Salisbury Cathedral

Tuesday morning after Jonny left for work, I slept off the rest of my jet lag and read my scriptures for the day.  Then I leisurely got dressed and ready.  I walked about 1/2 a mile to a local store called LIDL's Market.  I bought a loaf of nut bread, spreadable Nutella, and some juice boxes to carry along with me to save a bit of money instead of eating out.  The sky looked heavy with rain so I opted to walk another 1/2 mile or so to a larger store comparable to Walmart called Tesco for a rain coat or an umbrella.  There I wandered the aisles observing all the grocery and clothing items that were the same or different. 

After that, I caught the bus into Salisbury.  I enjoyed wandering through the town wondering how old was each building.  I could see the spire of the cathedral wherever I was in town and meandered my way through Salisbury until I reached it. 

Salisbury Cathedral started construction in the year 1220 and was dedicated in 1258 but they continued to add to it completing the tower and spire in the 1330's. It was by far, the most grand cathedral of those that I saw in England. It's spire is the tallest in England. It is still used for church services including worship and funerals. There was a funeral the day that I was there.  This cathedral was the inspiration behind the novel "Pillars of the Earth" (a fascinating book except that I had to throw it away after reading and skipping through to halfway because it was much too graphic).

 There is a room or gable off of the cathedral called the Chapter House which houses one of four remaining copies of the Magna Carta.  It is a room with a domed ceiling and beautiful stained glass windows.  Photographing was not permitted so I borrowed pictures off the internet.  The crown moulding of the very large room was a running timeline of sculptured stonework similar to the pictures carved around the top of the exterior Mesa Temple.  The pictures tell the stories of the Old Testament from Adam and Eve to the parting of the Red Sea.  I thought it was interesting that the Israelites were crossing the parted Red Sea in box wagons pulled by donkeys which is all that the local artistry of that time could have imagined.

The Magna Carta, a contributing precursor to our U.S. Constitution, was written in latin upon an animal skin.  The lettering was amazingly neat and straight, a work of art in itself.  They only recently discovered it in the last century hidden and preserved within the cathedral.  It is in the best condition of the four remaining copies as it was preserved flat and has no creases.  Elias Dereham was very involved in the negotiations that led to the writing of the Magna Carta.  He was also the mastermind behind the building of the Salisbury Cathedral and was charged with delivering at least 10 of the Magna Carta copies throughout England.  He made sure that the Salisbury Cathedral retained its own copy and is credited with preserving it so well.

Inside the cathedral is Europe's oldest clock.  (AD 1386)  It didn't display the time but gonged every hour.  It has "ticked" more than 5 million times since it was first built.

More pictures:  http://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/gallery.php