Salisbury Cathedral: A Yuletide Tower Tour
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IMPORTANT! Please read before registering:
- I have booked us an exclusive guided tour. The capacity of the tour is 10 people, but I will stand aside as I've done it before, to let another person go.
- I have paid £180 for it.
- Please only register if you're fairly committed to coming as places are limited.
- After you register, I'd be obliged if you could pay me £18 (payment details under 'What kit to bring').
- If you cannot attend on the day, I will refund your payment if I fill the space.
After trying to downplay the number of churches we go to on my walks, I've decided to go the opposite way and go for the uber-church, the big kahuna, the granddaddy: a cathedral. Salisbury's, to be exact. And for £18 each we can have a private tour of the roof space and tower where, 68m up, we can survey from the outside the city and Wiltshire countryside, while on the inside we can survey the forest of mediaeval scaffolding supporting the 123-metre spire. See the video and information here.
Built in 1315 in the Decorated gothic style, it is the tallest spire in the UK, surmounting a cathedral started in 1220 and finished in just 38 years in the Early English style. The spire weighs 6400 tons and the ambition of the masons was matched by the skill of their successors in preventing the piers and walls of the tower bowing and collapsing under the burden. The cathedral is unique in being designed all-of-a-piece rather than piecemeal like most mediaeval English cathedrals, and the effect is elegant and refined, if cool and aloof.
The other main points of interest which we will see are: the Cloisters, built in a Decorated gothic style, contemporary with the tower and spire; the oldest clock in England, made in 1386; the Saxon doors of the Aumbry; the delicate columns and ethereal beauty of the Trinity Chapel; the largest and perhaps finest Chapter House in the country, with the central column dividing into 16 branches, like a celestial palm tree; one of four surviving copies of Magna Carta; and perhaps the finest and certainly largest Cathedral Close in the country.
IMPORTANT! - Participation Statement
You MUST complete a Participation Statement, in addition to booking your event space before attending an OutdoorLads event. You only need to complete this Participation Statement once, not for each event you attend.
(Picture credits: Salisbury Cathedral Cloisters by Raggatt2000 (released for use in the public domain); Salisbury Cathedral covering winter trees by dksesh (licensed for use under CC BY-SA 2.0). All other pictures taken by the leader in August 2022.)
What to bring
Walking shoes or trainers will be fine. Wear warm clothing as the tower parapet will be exposed and cold.
Please pay £18 to:
- Mr G Blackman
- Sort code: 07-02-46
- Account number: 41143412
Thank you.
Food & drink
Please bring a packed lunch with you, or get something to eat in Salisbury. We'll go to a cafe or pub after the visit for lunch.