The Cathedral

The third Cathedral to be built following the two at Old Sarum was built in two stages, the first without the spire.When the spire was added, in the 1310-1330’s, the fine columns made of Purbeck Marble, started to bend. There may have been some interesting sounds as these beautiful columns bent. There must have been a growing fear that the spire would fall. Thus, for years afterwards, the work on the Cathedral was concerned with securing the spire. It was well known that spires were falling down, so this spire had a wooden internal structure built to support the stonework, plus, some very admirable Medieval metal work. Sir Christopher Wren commented on the latter, saying it was the best he had ever seen. The Cathedral today is not how it was. It no longer has much colour, this having been removed in 1789-1792 by James Wyatt. There was indeed much “clearing up” resulting in a tidy space that has a calm atmosphere. Come and visit this historic Cathedral and experience for yourself the magic that it creates.