![Old Sarum Model from West](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Old_Sarum_Model_from_West.jpg)
Old Sarum, in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
,
South West England
South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...
, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the
A345 road
The A345 is a secondary A road in Wiltshire, England running from Salisbury to Marlborough and the A4. The road is a main south–north link across Salisbury Plain, which is renowned for its rich archaeology, and passes many ancient points of ...
, the settlement appears in some of the earliest records in the country. It is an
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
property and is open to the public.
The great
stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...
s of
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
and
Avebury
Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in t ...
were erected nearby and indications of
prehistoric settlement have been discovered from as early as 3000 BC. An
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
was erected around 400 BC, controlling the intersection of two trade paths and the
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
Avon. The site continued to be occupied during the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
, when the paths were made into
roads
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
. The
Saxons
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
took the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
fort in the 6th century and later used it as a stronghold against
marauding Vikings. The
Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...
constructed a
motte and bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification ...
castle, a stone curtain wall, and a
great cathedral. A royal palace was built within
Old Sarum Castle
Old Sarum Castle, formerly known as Seresberi Castle, is an 11th century motte-and-bailey castle built in Old Sarum, Wiltshire. It was originally built in timber and it was eventually built in stone, of which the ruins can be seen today. Only the ...
for and was subsequently used by
Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in ...
monarchs. This heyday of the settlement lasted for around 300 years until disputes between the
Sheriff of Wiltshire
This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire.
Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held '' ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle.
On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...
and the
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
finally led to the removal of the church into the
nearby plain. As
New Salisbury grew up around the construction site for the
new cathedral in the early 13th century, the buildings of Old Sarum were dismantled for stone and the old town dwindled. Its long-neglected castle was abandoned by in 1322 and sold by in 1514.
Edward Rutherfurd
Edward Rutherfurd is a pen name for Francis Edward Wintle (born in 1948). He is best known as a writer of epic historical novels that span long periods of history but are set in particular places. His debut novel, '' Sarum'', set the pattern f ...
's 1987 novel ''
Sarum'' traces the history of the town.
Although the settlement was effectively uninhabited, its landowners continued to have
parliamentary representation into the 19th century, making it one of the most notorious of the
rotten boroughs
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electora ...
that existed before the
Reform Act of 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...
. Old Sarum served as a
pocket borough
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...
of the
Pitt family
The Pitt family were an English aristocratic family whose members included the Earls of Chatham, the Earls of Londonderry and the Barons Camelford. The family produced two British Prime Ministers: William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, and his so ...
.
Old Sarum is also the name of a modern settlement north-east of the monument, where there is a grass strip airfield and a small business park, and large 21st-century housing developments.
Name
The present name seems to be a
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
of the
medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
and
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
forms of the name Salisbury, such as the Sarisburie that appeared in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086. (These were adaptions of the earlier names Searoburh,
Searobyrig,
[ and Searesbyrig, ]calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...
s of the indigenous Brittonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
name with the Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
es and , denoting fortresses or their adjacent settlements.) The longer name was first abbreviated as ''Sar̅'', but, as such a mark was used to contract the Latin suffix ''-um'' (common in placenames), the name was confused and became Sarum sometime around the 13th century. The earliest known use was on the seal of the hospital at New Salisbury, which was in use in 1239. The 14th-century Bishop Wyvil was the first to describe himself as ''episcopus Sarum''. The addition of 'old' to the name distinguished it from New Sarum
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
, the formal name of the present-day city of Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
until 2009.
History
Prehistory
There is evidence that early hunters and, later, farming communities occupied the site. A protective hill fort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
was constructed by the local inhabitants around 400 BC during the Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
by creating enormous banks and ditches surrounding the hill. The hillfort is broadly oval shaped, measuring in length and in width. It consists of a double bank and intermediate ditch with an entrance on the eastern side.
Numerous other hillforts of the same period can be found locally, including Figsbury Ring
Figsbury Ring () is an 11.2 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1975. It is owned and managed by the National Trust.
Earthworks
Within the wider SSSI mentioned above, the earthworks of Figsbury Rin ...
to the east and Vespasian's Camp to the north. The archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
Sir R.C. Hoare described it as "a city of high note in the remotest periods by the several barrows near it, and its proximity to the two largest stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...
s in England, namely, Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
and Avebury
Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in t ...
."
Roman period
At the time of the Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain refers to the conquest of the island of Britain by occupying Roman forces. It began in earnest in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, and was largely completed in the southern half of Britain by 87 when the Staneg ...
in the 1st century, the area of Old Sarum seems to have formed part of the territory of the Atrebates
The Atrebates (Gaulish: *''Atrebatis'', 'dwellers, land-owners, possessors of the soil') were a Belgic tribe of the Iron Age and the Roman period, originally dwelling in the Artois region.
After the tribes of Gallia Belgica were defeated by Caes ...
, a British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
apparently ruled by Gaulish
Gaulish was an ancient Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium ...
exiles. Although the dynasty's founder Commius
Commius (Commios, Comius, Comnios) was a king of the Belgic nation of the Atrebates, initially in Gaul, then in Britain, in the 1st century BC.
Ally of Caesar
When Julius Caesar conquered the Atrebates in Gaul in 57 BC, as recounted in his '' ...
had become a foe of Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
's, his sons submitted to Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
as client kings. Their realm became known as the Regni
The Regni, Regini, or Regnenses were a Tribe which occupied modern West Sussex, East Sussex, south-west Kent, eastern Surrey, and the eastern edges of Hampshire. Their Tribal centre was at Noviomagus_Reginorum (Chichester in West_Sussex), close ...
and the overthrow of one of them, Verica
Verica (early 1st century AD) was a British client king of the Roman Empire in the years preceding the Claudian invasion of 43 AD.
From his coinage, he appears to have been king of the, probably Belgic, Atrebates tribe and a son of Commius. Th ...
, was the casus belli used to justify the Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Claudius
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...
's invasion. The settlement appeared in the Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
'' Chronicle of the Britons'' as [ or Gradawc ( owl, kaer gradaỽc) and as Caer-Wallawg.] Bishop Ussher
James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ident ...
argued for its identification with the listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the ''History of the Britons
''The History of the Britons'' ( la, Historia Brittonum) is a purported history of the indigenous British ( Brittonic) people that was written around 828 and survives in numerous recensions that date from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Br ...
'' traditionally ascribed to Nennius
Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...
.
Saxon period
Cynric
Cynric () was King of Wessex from 534 to 560. Everything known about him comes from the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. There, he is stated to have been the son of Cerdic, who is considered the founder of the kingdom of Wessex. However, the 'Genealogic ...
, king
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
of Wessex
la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons
, common_name = Wessex
, image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg
, map_caption = S ...
, captured the hill in 552. It remained part of Wessex thereafter[ but, preferring settlements in bottomland like nearby Wilton,] the Saxons largely ignored Old Sarum[ until the ]Viking invasions
Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russ ...
led to restore its fortifications. In the early part of the 9th century, it was a frequent residence of Egbert of Wessex
Ecgberht (770/775 – 839), also spelled Egbert, Ecgbert, Ecgbriht, Ecgbeorht, and Ecbert, was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was King Ealhmund of Kent. In the 780s, Ecgberht was forced into exile to Charlema ...
and, in 960, assembled a national council there to plan a defence against the Danes in the north.[Brompton, ''Twysd'', 866.][ Along with Wilton, it was abandoned by its residents to be sacked and burned by the Dano-]Norwegian king
The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdom ...
Sweyn Forkbeard
Sweyn Forkbeard ( non, Sveinn Haraldsson tjúguskegg ; da, Svend Tveskæg; 17 April 963 – 3 February 1014) was King of Denmark from 986 to 1014, also at times King of the English and King of Norway. He was the father of King Harald II of D ...
in 1003. It subsequently became the site of Wilton's mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
.
Norman period
A motte-and-bailey castle
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
was built by 1069, three years after the Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
. The castle was held directly by the Norman kings; its castellan
A castellan is the title used in Medieval Europe for an appointed official, a governor of a castle and its surrounding territory referred to as the castellany. The title of ''governor'' is retained in the English prison system, as a remnant o ...
was generally also the sheriff of Wiltshire
This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire.
Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held '' ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle.
On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...
. In 1075, the Council of London established Herman
Herman may refer to:
People
* Herman (name), list of people with this name
* Saint Herman (disambiguation)
* Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman
Places in the United States
* Herman, Arkansas
* Herman, Michigan
* Herman, Min ...
as the first bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
('),[British History Online]
''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300'', Vol. IV, "Salisbury: Bishops"
Institute of Historical Research (London), 1991. uniting his former sees of Sherborne
Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. ...
and Ramsbury
Ramsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about east and Marlborough about west. The much larger town of Swindon ...
into a single diocese which covered the counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, and Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. He and Saint Osmund began the construction of the first Salisbury cathedral but neither lived to see its completion in 1092. Osmund was a cousin of William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...
and Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
of England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
; he was responsible for the codification of the Sarum Rite
The Use of Sarum (or Use of Salisbury, also known as the Sarum Rite) is the Latin liturgical rite developed at Salisbury Cathedral and used from the late eleventh century until the English Reformation. It is largely identical to the Roman rite, ...
, the compilation of the Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, and—after centuries of advocacy from Salisbury's bishops—was finally canonized by Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
in 1457.
The Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
was probably presented to William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...
at Old Sarum in 1086, the same year he convened the prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...
s, nobles
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...
, sheriffs
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
, and knights
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
of his dominions there to pay him homageRoger of Hoveden
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
by the Oath of Salisbury
The Oath of Salisbury refers to an event in August 1086 when William I of England summoned his tenants-in-chief and "landowning men of any account to William I, 'The Conqueror'" to Old Sarum
Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is ...
. Two other national councils were held there: one by William Rufus
William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...
in 1096[ and another by ]Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...
in 1116, which has sometimes been described as the first English Parliament
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...
.[ ]William Rufus
William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...
confirmed its bishop in various additional sources of income, which were later confirmed by Henry II.[
The ]cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
was consecration, consecrated on 5 April 1092 but suffered extensive damage in a storm, traditionally said to have occurred only five days later. Roger of Salisbury, Bishop Roger was a close ally of who served as his viceroy during the king's absence to Duchy of Normandy, Normandy and directed the chancellor, royal administration and exchequer along with his extended family. He refurbished and expanded Old Sarum's cathedral in the 1110s.[ This work ultimately doubled the cathedral's length and involved the large-scale leveling of the ecclesiastical district in the northwest quadrant of the town.][ He began work on a royal palace during the 1130s, prior to his arrest by Henry's successor Stephen of England, Stephen.][ This palace was long thought to have been the small structure whose ruins are located in the small central bailey; it may, however, have been the large palace #Modern period, recently discovered in the southeast quadrant of the outer bailey.] This palace was , surrounded a large central courtyard, and had walls up to thick. A room was probably a great hall and there seems to have been a large tower.[ At the time of Roger's arrest by , the bishop administered the castle on the king's behalf;][ it was thereafter allowed to fall into disrepair but the sheriff and castellan continued to administer the area under the king's authority.]
Angevin period
Medieval Sarum also seems to have had industrial facilities such as kilns and furnaces.[ Residential areas were principally located in the two southern quadrants, built up beside the ditch protecting the inner bailey and Norman castle.][ Henry II held his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, prisoner at Old Sarum. In the 1190s, the plain between Old Sarum and Wilton was one of five specially designated by for the holding of English medieval tournament, tournaments.
An early 12th-century observer, William of Malmesbury, called Sarum a town "more like a castle than city, being environed with a high wall", and noted that "notwithstanding that it was very well accommodated with all other conveniences, yet such was the want for water that it sold at a great rate".] Holinshed denied this and noted that the hill was "very plentifully served with springs and wells of very sweet water";[ excavation has discovered numerous wells (including one within the Norman keep) but suggests that they were so deep as to make their use more cumbersome than carting water uphill from the rivers. The issue was presented to kings Richard I of England, Richard and John Lackland, John as the prime reason to relocate the ]cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
[ but seems to have only been part of the issue.
The late 12th-century canon Peter of Blois][Robinson, J. Armitage. :s:Somerset Historical Essays/Peter of Blois#128, "Peter of Blois" in ''Somerset Historical Essays'', pp. 128 f. Oxford University Press (London), 1921.] described his prebendary as "barren, dry, and solitary, exposed to the rage of the wind" and the cathedral "as a captive on the hill where it was built, like the ark of God shut up in the profane house of Ba'al, Baal."[Peter of Blois, Epistle No. 105.] Holinshed records that the clerics brawled openly with the garrison troops.[ Herbert Poore, Bishop Herbert received permission for the move from Richard I of England, Richard I, who was agreeably disposed towards the diocese after discovering it held in coin in trust for his father, in addition to jewels, vestments, and silver plate, plate,][ but was forced to delay the change after John's succession.
By Pope Honorius III, papal order, Herbert's brother Richard Poore was translation (ecclesiastical), translated from diocese of Chichester, Chichester to succeed him in 1217; the next year, Sarum's dean of Salisbury, dean and cathedral chapter, chapter presented arguments to Papal States, Rome for the cathedral's relocation.][ The investigation of these claims by the papal legate Cardinal Gualo verified the chapter's claims that the site's water was both expensive and sometimes restricted by the castellans; that housing within the walls was insufficient for the clerics, who were required to rent from the laity; that the wind was sometimes so strong that divine offices could not be heard and the roof was repeatedly damaged; and that the soldiers of the royal fortress restricted access to the cathedral precinct to the common folk during Ash Wednesday and on other occasions for providing the eucharist and the clerics felt imperiled by their circumstances.][ thereupon issued an indulgence to relocate the cathedral on 29 March 1217 or 1218.][ The chapter voted unanimously for the move and agreed to pay for it by withholding various portions of their prebends over the next seven years.][ On Easter Monday, 1219, a wooden chapel dedicated to the Mary, Mother of Jesus, Virgin Mary was begun near the banks of the ]Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
Avon; on Trinity Sunday, Bishop Poore celebrated mass there and consecration, consecrated a cemetery.[ On Day, April 28, 1220, the foundation of the future stone cathedral was begun.][
The settlement that grew up around it was called New Salisbury, then (at least formally) New Sarum, then finally ]Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
. The former cathedral was formally dissolved in 1226.[ The inhabitants of the new city gradually razed the old, constructing Salisbury Cathedral and other buildings from the materials at Old Sarum. Evidence of quarrying into the 14th century shows some continued habitation,][ but the settlement was largely abandoned and ordered the castle's demolition in 1322.][
]
Modern period
The castle grounds were sold by in 1514.[ From the reign of Edward II of England, Edward II in the 14th century, the Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency), borough of Old Sarum elected two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons despite having, from at least the 17th century, no resident voters. One of the members in the 18th century was William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, William Pitt the Elder. In 1831, Old Sarum had eleven voters, all of whom were landowners who lived elsewhere, making Old Sarum the most notorious of the rotten boroughs. The Reform Act 1832, 1832 Reform Act subsumed the Old Sarum area into an enlarged Wilton (UK Parliament constituency), borough of Wilton. The fortified site was an extra-parochial area and became a civil parish in 1858, but the civil parish was abolished in 1894. The site and surrounding area is now the northernmost part of Salisbury civil parish.]
The site of the castle and cathedral is considered a highly important British monument: it was among the 26 English locations Scheduled monument, scheduled by the 1882 Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882, Ancient Monuments Protection Act, the first such British legislation. That protection has subsequently continued, expanding to include some suburban areas west and south-east of the outer bailey. It was also listed buildings, listed as a Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire, Grade I site in 1972.
Between 1909 and 1915, William St John Hope, W.H. St J. Hope, William Hawley, W. Hawley, and Duncan Hector Montgomerie, D.H. Montgomerie excavated the site for the Society of Antiquaries of London.[ A second excavation occurred in the 1950s under John W. G. Musty and Philip Arthur Rahtz, Philip Rahtz.]
In 2014, an on-site geophysical survey of the inner and outer bailey by the University of Southampton revealed its royal palace, as well as the street plan of the medieval city. The survey made use of soil resistivity to Electrical resistivity and conductivity, electric current, electrical resistivity tomography, magnetometry, and ground-penetrating radar. The team planned to return in 2015 to complete a similar survey of the Romano-British site to the south of the hillfort.
20th and 21st centuries
The Old Sarum monument is now administered by English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
, and non-members are charged for admission. A paved carpark and grass overflow carpark are provided in the eastern area of the outer bailey.
In 1917, during World War I, farmland about north-east of Old Sarum, along the Port Way, Portway, was developed as the 'Ford Farm' aerodrome. That became Old Sarum Airfield, which remains in operation with a single grass runway. Later a small business park developed along the north edge of the airfield.
Around 800 homes were built on the north side of the Portway between 2008 and 2016, and this area (which includes Old Sarum Primary School) is also called Old Sarum. From 2018, further housing called Longhedge Village, around 750 homes accessed from the A345 road, A345, was built immediately north of the earlier development. These areas all fall within Laverstock civil parish, while the monument itself – separated from modern development by about of farmland – is within the Salisbury City Council, Salisbury City area.
See also
* List of castles in England
Footnotes
References
Further reading
* '' Sarum'' by Edward Rutherfurd
Edward Rutherfurd is a pen name for Francis Edward Wintle (born in 1948). He is best known as a writer of epic historical novels that span long periods of history but are set in particular places. His debut novel, '' Sarum'', set the pattern f ...
* ''The Pillars of the Earth'' by Ken Follett
* ''Passionate Enemies'' by Jean Plaidy
External links
Old Sarum
at English Heritage
History of Old Sarum
at English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses.
The charity states that i ...
Diagrams of the development of Old Sarum
by English Heritage
{{Iron Age hillforts in England
Hill forts in Wiltshire, Sarum
Castles in Wiltshire, Sarum
Former populated places in Wiltshire, Sarum
Former civil parishes in Wiltshire
History of Salisbury
English Heritage sites in Wiltshire
Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire