The fourth and final day of our roadtrip was supposed to be: Get up, have breakfast, visit Stonehenge, drive home – but we added an extra step to the trip.
On the morning we were due to set off to our first stop at Alton Towers, Evan decided to watch videos of Stonehenge as he was quite excited to see it. The video he chose mentioned other things in the area, including Salisbury Cathedral which features the tallest spire in the UK and is also home to a historically significant document in the Magna Carta. As there are only a few known copies of the original King John Magna Carta in existence, Evan really wanted to see it, so we decided to add the extra stop. Who am I to deny my children some history and culture?
The Hotel
We were at the Premier Inn Salisbury North, which was located around an hour from our previous stop at Paultons Park, and 25 minutes from Stonehenge, so a good spot for us to be in. It was a decent price at £47 for the night and we added the extra £9.99 per adult for breakfast as kids eat free with one paying adult. So, we stuffed ourselves with a buffet breakfast, loaded the car and set off.
Salisbury Cathedral wasn’t 100% definitely being added to the itinerary, so we only booked the tickets the night before in the hotel. Tickets to enter the Cathedral are £10 per adult and children are free, which isn’t a bad price to see a little piece of history. I also did a little research the night before into parking in the area. To park on Choristers Square near the Cathedral was showing a cost of £10 all day, but we found a shopping centre just a 5-minute walk away at a much more reasonable cost. Old George Mall shopping centre has a multi storey car park, which cost us £2.60 for the few hours we were there. We parked on the top deck, which also happens to have a pretty good view of the Cathedral too!
We didn’t see much of Salisbury on the short walk to the Cathedral, but it looked like a nice place with lots of black and white Tudor style buildings lining the streets
Arriving at Salisbury Cathedral
We walked into the Cathedral grounds and were greeted by the imposing gothic cathedral, covered with many amazing sculptures of characters all around and the spire really does look enormous compared to the smaller buildings surrounding it.
Outside the Cathedral entrance, a staff member checks your tickets before entering the main door. He scanned our tickets – fine, but the child tickets would not scan. I blame sun, reflective phone screens and technology as a whole. There was no issue though as he could see we had paid for adults and booked children tickets. Besides, and kids are free anyway. So, inside we went.
As you enter the main hall of the cathedral, you’re instantly greeted with how vast it is, with the length of the room, the height of the arched ceilings, bright stained glass windows, flags, tapestries, friezes, statues and carvings, and art everywhere you look.
Exploring the Cathedral
We were given a map, which explained some of the more focal points of the room and offers a numbered path to follow. The children were given a small activity sheet and a pencil, which covered a few things they could find and do as they walk around. A nice touch, as I could imagine some kids getting bored so it would be a welcome distraction to have something fun and secretly informative to do while everyone else looked around. Evan seemed interested in looking around. Elliott was already bored, and I could feel the request for ‘a carry’ coming.
Stunning architecture and intricate glasswork 
Inside the Cathedral. Its massive. 
Stained Glass Window 
Regimental Flags 
Salisbury Cathedral Model 
The oldest working mechanical clock in the world. 
One of the new Altars 
The shiny new altar – No sticky fingerprints please 
One of the recently installed altars 
Tomb of Sir John de Montacute 
Memorial Statues 
Edward Seymour Monument
There is plenty to see. We started along the far wall, taking in the architecture and some of the plaques and flags in tribute to wars. Here, you’ll also find the world’s oldest working mechanical clock, which many people used to travel to Salisbury to set their clocks by. The clock is shown working at certain times of the day, we just missed it as we got there. You’ll also find a giant model showing how the Cathedral was moved and rebuilt, detailing the building itself and the surrounding buildings and showing how the workers lived and undertook this momentous task.
In the centre of the first half of the room is an amazing cross-shaped font. The water looked like a sheet of glass across the top and was smoothly running from the four corners. You couldn’t really tell it was running aside from the splashes on the floor as it landed into its drains.
We saw one of the newly installed altars, which was black stone with a mirror like finish, engraved around the side with bronze text, set atop an oak dais. Evan seemed impressed by it. Had to keep the kids back though as I’d imagine the last thing they’d want is to clean sticky fingerprints from that shiny surface. Kids always have to touch things.
There was a brass Eagle lectern as we passed through the centre of the room, which was giving off some serious Hogwarts vibes.
With Elliott now on my shoulders (see I said it was coming!) we made our way towards the choir stands, passing more altars and headed towards the back of the cathedral. Here you’ll find ‘The Bumping Stone’ – which is used to initiate new members of the choir by banging their heads against this stone. Sounds pretty harsh, I’d imagine it’s done gently though. Well, I hope it is. More and more statues, sculptures and paintings line the walls.
We witnessed a demonstration of how the cathedral checks the water level beneath the buildings floor. You might be thinking they have some fancy device. Spoiler alert, they poke a stick into a hole in the ground and see how wet it is. Modern technology, eh?
There’s also a memorial to former Prime Minister Ted Heath. I’m not political, he was just one of the only names I recognised.
At the rear of Salisbury Cathedral are a set of fantastic stained-glass windows which are predominantly blue and red in colour, known as the ‘Prisoners of Conscience Window’, it stood out as one of the highlights for both me and Evan. He’d also managed to find a chicken amongst the glasswork! Took us a while to see what he was looking at.
We headed out of the cathedral into the Cloisters, an exterior covered walkway with a square of grass and some trees at its centre. This was also giving off Hogwarts vibes (I should have looked for Dumbledore’s office – I know the password to get in!). Worth noting, the cathedral has an art exhibition on called ‘Our Earth’ which runs until October, and one of the pieces was situated here. I’m not one for modern art though.
From the cloisters, you’ll find the toilets (which aren’t very well themed, they’re actually quite modern) and the entrance to the restaurant/café.
We then headed to the main reason Evan wanted to visit. We had our tickets checked again and entered the Chapter House – home of the Magna Carta.
The Magna Carta
The Chapter House is an amazing octagonal room with stained glass windows all around, sitting above hand carved friezes depicting biblical scenes. Really does look stunning. You can pick up some plastic boards to carry around which describe the things you’ll see in the room. We selected one describing each of the friezes and looked around at them. We did chuckle at ‘The Drunkenness of Noah’
The Magna Carta itself is housed in a small tent structure in the centre of the room, with only a small dim light inside to help protect it from sun damage. We were told this was one of four remaining copies. 2 are kept in the British Library (one of which was damaged by fire in 1731), one in Lincoln Cathedral and the other here at Salisbury. Nice to see a little piece of our history. No photos can be taken inside the tent, again to protect the document.
The text was small and written in Latin, so not even the magnifying glass helped me read it, but there are translations outside the tent if you need one. Or you can just google it.
Evan was happy to see it. Elliott, not so much. So, we headed for the gift shop… for a magnet or two.
In the gift shop, which also backs on to the café, you’ll find a selection of books, London themed novelties and nick-nacks, locally produced food items and Salisbury branded memorabilia. We picked a fancy magnet of the Cathedral and one with a picture of the Magna Carta. They also had one of our family crest, so we got that too!
We took our leave and did another lap of the building to see some more of the magnificent stonework around the outside – Evan spotted St George with a Dragon’s head – then we headed back to the car for our final next stop: Stonehenge!
