Gate, the entrance to the cloistered world of the elegant Cathedral Close. Having viewed from the Close, the sublime symmetry of the Early English Gothic Cathedral and spire we will go inside via the largest cloisters in the country. There, the impact of the stunning simplicity of this beautiful building can be fully appreciated. Apart from its many treasures, we will see how the weight of the spire has bent the stone pillars supporting it! Finally, we will visit the 14th-century Chapter House and home to the Magna Carta