Sojourn in Wiltshire October 2022: Part 3

Our stay continued with a trip that took in Wilton House and Salisbury Cathedral. And a day with very little rain. Hooray.

Wilton House in Wilton. Photography inside was not allowed but it was another place replete with portraits and lots of marble statues stolen from Italy and Greece, but they didn't admit to that. Seriously though, the roll call of the artists was impressive - Rembrandt, Reynolds, Bruegel etc. Wilton House itself is Elizabethan in origin but has been much modified since then, It has been the seat of the Pembroke family for over 400 years and you might have seen parts of it featured in The Crown, Bridgeton, Young Victoria and all sorts of costume dramas. Photographs of the present Earl and Countess of Pembroke suggest that they would not be out of place in any of the TV series.

Every stately home has a stately estate and Wilton is no exception. Lots of nice colour and shape in the trees.

I've got a couple of special connections with Salisbury Cathedral - it was the very first English cathedral I visited (in 1967) and we took part in the Morning Service there the day after we got married in 1970.

The (insert superlative here) vaulted ceiling/roof of the cathedral nave. I'm in awe of the skills employed to build structures such as these.

In the centre of the nave is this rather magnificent water sculpture font by William Pye. When it was installed in 2008, it was nicknamed by some as the 'funky font'. The reflections of the cathedral roof and windows in the surface of the water are unique.

The Salisbury Cathedral clock is a large iron-framed tower clock without a dial, it was previously in a bell tower which was demolished in 1790. Thought to date from about 1386, it is a well-preserved example of the earliest type of mechanical clock and is said to be the oldest working clock in the world, although it has to be said that similar claims are made for other clocks. How times have changed. My Casio F-91W does exactly the same thing and is much easier to lug around.

This Memorial Window in the North Nave Aisle was presented to the Cathedral by the City of Salisbury Council after the Second World War. The window was designed and created by Christopher Webb to acknowledge the local members of the three Services who lost their lives and are depicted in the shadowing wings of the angel Gabriel. It also acknowledges the tremendous effort of those who served on the Home front, namely, in the left hand lancet, the National Fire Service, Home Guard and Air Raid Precautions. In the right hand lancet, the Women’s Royal Naval Service, the Land Army, the Auxiliary Territorial Service, and the Women’s Royal Air Force. Unfortunately several Units such as the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry were omitted. The cathedral's glazier at the time, Trevor Wiffen, decided to rectify this and added the National Farmers Union, as well as the Nursing Services (The Florence Nightingale medal surrounded by the General Nursing Council, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, and the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service) which he sited prominently in the Chapter House.  

The dedication inscription at the bottom of the memorial window. The window itself can be very easily 'read' as the images are very clear and and decipherable. No doubt, however, future generations will need help in their interpretation.

I took this memorial plaque very personally as my dad was there.

Looking through the choir stalls towards the nave and the west end of the cathedral. We were able to sit in these during Choral Evensong.

The 'Prisoners of conscience window' in the Trinity Chapel at the eastern end of the cathedral. It was designed by the French artist Gabriel Loire and installed in 1980. Of the five lights or lancets, the one on the right represents modern prisoners of conscience who suffered from self questioning and solitude, whereas the one on the left represents those who were certain. The three central lancets depict Jesus Christ as a prisoner of conscience, with the trial by Pontius Pilate at left, mocked by soldiers with a crown of thorns at right, and the crucifixion in centre, with Mary at Christ's feet. The general appearance of the window is blue, and I have to say that, even when looking at it close up, it is extremely hard to discern the imagery and the depictions the artist intended.

You can get more information from looking at the interpretive board close to the window.

The octagonal Chapter House is where the Magna Carta can be found. With its vaulted ceiling and stained glass windows, it really is one of the jewels in the cathedral's crown. Chapter houses themselves were used for meetings, called chapters, to conduct the business affairs of a monastery or cathedral and to deal with matters for which the body of the church itself would not be appropriate. I would imagine it would be an ideal place to just sit and ponder in silence, if only the hordes could be kept away!

And this is it - one of the original copies of the Magna Carta. I/We didn't appreciate that it was so small. It's probably between A3 and A4 in size, written in Latin on velum. There are only four original copies remaining, two are kept in the British Library (one of which was badly damaged by fire in 1731), this one in Salisbury cathedral and one in Lincoln Castle. We've visited the latter but I don't recall seeing the Magna Carta there. Maybe we were distracted by calling our son on his birthday whilst he was visiting Israel.

The rather splendid arcaded and ornate cloisters are the largest in England but were not part of the original design of the cathedral. they were added in the late 13th century as a purely decorative feature, with shapes, patterns, and materials that copy those of the cathedral interior.

The choir that sang at the Choral Evensong we attended was a visiting group from the Netherlands, the Canticum Amicorum. And very good they were too. They sang as one voice and the acoustics of the cathedral really amplified the sound. Eat your heart out, Graham Kendrick. Proper music.

The nave at night, with the funky font in the foreground.