Salisbury Cathedral
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When we think of alchemy and alchemists, we tend to categorise them as men. But no. There were women alchemists as well, as I discovered when I came upon this article which lists ten such women through history. One of the ten caught my eye. She lived in the reign of Elizabeth I, who was…
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As I was wandering the deep valleys of darkest Wiltshire, I suddenly thought I was having a hallucination. Across the green rises, I spotted, not the usual line of ponies and horses…but three humpy Bactrian camels ambling along a trail! Not the kind of beasties one normally expects in the Wiltshire countryside. Apparently I was…
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In Salisbury Museum, a dimly-lit display exhibits the Tailor’s Guild charter of incorporation granted by Edward IV in 1461. The beautiful illumination of Edward’s Latinised name leaps out in all the vivid colours it was originally painted with in the 15thc. In this charter, confirmed the following year by Bishop Beauchamp, the King grants various…
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Ela of Salisbury has been called a ‘towering female figure of the 13th’ century by historian Linda Elizabeth Mitchell. However, outside of some quarters in Wiltshire, she is not terribly well known. What is even less commented on than her accomplishments is her genealogy. She is a foremother to Richard III and Edward IV in…
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Well, impressed as I am, all I can say is “rather him than me”! Go up there? Never! I hate heights. But for those you who are made of sterner stuff, this BBC South video of the nooks, crannies and heights of Salisbury Cathedral is well worth watching.
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SARUM LIGHTS–A COMMEMORATION
“Pillars of the Earth”, Battle of Bosworth, Buckingham rebellion, Ela Countess of Salisbury, Eleanor of Aquitaine, executions, Gothic architecture, Henry II, Henry III, Iron Age, Ken Follett, Lionel Woodville, Magna Carta, Margaret of Salisbury, Normans, Old Sarum, Richard III, Salisbury Cathedral, Sir John Cheney, stained glass, William Longspee2020 is the 800th Anniversary of the founding of Salisbury Cathedral. Before ‘New Salisbury’ came into existence, the town stood on the windy cone of Old Sarum, a huge iron-age hillfort with massive earthen ramparts. There was a particularly forbidding Norman castle on the height, with a windswept bridge over a deep moat–here, Henry II…
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A fascinating article from the Royal Berkshire History site on the preserved hand of St James, which was discovered in 1796 walled up in the ruins of Reading Abbey and now resides in the Catholic Church in Marlow. Recently,this medieval artefact has undergone scientific analysis with interesting results. Reading Abbey was a highly important place…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 