“The visitor who sees it first on a bright day can never forget the impression it has made on his mind. Unlike the architects of the so-called ‘Great Gothic Revival,’ the builders of Salisbury put their trust in proportion. Incidentally they made their details as elaborate and as perfect as possible; but they were subordinated to the general effect, and when, during the frightful ravages of the ‘restorers,’ let loose upon the church in the past and present centuries, many of the best and most precious of these details and ornaments perished or were renewed, the main building survives, raising its exquisitely graceful spire into the blue sky, its thousand pinnacles all pointing upward and gleaming white against the deep green of the old trees and the emerald turf of the surrounding close. England can show no fairer sight. ‘How long,’ asked an American visitor, ‘does it take to grow such turf?’ ‘Oh! not long,’ was the reply; ‘only a couple of centuries.’ One feels at Salisbury that whether the answer was given there or at Oxford, of no place could it be more true. Though, when we look near enough, we can see that fresh and white as is the general effect, the masonry of Salisbury is of great antiquity, except of course where it has been restored; and antiquity adds another charm, for Salisbury was the first complete cathedral built after the Romanesque tradition had died out, as St. Paul’s is the first built after it had been revived. In other cathedrals there are fragments of the same style, and they are always the most

beautiful features of the whole building. We can recall the western porch at Ely, and the Angel Choir at Lincoln, and the chapter-house at Southwell; but, here, at Salisbury, we have the whole vast cathedral, all in the same supreme style, every part fitting into its place, and adding its contribution to the general effect, never in contrast but always in harmony until the effect is attained. What that is may be read in countless books of travel or criticism. Salisbury Cathedral, like the Parthenon and all other—there are not many—buildings which tempt one to call them poems in stone—produces a different feeling in the minds of all who see it.”—(W. J. L.)

“The history of no English cathedral is so clear and so readily traceable as that of Salisbury. It was the first great church built in England in what was then the new or pointed style (Early English); of which it still remains, as a whole, one of the finest and most complete examples. The Abbey Church of Westminster, commenced in 1245, and completed to the east end of the choir in 1269, is the only great building of this age in England which can be considered finer than Salisbury; and it is probable that Henry III. was induced to undertake the rebuilding of Westminster from admiration of the rising glories of the new Wiltshire cathedral, which he had several times visited. On the Continent, the great rival of Salisbury is Amiens; commenced in the same year (1220) and completed, nearly as at present, in 1272.

“The usual alterations took place in Salisbury Cathedral at the Reformation, when much of the painted glass is said to have been removed by Bishop Jewell. Although desolate and abandoned, it escaped material profanation during the Civil War, and workmen were even employed to keep it in repair. On the Restoration, a report of the general condition of the cathedral was supplied by Sir Christopher Wren, and certain additions for the strengthening of the spire were made at his recommendation. The great work of destruction was reserved for a later period and more competent hands. Under Bishop Barrington (1782-1791) the architect Wyatt was, unhappily, let loose upon Salisbury; and his untiring use of axe and hammer will stand a very fair comparison with the labours of an iconoclast emperor, or with the burning zeal of an early Mohammedan caliph. He swept away screens, chapels and porches; desecrated and destroyed the tombs of warriors and prelates; obliterated ancient paintings; flung stained glass by cartloads into the city ditch; and levelled with the ground the Campanile—of the same date as the Cathedral itself—which stood on the north side of the churchyard. His operations at the time were pronounced ‘tasteful, effective and judicious.’ The best point of view is from the north-east, which Rickman has pronounced ‘the best general view of a cathedral to be had in England, displaying the various portions of this interesting building to the greatest advantage.’ The Cathedral is built (and roofed) throughout with freestone obtained from the Chilmark quarries, situated about twelve miles from Salisbury towards Hendon, and still worked. The stone belongs to the Portland beds of the oÖlite. The pillars and pilasters of the interior are of Purbeck marble. The local rhyme in which the cathedral is celebrated may here be quoted; it is attributed by Godwin, who gives a Latin version of it, to a certain Daniel Rogers:

The great point to which the attention of the stranger is at once drawn is, of course, the grand peculiarity of Salisbury, the ‘silent finger’ of its spire. This is the loftiest in England, rising 400 feet above the pavement (Chichester said, but very doubtfully, to have been built in imitation of it, is 271 feet in height; Norwich 313 feet) and its summit is 30 feet above the top of St. Paul’s.”—(R. J. K.)

“Much has been written on the beauty of the Cathedral church of Salisbury, the chastity of its style and the purity of its detail. The east end may be said to display the utmost refinement of the Early English era. Every subordinate feature is so perfectly disposed, so admirably carried out and adapted to its purpose, so necessary to the full effect of the whole, so simple and yet so rich, that nothing, even by the most critical, can be found wanting there or considered de trop. The northern side is scarcely less perfect; the simple lancet openings of its eastern transept, the more fully developed quatrefoils of the central gable and the still more advanced northern porch beyond these, all mark the progress of construction. At the intersection rises the still later tower and spire, the final limb of the whole, on an embattled lower stage of earlier date. It is rich to the utmost limit. Every ballflower, every projecting shaft and moulding sparkles for itself and casts its own diminutive shadow upon its fellow, entirely relieving the wall-surface of that flatness which is and must be the fault in every view purporting to suggest its elegance. The church stands alone; like a model of itself; in its entirety perhaps the most stately of which we can boast.”—(A. A.)

“The first thing to be noticed in Salisbury is the ample breadth of the space in which its cathedral stands, the beauty of which space is enhanced by rows and avenues of magnificent trees; so that it is difficult to conceive a more appropriate enclosure in which to find ‘the most chaste of English’ churches. Salisbury covers no less than eight acres of ground.

“Entering from the High Street, the visitor finds himself almost in another township. A street lined with houses conducts to the Cathedral lawn, where from the north-eastern extremity the full proportions of the church may be comprehended. The whole north side of the close is thus open. On the east we find another gateway and the entrance to the Palace; on the other side the Choristers’ Green, in itself another little close. The west is occupied by a group of interesting and extremely handsome houses of various dates. Here are the Deanery, standing in its own grounds opposite the Cathedral faÇade; the King’s House, a long, many-gabled mansion of the early Fifteenth Century, with mullioned windows and a vaulted porch, the occasional resting-place of the English monarchs on their passage through Salisbury; and the Wardrobe, distinguished by its heavy roof, its projecting double gables, and the immense square windows, back and front, through which the evening sun penetrates with a curious half-ghostly gleam. These form the most effective line of buildings of the enclosure, which at this least trim but not the less picturesque side, terminates at the Harnham Gate.”—(A. A.)

“The Early English portion, however, terminates with the first story, about eight feet above the roof; the two additional stories and the spire above them date from the reign of Edward III. The walls of the upper stories of the tower are covered with a blind arcade, richly canopied, and pierced for light with double windows on all four sides. Above each story is a parapet with lozenge-shaped traceries, which are repeated in the three bands encircling the spire. At each angle of the tower is an octagonal stair-turret, crowned with a small crocketed spire. The great spire, itself octagonal, rises from between four small richly-decorated pinnacles. Its walls are two feet in thickness from the bottom to a height of twenty feet; from thence to the summit their thickness is only nine inches. The spire is filled with a remarkable frame of timber-work, which served as a scaffold during its erection. While making some repairs in 1762, the workmen found a cavity on the south side of the capstone in which was a leaden box, enclosing a second of wood which contained a piece of much decayed silk or fine linen, no doubt a relic (possibly of the Virgin, to whom the cathedral is dedicated) placed there in order to avert lightning and tempest.”—(R. J. K.)

“The interior is indeed very fine. It could hardly help being fine; a nave so spacious and so proportioned could under no circumstances be a failure. It is immensely high and as long in proportion. The proportion of height to span (2? to 1) is better than in most English churches. The harmony of the design—practically the same from east to west and from north to south—is unique in England, and is most impressive. The charming way, too, in which the architect has contrived that we should have a vista of another miniature church in the Lady-Chapel—a cathedral within a cathedral—is worthy of all commendation. But, as in Lincoln nave, to the eye every support is alarmingly insufficient for the work it has to do; the piers are too tall and slender, the walls too thin and pierced with too many openings. The triforium is a most unfortunate design: in harmony neither with the arcade below, nor with the clerestory above; its outer arches ugly in themselves and discordant with every other arch in the church; nor could it be expected that its dark marble shafts would tell against a dark background—black on black. Add to this the dreadfully new look of everything—partly due to the very perfection of the masonry, partly because Scott has been here—and the overpowering glare: one almost feels as if one were in the Crystal Palace.”—(F. B.)

“The effigy is entirely in chain-mail, covering the mouth as well as the chin in an unusual manner. Over the mail is the short cyclas, or surcoat. On the earl’s shield are the six golden lioncels also borne by his grandfather Geoffrey, Count of Anjou. LongespÉe acquired the earldom of Salisbury through marriage with its heiress, the Countess Ela. He took an active part in public affairs throughout the reign of John; joined the Earl of Chester in an expedition to the Holy Land, and was present at the battle of Damietta in 1221, where the Christians were defeated. He fought much in Flanders and in France; was present on the King’s side at Runnymede; and was one of the witnesses to the Great Charter.”—(R. J. K.)

“passing under the wide Perpendicular arch, which (as at Canterbury and Wells) was inserted early in the Fifteenth Century by way of counter-thrust against the weight of the central tower, under which the central piers had already given away to some extent, as will be at once perceived. It is owing to this settlement of the piers that the spire is out of the perpendicular. The triforium and clerestory of the nave are carried round the transept; the triforium on the north side, being replaced by two-light window of very elegant character. The clerestory window above, with its slender pilasters, and graceful flow of lines, deserves especial notice. Each transept has an eastern aisle divided by clustered piers into three bays. The screens which formerly enclosed the chapel in each of these bays were swept away by Wyatt. A staircase in the angle of the transept leads upward to the tower, which may be ascended by staircases in each of its flanking turrets. The top of the tower is called the Eight Doors, from the double doors on each side, through which the visitor will obtain magnificent views over the town and surrounding country. The first story of the tower is of Early English date, and originally formed a lantern, open to the nave. It is surrounded by an arcade of slender pilasters. The ascent of the spire—which is a formidable undertaking—is made internally by a series of slender ladders as far as a little door about forty feet below the vane, and from that point the adventurous climber has to scale the outside by means of hooks attached to the walls. The interior is filled with a timber frame consisting of a central piece with arms and braces.”—(R. J. K.)

“The Choir and Presbytery are very similar to the nave in the main features of their design. The piers show a different plan, which provides for eight shafts of Purbeck marble to each. The inner mouldings of the arches exhibit the dog-tooth ornamentation of their period. The triforium and clerestory differ slightly from the corresponding parts of the nave. In each of the last two bays of the presbytery the triforium has five small cinquefoil arches. At the east wall of the choir above the reredos is an arcade of five simply-pointed arches, below a triplet window in the gable, which is filled with stained glass, given by the Earl of Radnor in 1781, and representing The Brazen Serpent, after a design by Mortimer.

“The choir still bears traces of Wyatt’s destruction. He removed the original reredos behind the high altar and the screen before the Lady-Chapel, so that both, with the low eastern aisle, were thrown into the choir. He shifted the high altar from the choir to the extreme east end of the Lady-Chapel, sacrificing several chantries and tombs to do so. Views of the cathedral after his reign of terror fail to show any gain to compensate for so much loss; the extreme length is not apparently an advantage, while the bare look of the interior seems decidedly intensified by the increased vista that he was so delighted to obtain, and for which, with a light heart, he effaced the silent records of dead centuries. The decorations of the roof of the choir and presbytery are reproductions of the original series of paintings, dating, it is thought, from the Thirteenth Century. The subjects are the prophets and saints, Christ and the four Evangelists and the twelve months.”—(G. W.)

“All the details of this remarkable monument deserve the most careful examination. The effigy, at the head of which are small figures of censing angels, lies beneath a canopy, supported north and south by two open arches with quatrefoils in the heads. Each arch is subdivided by a central pilaster, and springs from clustered shafts, detached. A triangular hood-moulding, with crockets and finials of leafage, projects above each arch; and between and beyond the arches pilasters rise to the top of the canopy, supporting finials of very excellent design. The whole character of the tomb is most graceful, but an especial interest is given to it by the reliefs with which the spandrels of the arches are filled, and by the small sculptured figures on various parts of the monument. The subjects, beginning on the south side, have been thus interpreted. The first, a female figure with an infant and attendants, represents the birth of the future bishop: in the three next spandrels are his confirmation; either his own education or his instruction of others; and, possibly, his first preferment. The shield hung from a tree in this compartment, bears Az., a cross, or, between 4 bezants, no doubt his own arms. On the north side of the monument are the bishop doing homage for his see—a procession with a cross-bearer, perhaps referring to the dedication of Salisbury Cathedral—the bishop’s death and the presentation of his soul for judgment. Little or nothing is known of the life of Bishop Bridport.”—(R. J. K.)

“The fragments that survived were collected some fifty years since, and placed in the nave windows, and in parts of some of the others. The most important are in the great west triple lancet, wherein the glass ranges in date from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century. Mr. Winston, in his Paper read in 1849 before the ArchÆological Institute and printed in the Salisbury volume for that year, considered that the earliest fragments are from a Stem of Jesse about 1240 and some medallions about 1270. He describes two of the ovals that are on each side of the throned bishop, a prominent figure in the lower half of the central light, one of the Christ enthroned, the other of the Virgin. The two medallions below them he believes represent Zacharias in the Temple and the Adoration of the Magi. The later glass now in the same window may be either Flemish work brought hither from Dijon, or possibly partly from Rouen, and partly from a church near Exeter. It has been conjectured that in the south lancet the figures represent SS. Peter and Francis, in the central one the Crucifixion, the Coronation of the Virgin and the Invention of the Cross, and in the north light the Betrayal of Christ and St. Catherine. In two of the side windows of the nave are the arms of John Aprice (1555-1558) and Bishop Jewell (1562).”—(G. W.)

“The architecture is somewhat later in style than that of the cloisters, and if it be not, as its admirers claim, the most beautiful in England, it has few rivals. Like Westminster, Wells and other English examples, except York and Southwell, it has a central pillar, from which the groining of the roof springs gracefully in harmonious lines. A raised bench of stone runs round the interior. At its back forty-nine niches of a canopied arcade borne on slight Purbeck marble shafts marked out as many seats. They are apportioned as follows: those at each side of the entrance to the Chancellor and Treasurer respectively, the rest to the Bishop, Dean, Archdeacons and other members of the chapter.

“The plan of the building is octagonal, about fifty-eight feet in diameter and fifty-two feet in height. Each side has a large fan-light window with traceried head. Below these windows and above the canopies of the seats is a very remarkable series of bas-reliefs. The bosses of the roof are somewhat elaborately carved: one north of the west doorway has groups of figures on it, apparently intended to represent armourers, musicians, and apothecaries, possibly commemorating guilds who were benefactors to the building; the others have foliage chiefly with grotesque monsters. On the base of the central

pillar is a series of carvings taken probably from one of the many books of fables so popular in the Middle Ages. These were reproduced from the originals, which are preserved in the cloisters.”—(G. W.)