75-565: The Salisbury Museum (previously The Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum ) is a museum in Salisbury , Wiltshire , England. It houses one of the best collections relating to Stonehenge and local archaeology . The museum is housed in The King's House , a Grade I listed building , where King James I of England was entertained in 1610 and 1613. Set in the surroundings of the Cathedral Close ,
150-538: A Novichok nerve agent. Salisbury is within the county of Wiltshire , and the administrative district of the same name. For local government purposes, it is administered by the Wiltshire Council unitary authority. Salisbury forms a civil parish with a parish council known as the Salisbury City Council . Since the local boundary review of 2020, two electoral wards – St Edmund and Harnham East – cover
225-675: A salient between the River Bourne and the Hampshire Avon , near a crossroads of several early trade routes. During the Iron Age , sometime between 600 and 300 BC, a hillfort ( oppidum ) was constructed around it. The Romans may have occupied the site or left it in the hands of an allied tribe. At the time of the Saxon invasions , Old Sarum fell to King Cynric of Wessex in 552. Preferring settlements in bottomland, such as nearby Wilton ,
300-558: A 2018 study of 226 Bell Beaker burials from across Europe, although DNA from the nearby 'Companion' was included in the study. Later, a successful sample was taken from the Archer and analysed. It appears that both the Archer and the Companion in the male line (Y-chromosome) had Steppe ancestry , the Archer being classified as R1b1a1b1a1a ( haplogroup R-L151 ) and the Companion as R1b1a1b1a1a2c1 ( haplogroup R-L21 ). The two men were not related in
375-507: A 4-mile radius of the city centre and are listed in approximately clockwise order: The civil parish of Salisbury, which does not include some of the city's suburbs such as Laverstock, Ford , Britford and Netherhampton , had a population of 40,302 at the 2011 census . The urban zone , which contains the wards immediately surrounding the city, had a population of 62,216 at the 2011 Census. The wards included in this figure are Laverstock , Britford , Downton , Alderbury , Odstock and
450-414: A connection between the two. The meteorite from Lake House was retrieved from storage and although the two objects were found to be unrelated, Professor Pillinger continued with his study of the larger meteorite. The meteorite landed on earth some 30,000 years ago and was apparently preserved by the frozen conditions during the last ice age. In normal circumstances the meteorite would have disintegrated, but
525-458: A kind of portable anvil , which suggests he was a coppersmith; and some boar tusks. A piece of iron pyrite , which sparks when struck by flint to start a fire, had been well used with grooves worn along its sides. On his forearm was a black stone wrist-guard . A similar red wrist-guard was by his knees. With the second wrist-guard was a shale belt ring and a pair of gold hair ornaments, the oldest gold objects known from England. The anatomy of
600-686: A more local climate. The Archer was estimated to be about forty at the time of his death, while his companion was in his early twenties. The graves were discovered a short distance from the Boscombe Bowmen , whose bones were excavated the following year. The Archer was quickly dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the British press due to the proximity of the famous monument and some even suggested that he could have been involved in its construction. However, such speculations have been rejected by archaeologists. His
675-507: A painful lingering bone infection. His skeleton is now on display at the Salisbury Museum in Salisbury . A male skeleton found interred nearby is believed to be that of a younger man related to the Archer, as they shared a rare hereditary anomaly, calcaneonavicular coalition, fusing of the calcaneus and of the navicular tarsal (foot bones). This younger man, sometimes called the Archer's Companion, appears to have been raised in
750-416: A programme of theatre, live music, dance, public sculpture, street performance and art exhibitions. Salisbury also houses a producing theatre, Salisbury Playhouse , which produces between eight and ten plays a year, as well as welcoming touring productions. The Salisbury Museum is housed in the King's House , a Grade I listed building whose history dates back to the 13th century, opposite the west front of
825-614: A strong artistic community, with galleries situated in the city centre, including the Young Gallery (incorporating the John Creasey Museum ), located in Salisbury Library. In the 18th century, John Constable made a number of celebrated landscape paintings featuring the cathedral's spire and the surrounding countryside. Salisbury's annual International Arts Festival, started in 1973, and held in late May to early June, provides
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#1732852847393900-708: A walkway that links Harnham with the rest of the city, is at times impassable. Water-meadows at Harnham, fed by two branches of the River Nadder , are first documented in the 17th century. East Harnham Meadows , in the floodplain of the Avon , is a Site of Special Scientific Interest . There are civil airfields at Old Sarum (where the experimental aircraft the Edgley Optica was developed and tested) and at Thruxton near Andover . Salisbury has many areas and suburbs, most of them being former villages that were absorbed by
975-548: A window in the Wedgwood gallery upstairs. The director of the museum is Adrian Green . He is supported by chief operating officer Lucy Bridal. Summer exhibitions since 2011 have featured artists who share a close connection with the locality. On 10 September 2012, a 90 kilograms (200 lb) meteorite, possibly the biggest to have ever fallen on the British Isles, went on display at the museum. For at least 80 years it sat near
1050-455: Is John Glen ( Conservative ), who was first elected in 2010. Salisbury is approximately halfway between Exeter and London being 80 miles (128 km) east-northeast of Exeter , 78 miles (126 km) west-southwest of London and also 34 miles (55 km) south of Swindon , 20 miles (32 km) northwest of Southampton and 32 miles (51 km) southeast of Bath . The geology of the area, as with much of South Wiltshire and Hampshire ,
1125-486: Is a cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire , England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon , Nadder and Bourne . The city is approximately 20 miles (30 kilometres) from Southampton and 30 miles (50 kilometres) from Bath . Salisbury is in the southeast of Wiltshire, near the edge of Salisbury Plain . An ancient cathedral was north of the present city at Old Sarum . A new cathedral
1200-632: Is an early Bronze Age ( Bell Beaker ) man whose grave was discovered during excavations at the site of a new housing development ( grid reference SU16324043 ) in Amesbury near Stonehenge . The grave was uncovered in May ;2002. The man was middle aged when he died, estimated between 35 and 45, and is believed to date from about 2300 BC. He is nicknamed "the Archer" because of the many arrowheads buried with him. The grave contained more artefacts than any other early British Bronze Age burial, including
1275-404: Is just one high-profile burial that dates from around the time of the stones' erection, but given the lavish nature of the grave his mourners clearly considered him important enough to be buried near to (if not in the immediate area of) Stonehenge. Tim Darvill regards the skeleton as possibly that of a pilgrim visiting Stonehenge to draw on the 'healing properties' of the bluestones. His grave
1350-483: Is largely chalk. The rivers which flow through the city have been redirected, and along with landscaping, have been used to feed into public gardens. They are popular in the summer, particularly in Queen Elizabeth Gardens, as the water there is shallow and slow-flowing enough to enter safely. Because of the low-lying land, the rivers are prone to flooding, particularly during the winter months. The Town Path,
1425-456: Is of particular importance because of its connections with Continental Europe and early copper smelting technology. He is believed to be one of the earliest gold metalworkers in Britain , and he provides an example of a person bringing Bell Beaker culture and its pottery directly from continental Europe. The DNA of the Archer's skeleton was difficult to analyse at first and had to be omitted from
1500-761: The Ancient Britons listed in the History of the Britons (9th century), has been identified with Salisbury. Alternative names for the city, in the Welsh Chronicle of the Britons (12th century) were Caer-Caradog , Caer-Gradawc , and Caer-Wallawg. By the Roman era, the name had become Sorbiodūnum ; the first part was of unknown origin, although the Brittonic suffix -dūnon meant "fortress". The name first recorded during
1575-430: The River Nadder and the Hampshire Avon . It was first known as "New Sarum" or New Saresbyri . The town was laid out on a grid . Work on the new cathedral building, the present Salisbury Cathedral, began in 1221. The site was supposedly established by shooting an arrow from Old Sarum, although this is certainly a legend: the distance is over three kilometres (2 mi). The legend is sometimes amended to claim that
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#17328528473931650-608: The 'cheese and milk cross', which indicated that market and was in the triangle between the HSBC bank and the Salisbury Library; a third cross near the site of the present war memorial, which marked a woollen and yarn market; and a fourth, called Barnwell or Barnard's Cross, in the Culver Street and Barnard Street area, which marked a cattle and livestock market. Today, only the Poultry Cross remains, to which flying buttresses were added in
1725-629: The 1110s and began work on a royal palace during the 1130s, prior to his arrest by Henry's successor, Stephen . After this arrest, the castle at Old Sarum was allowed to fall into disrepair, but the sheriff and castellan continued to administer the area under the king's authority. Bishop of Salisbury Hubert Walter was instrumental in the negotiations with Saladin during the Third Crusade , but he spent little time in his diocese prior to his elevation to archbishop of Canterbury . The brothers Herbert and Richard Poore succeeded him and began planning
1800-751: The 19th century. The Market Hall, later known as the Corn Exchange , was completed in 1859. In 1226, Henry III granted the Bishop of Salisbury a charter to hold a fair lasting eight days from the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (15 August). Over the centuries the dates of the fair have moved around, but in its modern guise, a funfair is now held in the Market Place for three days from the third Monday in October. From 1833 to
1875-441: The 1st or 2nd degree, although a more distant relationship, such as great-grandfather / great-grandson, is possible. A further finding was that the Archer had a greater amount of Early European Farmer ancestry ( c. 45 %) than the Companion ( c. 33 %). It had already been shown from strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of the Archer's 2nd premolar and 3rd molar teeth (which mineralise at different ages) that
1950-610: The Anglo-Saxon era was Searoburg ( dative Searobyrig ), around the end of the 9th century. This was a partial calque of the Roman name, with burg being the Old English word for "fort". Middle English Sarisberie was abbreviated as Sar , which in turn gave rise to the latinization "Sarum". The hilltop at Old Sarum lies near the Neolithic sites of Stonehenge and Avebury and shows some signs of early settlement. It commanded
2025-539: The Archer has been well documented, with several unusual features including os acromiale whereby the acromion at the tip of the scapula was not fused as is usual, spina bifida occulta ('hidden' spina bifida ) and a missing left patella . Research using oxygen isotope analysis in the Archer's tooth enamel has suggested that he originated from an alpine region of central Europe. An eroded hole in his jaw showed that he had had an abscess, and his missing left kneecap suggests that he had an injury that left him with
2100-650: The Archer spent his childhood in Central Europe, probably in the Western Alps. By contrast the Companion appears to have been born in Wessex, but spent part of his childhood in Europe, perhaps in the same region of the Western Alps. Although the Archer may have spoken an Indo-European language , it does not follow that he spoke an early form of Irish or Welsh. The authors of a 2021 study of large-scale migration into Britain favour
2175-568: The EU. 62.49% of the civil parish's population declared their religion to be Christianity, while 27.09% stated "no religion" and 8.02% declined to state their religion. 0.79% of the population declared their religion to be Islam , 0.41% Buddhism , 0.40% Hinduism and 0.80% as another religion. 95.89% of the civil parish's population considered their "main language" to be English, while 1.12% considered it to be Polish , 0.28% considered it to be Bengali and 0.24% considered it to be Tagalog . 99.43% of
2250-518: The Queen's Gate, and St Nicholas's Gate were original, while a fifth was constructed in the 19th century to allow access to Bishop Wordsworth's School, in the Cathedral Close. During his time in the city, the composer Handel stayed in a room above St Ann's gate. The original site of the city at Old Sarum, meanwhile, fell into disuse. It continued as a rotten borough : at the time of its abolition during
2325-609: The Saxons largely ignored Old Sarum until the Viking invasions led King Alfred (King of Wessex from 871 to 899) to restore its fortifications. Along with Wilton, however, it was abandoned by its residents to be sacked and burned by the Dano - Norwegian king Sweyn Forkbeard in 1003. It subsequently became the site of Wilton's mint . Following the Norman invasion of 1066, a motte-and-bailey castle
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2400-665: The administration of the City of New Sarum under its former charters, but its successor, Wiltshire County 's Salisbury District , continued to be accorded its former city status. The name was finally formally amended from "New Sarum" to "Salisbury" during the 2009 changes occasioned by the 1992 Local Government Act , which established the Salisbury City Council. On 4 March 2018, former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, were poisoned in Salisbury with
2475-448: The arrow struck a white deer, which continued to run and died on the spot where the cathedral now rests. The structure was built upon wooden faggots on a gravel bed with unusually shallow foundations of 18 in (45 cm) and the main body was completed in only 38 years. The 123 m or 404 ft tall spire, the tallest in the UK, was built later. With royal approval, many of the stones for
2550-573: The best-preserved of the four surviving copies of Magna Carta . New Sarum was made a city by a charter from King Henry III in 1227 and, by the 14th century, was the largest settlement in Wiltshire. The city wall surrounds the Close and was built in the 14th century, again with stones removed from the former cathedral at Old Sarum. The wall now has five gates: the High Street Gate, St Ann's Gate,
2625-531: The bishop, William Ayscough , who had been involved with the government. In 1483, a large-scale rebellion against Richard III broke out, led by his own 'kingmaker', Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham . After the revolt collapsed, Buckingham was executed at Salisbury, near the Bull's Head Inn. An act of Parliament , the River Avon Navigation (Christchurch to New Sarum) Act 1664 ( 16 & 17 Cha. 2 . c. 12)
2700-584: The cathedral. The permanent Stonehenge exhibition gallery has interactive displays about Stonehenge and the archaeology of south Wiltshire, and its collections include the skeleton of the Amesbury Archer , which is on display. The Pitt Rivers display holds a collection from General Augustus Pitt Rivers . The costume gallery showcases costumes and textiles from the area, with costumes for children to try on while imagining themselves as characters from Salisbury's past. Amesbury Archer The Amesbury Archer
2775-402: The centre of Salisbury and staffed by predominantly young women who had no previous mechanical experience but were trained for specific tasks in the aircraft construction process. Supporting the factories were many workers producing small components in home-based workshops and garden sheds. Sub-assemblies were built in the city centre factories and then transported to High Post airfield (north of
2850-605: The city centre within the A36 ring road , and the rest of the unitary and city council areas are covered by six further wards. Laverstock and Ford parish council has the same boundary as the Laverstock ward, as well as part of the Old Sarum and Upper Bourne Valley ward, at unitary level. The Bishopdown Farm estate on the outskirts of Salisbury is now part of Laverstock and Ford, joining Hampton Park and Riverdown Park. Prior to 2009, Salisbury
2925-451: The city, in Durnford parish) and Chattis Hill (northeast, near Stockbridge ), where the aircraft were assembled, test flown and then distributed to RAF airfields across England. A total of over 2000 Spitfires were produced. The whole process was carried out in secret without the knowledge of even the local people and only emerged into public knowledge after the production of a film describing
3000-433: The clerics debauching the castellan's female relations. In the end, the clerics were refused permission to reenter the city walls following their rogations and processions . This caused Peter of Blois to describe the church as "a captive within the walls of the citadel like the ark of God in the profane house of Baal ". He advocated Let us descend into the plain! There are rich fields and fertile valleys abounding in
3075-519: The cold and ice helped preserve it. Thousands of years later, in the Stone or Bronze Age, it is thought that the meteorite was built into a burial mound close to Lake House. The local chalk environment would again have helped to preserve it. The meteorite may have been unearthed in the 19th century by Edward Duke, a previous owner of Lake House who was an antiquarian who excavated burial mounds nearby and had his own private museum. Photographic evidence shows it on
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3150-506: The construction of the first Salisbury cathedral , though neither lived to see its completion in 1092. Osmund served as Lord Chancellor of England (in office c. 1070–1078); he was responsible for the codification of the Sarum Rite , the compilation of the Domesday Book , which was probably presented to William at Old Sarum, and, after centuries of advocacy from Salisbury's bishops,
3225-596: The doorstep of Lake House at the time the property was owned by the brewer Joseph Lovibond , Mayor of Salisbury in 1878–79 and 1890–91. In November 2011 the Museum displayed the Wardour Hoard of over 100 copper alloy objects, over 2,700 years old, from the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. It was found near Wardour by a metal detectorist, and consists of tools such as axe heads, chisels, sickles and gouges, as well as spearheads, daggers, knives, swords and scabbard fittings. It
3300-450: The earliest known gold objects ever found in England. It was the first evidence of a very high status and wealth expressed in a burial from that time. Previously, Bronze Age society had been assumed not to have been particularly hierarchical. The calibrated radiocarbon dates for his grave, and dating of Stonehenge, suggest the sarsens and trilithons at Stonehenge may have been raised by
3375-679: The front door of Lake House at Wilsford-cum-Lake near Salisbury. When the house was sold, the stone was confirmed as a meteorite by the Natural History Museum where it remained in storage for many years. Professor Colin Pillinger , known for his work on the Beagle 2 Mars spacecraft, had been studying a smaller meteorite from the Danebury Hill Fort in Hampshire and felt that there could be
3450-462: The fruits of the earth and watered by the living stream. There is a seat for the Virgin Patroness of our church to which the world cannot produce a parallel. Herbert Poore's successor and brother Richard Poore eventually moved the cathedral to a new town on his estate at Veteres Sarisberias ("Old Salisburies") in 1220. The site was at "Myrifield" ("Merryfield"), a meadow near the confluence of
3525-513: The gasworks were producing not only coal gas but also coke , which was sold off as the by-product of gas-making. Ammoniacal liquor, another by-product, was mixed with sulphuric acid, dried and ground to make a powder which was sold as an agricultural fertiliser. The clinker from the retort house was sold to a firm in London to be used as purifier beds in the construction of sewage works . Salisbury power station supplied electricity to Salisbury and
3600-546: The growth of the city. The boundaries of these areas are for the most part unofficial and not fixed. All of these suburbs are within Salisbury's ONS Urban Area, which had a population of 44,748 in 2011. However, not all of these suburbs are administered by the city council, and are therefore not within the eight wards that had a combined population of 40,302 in 2011. Two parishes are part of the urban area but outside Salisbury parish. Surrounding parishes, villages and towns rely on Salisbury for some services. The following are within
3675-410: The largest ethnic minority group was 'other white' comprising 3.6% of the population as of 2011. There is not much contrast between areas when it comes to ethnic diversity. The ward of St Edmund and Milford is the most multiethnic, with 86.0% of the population being White British. The least multiethnic is the ward of St Francis and Stratford, which contains suburbs in the north of the city, with 94.8% of
3750-646: The loyalty of many of James's commanders was in doubt. The first blood was shed at the Wincanton Skirmish , in Somerset . In Salisbury, James heard that some of his officers had deserted, such as Edward Hyde , and he broke out in a nosebleed, which he took as an omen that he should retreat. His commander in chief, the Earl of Feversham , advised retreat on 23 November, and the next day John Churchill defected to William. On 26 November, James's own daughter, Princess Anne , did
3825-555: The mid-1980s, the Salisbury Gas Light & Coke Company, which ran the city's gasworks, was one of the major employers in the area. The company was formed in 1832 with a share capital of £8,000, and its first chairman was the 3rd Earl of Radnor . The company was incorporated by a private Act of Parliament in 1864, and the Gas Orders Confirmation Act 1882 empowered it to raise capital of up to £40,000. At its peak,
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#17328528473933900-506: The museum faces the west front of Salisbury Cathedral . Previously at 40-42 St Ann Street, where it had been founded in 1860 by Dr Richard Fowler , FRS, it transferred to its current site in 1981. The original three-storey building, with mullioned and transomed windows, ornate plaster ceilings and a fine oak-balustraded staircase, houses the main temporary exhibition gallery with the ceramics gallery above. The arms of James I's eldest son, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales , can be seen in
3975-404: The neighbouring town of Wilton , among others, however it does not include the towns of Amesbury or Romsey , as these support their own local populations and are further afield. At the 2011 census the population of the civil parish was 95.73% white (91.00% White British ), 2.48% Asian (0.74% Indian , 0.41% Bangladeshi , 0.40% Chinese ), 0.45% black and 1.15% mixed race. Within the parish,
4050-437: The new cathedral were taken from the old one ; others came from Chilmark . They were probably transported by ox-cart, owing to the obstruction to boats on the River Nadder caused by its many weirs and watermills. The cathedral is considered a masterpiece of Early English architecture . The spire's large clock was installed in 1386, and is one of the oldest surviving mechanical clocks in the world. The cathedral also contains
4125-524: The newly established Wilts & Dorset operator. The Scout company failed in 1921 after wartime disruption and competition from larger makers. Shopping centres include The Old George Mall, The Maltings, Winchester Street, and the Crosskeys precinct. Major employers include Salisbury District Hospital . The closure of the Friends Life office, the second largest employer, was announced in 2015. Salisbury
4200-576: The people in and around Salisbury over the past 250 years, including wedding dresses, uniforms, formal wear and lace samples produced by Downton Lace. The Museum also has an outstanding collection of ceramics. Local Verwood and Wiltshire Brown ware is represented alongside the celebrated Wedgwood, Bow and Chelsea potteries. The Museum also has a collection illustrating the history of the Salisbury cutlery industry . Salisbury Salisbury ( / ˈ s ɔː l z b ər i / SAWLZ -bər-ee , locally / ˈ s ɔː z b ər i / SAWZ -bər-ee )
4275-473: The population being White British. The city is represented by six other wards. Within the parish, the largest ethnic minority group was 'other white' comprising 3.6% of the population as of 2011. 86.43% of the civil parish's population were born in England, 3.94% were born elsewhere in the UK. 4.94% were born elsewhere in the EU (including the Republic of Ireland ), while 4.70% of the population were born outside
4350-471: The population claimed to be able to speak English well or very well. In 2001, 22.33% of Salisbury's population were aged between 30 and 44, 42.76% were over 45, and 13.3% were between 18 and 29. Salisbury holds a Charter market on Tuesdays and Saturdays and has held markets regularly since 1227. In the 15th century the Market Place had four crosses: the Poultry Cross , whose name describes its market;
4425-564: The reforms of 1832, its Member of Parliament (MP) represented three households. In May 1289, there was uncertainty about the future of Margaret, Maid of Norway , and her father sent ambassadors to Edward I . Edward met Robert the Bruce and others at Salisbury in October 1289, which resulted in the Treaty of Salisbury , under which Margaret would be sent to Scotland before 1 November 1290 and any agreement on her future marriage would be delayed until she
4500-516: The relocation of the cathedral into the valley almost immediately. Their plans were approved by King Richard I but repeatedly delayed: Herbert was first forced into exile in Normandy in the 1190s by the hostility of his archbishop Walter and then again to Scotland in the 1210s owing to royal hostility following the papal interdiction against King John . The secular authorities were particularly incensed, according to tradition, owing to some of
4575-551: The same, and James returned to London the same day, never again to be at the head of a serious military force in England. Following the destruction by the Luftwaffe of the Southampton factories building Supermarine Spitfires in 1940, production was dispersed to shadow factories elsewhere in the south of England. Salisbury was the major centre of production, supplemented by Trowbridge and Reading . Several factories were set up in
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#17328528473934650-706: The story of Salisbury and the surrounding area from prehistoric times to the Norman Conquest , and showing why Salisbury has a unique place in history. The museum's collections include some of the most important archaeological finds in Britain, including artefacts from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site , the Pitt Rivers Wessex Collection and the Amesbury Archer . A £350,000 grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund
4725-425: The surrounding area from 1898 to 1970. The power station was at Town Mill and was owned and operated by Salisbury Electric Light and Supply Company Limited prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948. The coal-fired power station was redeveloped several times to incorporate new plant including a water-driven turbine. From the Middle Ages to the start of the 20th century, Salisbury
4800-483: The time he was born, although a new bluestone circle may have been raised around the time of his birth. The Archer's grave yielded the greatest number of artefacts ever found in a British burial from the Early Bronze Age. Among those discovered were: five funerary pots of the type associated with the Beaker culture ; three tiny copper knives; sixteen barbed flint arrowheads; a kit of flint-knapping and metalworking tools, including cushion stones that functioned as
4875-513: The whole process. In July 2021 a memorial to the workers, in the form of a life-size fibreglass model Mk IX Spitfire, was unveiled in Castle Road, Salisbury (near the rugby club) on the site of one of the factories. At the time of the 1948 Summer Olympics , held in London, a relay of runners carried the Olympic Flame from Wembley Stadium , where the Games were based, to the sailing centre at Torbay via Slough , Basingstoke , Salisbury, and Exeter . The 1972 Local Government Act eliminated
4950-406: Was an important centre for music in the 18th century. The grammarian James Harris , a friend of Handel , directed concerts at the Assembly Rooms for almost 50 years up to his death in 1780. Many of the most famous musicians and singers of the day performed there. Salisbury holds an annual St George's Day pageant, the origins of which are claimed to go back to the 13th century. Salisbury has
5025-507: Was awarded in August 2013, to help save the personal archive of Rex Whistler . The Salisbury Museum then purchased the archive, which contains over 1,000 items and is the only substantial collection of material relating to the artist. The Museum has an art collection of over 4,000 paintings, prints and drawings, representing local personalities, topographical scenes, special events and everyday life, or created by local artists of note. An outstanding Costume Collection includes clothes relating to
5100-486: Was built near the meeting of the rivers and a settlement grew up around it, which received a city charter in 1227 as New Sarum . This continued to be its official name until 2009 , when Salisbury City Council was established. Salisbury railway station is an interchange between the West of England Main Line and the Wessex Main Line . Stonehenge , a UNESCO World Heritage Site , is 8 miles (13 kilometres) northwest of Salisbury. Cair-Caratauc , one of 28 cities of
5175-531: Was constructed by 1070. The castle was held directly by the Norman kings; its castellan was generally also the sheriff of Wiltshire . In 1075 the Council of London established Herman as the first bishop of Salisbury , uniting his former sees of Sherborne and Ramsbury into a single diocese which covered the counties of Dorset , Wiltshire, and Berkshire . In 1055, Herman had planned to move his seat to Malmesbury , but its monks and Earl Godwin objected. Herman and his successor, Saint Osmund , began
5250-483: Was finally canonised by Pope Callixtus III in 1457. The cathedral was consecrated on 5 April 1092 but suffered extensive damage in a storm, traditionally said to have occurred only five days later. Bishop Roger was a close ally of Henry I (reigned 1100–1135): he served as viceroy during the king's absence in Normandy and directed, along with his extended family, the royal administration and exchequer . He refurbished and expanded Old Sarum's cathedral in
5325-401: Was in Scotland. The Parliament of England met at New Sarum in the years 1324, 1328, and 1384. In 1450, a number of riots broke out in Salisbury at roughly the same time as Jack Cade led a famous rebellion through London. The riots occurred for related reasons, although the declining fortunes of Salisbury's cloth trade may also have been influential. The violence peaked with the murder of
5400-511: Was noted for its cutlery industry . Early motor cars were manufactured in the city from 1902 by Dean and Burden Brothers, using the Scout Motors brand. In 1907, the company moved to a larger factory at Churchfields; each car took six to eight weeks to build, mostly using bodies made elsewhere by coachbuilders. By 1912, 150 men were employed and the company was also making small commercial vehicles and 20-seater buses, some of which were later used by
5475-462: Was part of the now-abolished non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire. It was governed by Wiltshire County Council at the county level and Salisbury District Council, which oversaw most of south Wiltshire as well as the city. Salisbury (previously officially New Sarum) has had city status since time immemorial. The Member of Parliament for the Salisbury constituency , which includes the city, Wilton , Old Sarum, Laverstock and surrounding rural areas,
5550-723: Was passed on 2 March 1665 for making the River Avon navigable from Christchurch to the city of New Sarum. and the work completed, only for the project to be ruined shortly thereafter by a major flood. Soon after, during the Great Plague of London , Charles II held court in Salisbury's cathedral close. Salisbury was the site chosen to assemble James II 's forces to resist the Glorious Revolution . He arrived to lead his approximately 19 000 men on 19 November 1688. His troops were not keen to fight Mary or her husband William, and
5625-598: Was the most important hoard to have been found in Wiltshire since the discovery of the Salisbury Hoard in the 1980s. In around 2014, the museum acquired the Wylye Hoard . In June 2012, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded Salisbury Museum a grant of £1,794,600 towards the development of a new Archaeology of Wessex gallery. The new gallery opened in the summer of 2014 and is of international importance, telling
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