Salisbury Cathedral (Salisbury) The Cathedral of the Blessed
Virgin Mary at Salisbury is one of England’s best loved
buildings. The diocese was founded at Sherborne in 705, and
moved to Ramsbury in 920, back to Sherborne in 1058, to Old
Sarum in 1075, and finally to Salisbury in 1220, when a new city
was built beside the Avon. It was Bishop Richard de Poore who
made the momentous decision to build a new cathedral and city.
It was a sensible decision, as the old site, Old Sarum, was on
top of a hill and water was scarce. The work was supervised by
Elias of Dereham, and the master mason Nicholas of Ely.
Astonishingly for such a magnificent structure, it was completed
within fifty years. It is the only English cathedral to be built
in one style – Early English. The oldest part of the cathedral
is the Chapel of the Holy Trinity and All Saints, usually
referred to as the Lady Chapel, to where the bones of St. Osmund
and other Bishops of Old Sarum were translated, making Salisbury
a place of pilgrimage. The beautif