The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland:: A Description of Cities, Cathedrals, Lakes, Mountains, Ruins, and Watering-places.Silloway, Thomas W. (Thomas William)
History
The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland:: A Description of Cities, Cathedrals, Lakes, Mountains, Ruins, and Watering-places.
Silloway, Thomas W. (Thomas William)
Great Britain -- Description and travel
stillness, unbroken save by their incessant cries; the prevailing air
of repose; the aristocratic aspect of the Bishop's residence, and those
of the other functionaries; the memories that have clustered around the
spot, during the six hundred and sixty years since Bishop Poore founded
the cathedral,--all conspired to invest the place with sanctity. Here
again came the thought, "This is _the_ cathedral,"--as though all
England were but the diocese, and this the seat of the entire Church.
The great bourdon bell in the tower solemnly proclaims the hour of 8
P. M., and we wend our way over the dike, skirting the narrow
river, to get a moonlight view of the cathedral. How often we turn to
look anew on that symmetrical tower and lofty spire, and how satisfying
the gaze. We turn back again and admire the fields spread around us;
we are delighted with the hills, and with the winding river, narrow
and clear, whose banks we are treading. The little mill-village ahead
lures us on; but the cathedral is more potent. We turn again and gaze,
walk backwards and admire, till the little hamlet a half-mile away
is reached. We walk over the trembling footbridge and along the rude
milldam, and try to be entertained; but no, we must turn our footsteps,
for in full view is the "all in all." So we walk back, and think and
admire anew, till night comes over us, and we and the cathedral are
draped with a common pall. Through the night, as the chimes broke the
stillness, and the great bell set its heavy notes as milestones of
time, we felt the greatness of our surroundings.
OLD SARUM.
On Friday A. M., at nine o'clock, we took team at Salisbury
for this place. Few spots in history are of more interest than this
and its neighbor, Stonehenge,--the former two, and the latter a little
less than nine miles from Salisbury. Sarum was an important settlement
made by the early Britons, which afterwards became a Roman station, and
the residence of the West Saxon kings. King Alfred fortified it, and
in the eleventh century it was made a bishop's see. In 1217, however,
Bishop Poore removed two miles away, and there established what is now
Salisbury Cathedral, and so the city itself. As a matter of course,
Sarum declined. The people followed the bishop, and what was once a
place of note became almost extinct. Only one house remains on the
grounds, but there are yet traces of the walls, cathedral, and castle.
A more complete ruin is not to be found elsewhere in Great Britain, and
a strange enchantment hovers about the scene.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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