Old Sarum was originally an Iron Age Hillfort, built around 400 BC at the intersection of two trade paths, before becoming a Roman and then a Saxon settlement. William the Conqueror used the site to build a Motte and Bailey castle and a cathedral, and King Henry I added a royal palace. The city declined due to a lack of water and being windswept and subsequent arguments between soldiers and clergy, and a new cathedral was built on the Salisbury Plain - the city of New Sarum, or Salisbury as it became, was established.
It was interesting to walk over the outer bailey, cross the ditch where the drawbridge would have been and go up to the inner bailey where the palace and castle are situated; the remains of the original cathedral are behind, on the outer bailey.Read more
EnglandSalisburyOld Sarum51°5’37” N 1°48’18” W
EnglandSalisburyOld Sarum51°5’37” N 1°48’18” W