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» Places » Old Sarum - [Cathedral] (SU 1370 3270)

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Old Sarum's site has been used for thousands of years for one use or another. The Iron Age hillfort could have been built for defence to accomodate the whole community at times of attack. Several Roman roads appear to congregate around the Old Sarum area, but whether the Roman roads were built from scratch by the Romans or built upon earlier lines is open for debate. One thing of interest about the position of Old Sarum is its alignment with other ancient sites in the area, including the Clearbury Ring, the Chalton Clumps, Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. In fact, they are all in a straight line ^Lines . After the Norman Invasion of 1066, William the Conqueror used Old Sarum as a base of operations and to house part of his army. In 1070, once the country was generally under his control, William used Old Sarum as the setting for the important task of paying off his army with treasures taken from the defeated Anglo-Saxons. William's nephew, Osmund came over from Normandy and acted as William's chancellor and became bishop of Salisbury. Osmund had the first Cathedral at Old Sarum built, and it was completed in 1092. Unfortunately the cathederal suffered extensive damage in a storm. Osmund's successor, Roger, rebuilt and enlarged sections of the cathedral. A plan to move the cathedral to Salisbury was put forward to Richard I in 1194. The Old Sarum site had a limited water supply and moving the cathedral to the banks of the Avon was an improvement. In 1219, the move began and in 1220 the new site was consecrated. By 1250 the new cathedral had been built.

Mini Timeline

1070		Castle at Old Sarum
		Using the prehistoric hill fort's defensive position to good use, the Normans built a new castle on the Old Sarum site. William the Conqueror paid off his soldiers here in this year.
1072		Old Sarum Cathedral
		The first cathedral at Old Sarum was built between 1075 and 1092. Its builder was Bishop Osmund, who was supposed to be William the Conqueror's nephew. From 1072 until 1078, Osmund was William's Chancellor. In 1078 Osmund was given the title of Bishop of Salisbury.
1075		Council of London
		At the Council of London Archbishop Lanfranc instigated the movement of many English Bishoprics to more important locations. One of these was the Bishopric of Sherborne and Wilton which moved to Old Sarum.
1078		Osmond becomes Bishop at Old Sarum
		Osmond was a Norman who came to England with William the Conqueror. He exchanged his noble title for that of a religious one and became Bishop at Old Sarum after Herbert. Osmond continued the construction work of a new cathedral at Old Sarum.
1092		Old Sarum Cathedral completed and dedicated
		The cathedral at Old Sarum was completed and dedicated to Blessed Virgin. The cathedral was damaged by a storm only five days after the dedication service and the roof destroyed. The location of the cathedral meant it exposed to the wind and the sermons were sometimes drowned out by the sound.
1194		Plans to move Old Sarum cathedral
		Bishop Herbert Poore presented plans to move the cathedral at Old Sarum to a new site nearer the river to be called New Sarum, or now Salisbury. Richard I approved the plan.
1217		Hubert de Burgh forces Louis to accept peace terms
		Hubert de Burgh, King Henry III's justiciar, won several battles against Louis of France including the navel battle off Sandwich which was won by throwing lime into the faces of the French sailors. Louis accepted peace terms and paid Henry 10,000 marks. Louis waived his claim to the throne of England and should have restored Normandy to Henry but did not.
1220		Salisbury Cathedral rebuilding started
		A new site 2 miles from the original site at Old Sarum was chosen for the new Salisbury Cathedral. For a Cathedral the building work was completed in a very short time and the building was consecrated in 1258 only 38 years later.