InfoBritain

 

Old Sarum, Wiltshire

Iron Age ramparts at Old Sarum

Since the earliest times people have sought security. The earliest type of castle consisted of circular banks and ditches surrounding a hill top. But even the strongest castle could not stop accident, disease, poor weather, or old age. So people sought a wider spiritual security, and it seemed sensible that religious sites they built in pursuit of this should mimic their castles. Like castle religious sites consisted of banks and ditches, as can be seen at Stonehenge, or at Avebury. Castles tried to enhance ditch and bank defences by topping them with palisades of wooden uprights. Similarly religious sites used representative lines of wooden stakes, or later, standing stones. This combination of military and religious architecture is still seen today in the representative battlements and castle-like towers of churches.

The combined pursuit of military and spiritual security is very clear at Old Sarum in Wiltshire. According to English Heritage, the outer banks and ditches at Old Sarum were built around 400BC. These ditches enclosed an area of about twenty nine acres. This was an area to which the local population could retreat in times of danger. The castle overlooked fields and pasture, and it was from these fertile areas that people would have fled when trouble threatened. When not being used as a fort it is likely Old Sarum was used as a market area, trading in the goods grown and made locally. It is also possible, according to English Heritage, that the castle was actually used as a religious site. Castles often played this dual role, confirming the early link between military and religious architecture.

When the Romans invaded in AD43 the society that created Old Sarum came to an end. And yet Old Sarum continued to be occupied throughout the Roman period. To quote English Heritage it has been suggested that "walls uncovered beneath the inner bailey belonged to a Romano-British temple and that here, as at South Cadbury (Somerset), an Iron Age hill fort was adopted as a religious centre." Equally likely was the continued use of the site as a fortification. Old Sarum, then, continued as a combined military and religious site. When the Romans left at the end of the fifth century there is evidence from the Anglo Saxon Chronicle that while Old Sarum served as a temple for the Romano British, it also continued to serve as a fortress in their struggle against Saxon invaders. A battle is mentioned at the castle in 552, which resulted in the British being defeated. Then in their turn the Saxons used Old Sarum as a fortress in their struggle with Scandinavian invaders. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle records that in 1003 during Etheldred the Unready's (978 - 1016) war with Sweyn, King of Denmark, Sweyn took refuge at Old Sarum after destroying Exeter and Wilton.

 

Norman ramparts

The next major development at Old Sarum took place following the Norman Conquest of 1066. William The Conqueror built motte and bailey castles all over England to consolidate his successful invasion. These castles consisted of tall mounds with a wooden enclosure on the top. The pre-existing fortifications at Old Sarum made it an ideal place to build new defences in relative safety. Old Sarum was one of the first Norman Castles built, and probably dates to around 1069 - 1070. Early buildings would have been made of wood, with stone buildings constructed in the reign of William the Conqueror's youngest son, Henry I (1100 - 1135). A residence for Henry I was built here. The castle was also home to Roger of Sarum, Henry's chief minister, and the man who acted as regent when the king was abroad. Some of Henry's stone buildings survive as ruined walls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outline of cathedral foundations

The castle was routinely maintained through the reign of Henry's successor King Stephen, before becoming a major royal castle again during the reign of Henry II (1154 - 1189). Henry's queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine was probably kept under house arrest at Old Sarum during the 1170s for inciting her sons to rebel against their father. It was at this time that the first cathedral was built at Old Sarum, continuing the long link between military and religious functions. Eventually, however, the practical difficulties of having a cathedral and surrounding town at Old Sarum would make themselves felt. These difficulties began to outweigh the symbolic value of an ancient magic circle of protective ramparts. Water was difficult to move up to Old Sarum, and its high, exposed position meant that it was unusually windy. Military and religious architecture might express the same desire for security, but that did not mean that soldiers and priests would get on. There was a dispute between the two which hastened the clergy's decision to move. In 1220 it was decided to relocate the cathedral to "New Sarum," or Salisbury. The move began in 1226 and continued until the 1260s, with stone from the old cathedral used in building the new. Even though Old Sarum's cathedral was taken away, the military architectural link remained in the new Salisbury Cathedral, which had symbolic towers and battlements included in its design.

 

Fortified entrance to Salisbury Cathedral Close

Back at Old Sarum, the castle and surrounding town struggled on, until 1514 when Henry VIII gave Thomas Compton, one of his officials, the right to carry away all stone from buildings at Old Sarum. Old Sarum was abandoned, though it continued to send an MP to Westminster, and was one of the most well known of rotten boroughs used by government to manipulate parliamentary business. Only the Reform Act of 1832 finally ended this practice. But even as Old Sarum lost its MP, interest in the site revived, as a place of picturesque beauty. Both John Constable and Joseph Turner painted Old Sarum.

People continue to visit Old Sarum today, and money is spent on its upkeep, because it retains that old symbolic resonance which made it a reassuring place for our distant ancestors.

Many items recovered at Old Sarum are now on display at Salisbury And South Wiltshire Museum, in Salisbury.

 

 

 

 

Model of Old Sarum before the move to Salisbury

 

Directions: Old Sarum is two miles north of Salisbury off the A345. Click here for an interactive map centred on Old Sarum. Click on the satellite view for a great image of Old Sarum from above.

Address: Old Sarum, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 3SD

Opening Times: Old Sarum is open daily, all year, except for Christmas Bank Holidays, and New Year's Day. Opening times vary as follows:

21st March to 30th June 10am - 5pm.

July and August 9am - 6pm. September 10am - 5pm.

October 10am - 4pm.

1st November - 28th February 11am - 4pm.

March 10am - 4pm.

Access: The site is generally accessible to people with mobility problems. Access to the shop is via a ramp. Paths are graveled. There are slopes. Adapted toilet facilities are provided.

Contact:

telephone: 01722 335398

web site: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.16426