The choir and Trinity Chapel. Salisbury Cathedral.
I usually write these location-specific travelogues using a rough chronological structure, meaning that I begin the narrative describing how I arrived at the destination, what I saw when I first arrived, what I saw when I was there, and then my overall impression as I departed. But, for Salisbury Cathedral, I’m going to change the structure a bit and begin with my overall impression. As I departed, it struck me that Salisbury Cathedral is a lot like the desserts that I’ve had in England…stunning on the exterior, but lacking something once you get into the interior.
As I mentioned earlier, it was a slightly cloudy day when we arrived in Salisbury. We left the train station, and took a brisk stroll through the town. The town itself was imbued with working class charm. We crossed the small stream and made our way into Salisbury’s “Old Town.” As we continued, we noticed the famous spire was towering over everything. We continued toward the spire. Eventually, the buildings fell away and we found ourselves in a grassy field. In the middle of the field was Salisbury Cathedral.
Now, I have to say that my first impression was “WOW!!!” The sight of this magnificent structure rising unimpeded from the ground with no other buildings around it was just spectacular. The 404 foot spire, which looked impressive from the Old Town, was even more impressive when seen by itself. When I realized that this massive structure was build in the 13th century, I was even more amazed.
We spent about 20 minutes taking pictures of the exterior, particularly the West Entrance. That entrance was covered with statues and tracery, making it irresistible for picture-taking. The only downside was the cathedral’s size, which is so large that I had to walk quite a distance from it in order to get the exterior into a picture.
We then went to the cloisters and then into the cathedral itself. The ever-present “suggested donation” bin was the first thing we saw. We put in the “suggested”£4 donation and started our tour. However, we didn’t get very far, because most of the interior was roped off. I found a guide and asked him why most of the interior was inaccessible. He said that an “investiture of the readers” in the Salisbury diocese would be starting in about 10 minutes, and that the cathedral was being prepared for that service. That didn’t bode well with us, because we had only a limited amount of time before we had to be back at the train station to catch our return train to London. It seemed more than a bit unlucky that we’d traveled this far, only to not be able to see the Cathedral because of a service. I then asked the guide how long the service would take. He said, “About one hour.” If that time was true, then we’d have just enough time for a quick sweep through the Cathedral after the service ended.
We looked at as much of the interior as we could before the service started. I didn’t get “up close” looks at most things (other than the ancient clock). However, I could see enough to get a good impression of the interior. And that impression was slight disappointment. All the Gothic highlights (arched windows, multi-story nave, etc.) were there. But, the wonderful statuary and ornamentation that decorated the exterior was nowhere to be found in the interior. As a result, the interior seemed rather empty. I wanted to see if my initial impression was correct. But, the promised service began and I had to cease my sightseeing.
We sat and watched about half of the service (which seemed very Catholic to my poor eyes). Once the homilies began, we decided to explore the cloisters, the Chapter House, and the gift shop. We were unable to access most of the cloisters. However, we could see the beautiful garden that graced the inner courtyard. We then walked through the accessible portions of the cloisters to the Chapter House. Upon entering, I was immediately taken by the stunning frieze depicting scenes from the Bible that lined the Chapter House’s walls. In many ways, it was more impressive than the decoration I’d seen inside the Cathedral. Also impressive was a copy of the Magna Carta, which was available for inspection (just in case anyone got a bright idea about touching the Magna Carta, there was a tough looking, seventy-year-old female docent standing guard). In addition to these two treasures, the room was also filled with various artifacts from the Cathedral’s treasury. Given all that there was to see in the room, I was glad that the service had shoved us out of the Cathedral and forced us to spend extra time in the Chapter House. Best of all, there is no extra charge to visit the Chapter House.
Having seen all we could in the Chapter House, we went to the gift shop and spent some money buying souvenirs. We then headed back into the Cathedral, where the service was ending. We arrived just in time to see the readers and the clergy process through the west door. A few minutes later, the guides took down the ropes and made the Cathedral again available for touring. At this point, we had about 30 minutes to see the Cathedral before needing to leave to catch our train. But, we are experts at speed touring, so we knew we had plenty of time.
It turned out that my initial impression about the interior’s appearance was justified. The few items, like the Prisoner of Conscience window in the Trinity Chapel and the choir stalls, were wonderful. But, there was little decoration beyond those two items. According to the guidebook that I’d purchased in the gift shop, most of the Cathedral’s interior decoration was removed by a misguided Victorian restorer in the late 19th century. It’s a shame his efforts took root, because Salisbury Cathedral’s interior doesn’t match its exterior.
One might think I was disappointed with Salisbury Cathedral. And, I actually wasn’t. The exterior and the Chapter House alone are worth the “suggested donation” price. But, I just wish that something more could be done to the interior to have it match the grandeur of the Cathedral’s other parts.
Above:
1) Choir Stalls
2) The Spire and the North Transcept
3) The Top of the Choir Stalls
4) The West Face
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