In the great plain of Salisbury the Conqueror, in 1070, passed a review
of his army, just flushed with their victories in the neighbourhood. On
the completion of his great survey, the "Doomsday Book," in 1086, he
here at Salisberie, as he renamed the city, received the homage and oath
of allegiance from the English landlords. Till the year 1217 the See
remained at Old Sarum, and even after the complete depopulation and the
demolition of every house of this ancient Roman site, it still was
represented regularly at Parliament by two members till the year 1832.
The reasons that led to the choice of the new site by Bishop Poore were
the many advantages offered, especially the abundance of water by New
Sarum, as it was called, as set against the exposure to the stormy winds
which it was alleged went even so far as to drown the voice of the
officiating priest, the congestion of houses within its narrow limits,
the difficulty of procuring water, and finally the despotism of the
governor at Old Sarum. To rid himself of these inconveniences, Bishop
Poore procured the papal authority to the removal of the Cathedral from
Old Sarum to its present site in the year 1218, though not till the
Reformation was the service discontinued in the old buildings.
By then New Sarum had reaped the full benefit of the new conditions and
surroundings. Though only two miles away, the old place, in proportion
to the rising of the new township, sank to a few inhabitants, loth
perhaps to part with old associations.
The first building to appear in New Sarum, or Salisbury as we shall
henceforth call it, seems to have been the wooden chapel of St. Mary,
the erection of which was commenced in the Easter of the year 1219. This
was followed in the year 1220 by the foundation of the new cathedral as
planned by Bishop Poore. It was completed and dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin Mary in 1258. The ground-plan is that of a Greek or double cross.
With the slight exceptions of the upper part of the tower and the spire,
which belong to a later date, the entire fabric represents the purest
style of the Early English architecture. The cloisters, built by Bishop
Walter de la Wyle, are the largest and most magnificent of any in the
kingdom. They are of the late Early English style, and took, with the
addition of the Chapter House by the same prelate, from 1263 till 1274
to complete.
[Illustration: SALISBURY