Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral tickets: which one to buy

Salisbury Cathedral stands in a large, green cathedral close in the city of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, and visitors are asked to make a donation or buy a ticket for entry, which includes the Chapter House, where one of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta is displayed. Tower tours, which climb 332 steps to the base of the spire, are ticketed separately and must be booked in advance; they are one of the best cathedral tours in Britain.

Salisbury is about an hour and a half from London by train, and day tours often combine the cathedral with Stonehenge, about fifteen kilometres away. The cathedral close includes historic houses, such as Mompesson House and Arundells, the home of former prime minister Edward Heath, and the Salisbury Museum. The cathedral is active, with daily services, and choral evensong is especially beautiful. Guided floor tours are offered free several times a day and last about forty-five minutes.

Visiting Salisbury Cathedral: what to see

The cathedral was built between 1220 and 1258, remarkably quickly, which gives it a unity of style, the Early English Gothic, rare among English cathedrals. Its spire, added between 1310 and 1330, rises 123 metres and is the tallest in Britain. The cathedral also has the largest cloisters and the largest cathedral close in Britain. Inside, the nave is long and elegant, with dark Purbeck marble columns. The cathedral holds the oldest working mechanical clock in the world, dating from around 1386, which has no face but strikes the hours. The Chapter House, an octagonal room with a central column and a carved frieze of Old Testament scenes, displays the best-preserved original copy of Magna Carta, from 1215.

A modern font, designed by William Pye and installed in 2008, is a still pool that reflects the vaults and windows. The cathedral's west front is decorated with more than seventy statues of saints, many replaced in the nineteenth century. The cloisters surround a lawn with two cedar trees. The Trinity Chapel at the east end has modern stained glass, the Prisoners of Conscience window. The tomb of William Longespée, half-brother of King John and a witness at Magna Carta, lies in the nave with a painted effigy. The spire's weight caused the columns of the crossing to bend, and the bending can be seen from the nave. The medieval library and chapter house were restored in recent years.

Salisbury Cathedral opening hours and the best time to go

The cathedral is open daily, with shorter hours on Sundays; tower tours run on most days and should be booked ahead. Salisbury is busy in summer, when many visitors combine the cathedral with Stonehenge. The Salisbury International Arts Festival in late spring brings events to the city. The Christmas season brings carol services and a market. Choral evensong is sung most evenings. The cathedral close is beautiful in spring and summer, with lawns and trees. Allow about an hour for the cathedral and the Chapter House, and two hours with a tower tour. Old Sarum, the site of the first cathedral and a hill fort, is about ten minutes' drive north of the city.