Old Sarum is a prominent hilltop site about two miles north
of the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire. The history of the site goes back to Iron
Age times, when a giant earthwork was raised to enclose a camp some 56 acres
(23 hectares) in area. It was occupied almost continuously by Romans, Anglo-Saxons,
Danes and Normans.
A Norman castle and cathedral were built, as well as houses
and other buildings, but there were two main problems with this arrangement
that came to a head in the early 13th century. The first was that the
military and ecclesiastical authorities could never agree over who had priority
over the running of the city, and the second was that this windswept hilltop
might have been OK for a relatively small group of Iron Age farmers, but it did
not suit the needs of a growing urban community. In particular, water supply
was always a problem.
There was, however, plenty of water in the open space to the
south of Old Sarum, where four rivers joined together. The clergymen therefore
decided to build a new cathedral to the south, using stones from the old
building. This became the Gothic edifice of Salisbury Cathedral, which was
usable by 1258, but without its magnificent spire, which came later.
The population of Old Sarum gradually migrated to “New Sarum”
and the old city was eventually abandoned when the castle also fell into decay.
Evidence of what was once there is limited to a few fragments of the castle and
the outline of the cathedral foundations.
However, the fact that Old Sarum was virtually dead by the
mid-13th century did not prevent the original borough from being
given the privilege of sending two members to the English Parliament founded by
Simon de Montfort in 1265. This right was maintained for more than 500 years
until the Great Reform Act of 1832 did away with the “rotten boroughs”, of which
Old Sarum was one of the most rotten!
© John Welford
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