Inside Salisbury: The discovery at Salisbury Cathedral
Connecting the past to the present in Salisbury
By Annette J Beveridge
Stripping back the layers of history, caring about our medieval roots and revealing facts about our rivers, nature, and the people who reside here makes working on Inside Salisbury a passion.
The more I look into these key elements, the greater the connection I have with the city and beyond.
New discoveries are being made all the time.
The most recent discovery may not be the biggest in the history of the Cathedral but it is important to the fabric of our city and connects us to those early dwellers who helped shape this city.
Annette J Beveridge
Email: contact@insidesalisbury.uk
Carved stones from Old Sarum revealed within Salisbury Cathedral walls
SALISBURY Cathedral has more than 800 years of history in its current location but its origins were based at Old Sarum. Turn our attention back to 1218, and the Bishop of Salisbury chose to abandon the cathedral there and to move down the Avon to the location where the Cathedral is today.
Some of those early building blocks were used in the building of the Cathedral as we know it today but recently some of those original stones were discovered in its walls.
The discovery occurred due to work repairs.
Salisbury Cathedral’s Head Mason Lee Andrews said: "It’s exciting when you uncover a carved stone that was once from the original Old Sarum Cathedral, seeing the tool marks and moulding being so well preserved in the mortar and all that craftmanship has been hidden away for 800 years.
The well-preserved stones were found with the decorative parts turned inwards, and this protected those important decorative features from the elements.
Lee Andrews added: “At some point, we will be making a shelter for them to go on display in the works department."
