Oh my goodness, I love this photo! Looking back at our ‘relationship’ with Salisbury Cathedral, has made me realise how it really has been part of our lives over the last decade. And how terribly young the Boy looks! Anyway, here’s a little bit about why we love this special place.

We are incredibly lucky that we have the privilege of knowing Salisbury Cathedral extremely well. The Eldest sang in the school choir in the cathedral, the Boy had regular school assemblies in the cathedral over his 7 years at secondary school where he was an acolyte, did various prayers and readings as well as volunteering as a cathedral tour guide and was also confirmed there, GD has also had regular assemblies over the last couple of years where she has also had the privilege of doing readings as Head Girl and the Littlest performed in the choir for the vocal quartet G4 for the last two Christmases as well as doing a reading at her school’s Christmas Carols event last year. We have watched the wonderful nativity service on Christmas Eve with a real donkey and gigantic puppets and even watched the wedding of Harry and Meghan in the grounds of Cathedral Close when Michael Pendry’s 3000 paper origami doves, ‘Les Colombes’ were suspended from the roof – utterly stunning. I have no idea if the Tribe realise how privileged they are, I think that my enthusiasm makes up for it if they don’t; and they definitely will one day!

Salisbury Cathedral is probably best known as having the tallest medieval spire in the UK and the second tallest in Europe (the tallest being Strasbourg Cathedral). It first came to the Tribe’s notice when Helen Skelton, as a Blue Peter presenter climbed to the top of the spire in 2010 to change the red warning light that sits right at the very peak – 332 steps up to the base of the spire, 44m up the spire on 10 narrow ladders and finally up 12m to the summit using metal hoops on the outside of the actual spire. Impressive stuff and 3 of the Tribe still remember watching it!

The Cathedral began being built in 1220, having moved from its original location at Old Sarum. Astonishingly its foundations are just 4’ deep due to the high water table – pretty impressive. The reason for its location, so legend has it, is that the Bishop of the time asked for an arrow to be shot in the direction that he would build the Cathedral; a deer was struck by the arrow and then ran 2 miles before it died in the place where the Cathedral now stands. Salisbury Cathedral is also supposed to lie on a ley line running in alignment with Old Sarum and Stonehenge.

Having been built in just 38 years it has a consistent architectural style, Early English Gothic. Its nave is unusual being tall and narrow. It has 3 levels and in between the pillars are tombs including the first person to be buried in the Cathedral, William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and the illegitimate son of Henry II and half brother of King John. More recently the ashes of Sir Edward Heath who was Prime Minister from 1970 to 1974 and also lived in the beautiful house Arundells in Cathedral Close, were interred here in 2005.

The best preserved of the 4 surviving original copes of the Magna Carta is displayed in the Chapter House. It came to Salisbury as, in 1215, Elias of Dereham was present at the sealing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede and was given the task of distributing me of the original copies. Elias became a priest at Salisbury Cathedral and from 1220 oversaw the building of the current Cathedral. The Magna Carta, meaning ‘The Great Charter’ is one of the most important documents in the world, establishing that everyone is subject to the law, even the monarchy, and guarantees the rights of individuals and the right to justice and the right to a fair trial. It inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and in 1776 influenced the US Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and in 1791 the Bill of Rights. It is more important now, in the 21st Century, than ever as it is the foundation of liberty and democracy. Definitely worth visiting for everyone to understand where our country’s (and others) freedoms originated.

The Cathedral clock is believed to be the oldest working mechanical clock in the world dating from 1386. Bizarrely it was only discovered in 1929 when it was partially restored and put back on public display. In 1956 it was fully restored to its original condition and continues to measure the time with a steady tick – it is wound up daily and has ticked over 5 billion times!

Personally the most striking part of the Cathedral is the stunning font designed by the water sculptor, William Pye installed in 2008 to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the consecration of the Cathedral. It is supposed to represent stillness and flow and is in a cruciform shape, each of the 4 corners having a spout that sends a waterfall through bronze grating in the floor – quite awe inspiring and the reflection on its mirror-like surface of the surrounding architecture, simply beautiful. Words are engraved on the four curves from Isaiah Chapter 43 verses 1 and 2, chosen for their use in baptism and confirmation services.

‘Do not fear for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you.’

The building has 365 windows, one for every day of the year and a marble pillar for every hour of the year (8,760) – so legend has it; I haven’t counted! Regular exhibitions and installations showcase various artists which are often thought provoking and striking. The photograph shows one of my favourite exhibitions from back in 2017, called Dispersing the Night, created by the Brazilian sculptor Ana Maria Pacheco, showing the ‘suffering of exile, migration and displacement’. They are a set of 12 oversized refugee figures; central is a young man carrying an older man on his back, he is surrounded by 10 figures. Sadly, it seems that in the 7 years since the exhibition, little has changed and the ‘suffering of exile, migration and displacement’ continues across the world.