Old Sarum

I’ve been staying in Salisbury at a campsite in the northern part of the city. The campsite is at the foot of Old Sarum which is an iron-age hillfort and later a medieval city and castle. It is the original location of the city of Salisbury (or New Sarum).

I woke up to a lovely foggy morning so I went out on a sunrise walk and wound my way up the hill, enjoying the beautiful views below, blanketed in a layer of fog. I made it up to the top of the fort where there is the outline of the original Salisbury cathedral, shown here. This first cathedral was built in 1092 and damaged by a violent thunderstorm just 5 days after consecration. It was later expanded, but in 1220 building started on the new cathedral in Salisbury and this cathedral was demolished, with some of the stones being used in the new cathedral.

The whole site of Old Sarum is owned by English Heritage and the site of the medieval city and castle is in the very centre of the hill and is only open by ticketed entry so I returned later in the morning once I had packed up and left the campsite. I enjoyed another hour or so wandering around the ruins. See the Extra photo for more views from my morning walk as well as views of the ruined castle itself. One picture in the collage is the view of my campsite and the spire of Salisbury cathedral in the distance.

This site is well worth a stop if visiting Salisbury and/or Stonehenge. The best views of Old Sarum are the arial views - best seen in the links above.

I’m very behind in my blips again!! It’s been a very frantic and busy couple of weeks including having a bad cold for several days. Will try to catch up!