Salisbury Day 2

I went back to Salisbury today, this time driving from the campsite instead of taking the bus to give me more flexibility and longer to visit. My first stop was to visit Figsbury Ring for a walk (first extra photo). This site, owned and managed by the National Trust, is the remains of an Iron Age hill fort, though some believe it may have started out as a henge. The views over the Salisbury plain were beautiful but it was quite windy!

I drove on to Salisbury and spent the rest of the day there. The main picture shows various scenes from the area around the cathedral - the almshouses, City Gate, the west side of the cathedral itself, a crooked black and white building and a temporary art installation of 90 umbrellas and 10 doves brightening up the high street (and maybe distracting from some ugly scaffolding also very present there!)

I made my way back to the Cathedral, had lunch, and then went on one of the free tours that they start every few minutes with just a handful of people. I can tell that the content of the tour will probably change depending on which guide you get, which is nice - I’ll make sure I do another one when I get the chance to visit again. I had already visited the Magna Carta exhibit yesterday - the cathedral has one of the only 4 remaining copies of the document. Not only does the cathedral have the tallest spire in Britain, but it also has the largest cloisters in England (second extra photo). The other two pictures in this collage are of the choir area and the High Alter, with the Prisoner of Conscience window behind it.

After my tour of the Cathedral, I had just enough time to cross the cathedral close to visit Mompesson House, an 18th century townhouse now owned by the National Trust (third extra photo). I toured the house, once occupied by artist Barbara Townsend, and also used in the filming of ‘Sense & Sensibility’ - especially the bedroom shown in the picture. The house also has a tranquil garden where I enjoyed tea and cake before heading back to the cathedral for Evensong, sitting just behind the choir in the centre of the cathedral. Not quite ready to leave after that, I spent another hour or so looking at some of the historic buildings around the cathedral, enjoying a quieter atmosphere with most of the tourists and shoppers having already left.

By this time I was plenty tired and ready to head ‘home’ to the campsite but I still feel like there’s plenty more to see in this city, so I’m sure I’ll be back soon!