More cathedrals, more flowers, and more ruins!

Picture 1: interior of Salisbury Cathedral looking down the nave; foreground is the baptismal font with Cathedral reflection in it.
Picture 2: cloisters with Cathedral in background.
Picture 3: rose garden at Mottisfont.
Picture 4: same.
Picture 5: royal palace ruins at Old Sarum.
Picture 6: Stonehenge.
Picture 7: Mom.

Today we toured Salisbury Cathedral, the gardens and house at Mottisfont (estate out in the country between Winchester and Salisbury), the ruins of the castle and cathedral at Old Sarum, and Stonehenge. Really quite a full day. Mom and I both brought plenty of books on this trip, assuming that we'd have some down-time each evening to relax...not so! We keep getting back to our B&B around 9 or 9:30, and then it's only 2 or 2.5 hours before bed.

Anyway, we started the day by finishing Salisbury. We'd gone downtown and wandered around, taking outside pictures of the Cathedral and getting a feel for the city last night, so this morning we made a beeline for the visitors' entrance. The Cathedral itself was pretty similar to the other cathedrals I've seen but unique in its incorporation of more modern art pieces and its incorporation of the modern life of the church into the exhibit. There were a few beautiful modern sculptures scattered in the space and, while modern church activity wasn't exactly made obvious, it was clear that the cathedral is still very much in use and well loved as a spiritual space. It gave it a warmth that I haven't experienced in other cathedrals. Of course, it helped that the sun came out while we were in the Cathedral and lit it up magnificently - when we saw Winchester Cathedral the other day it was chilly and grey, and all the cathedrals I saw on the Continent were toured during the winter... The real highlight of the Cathedral for me were the modern art pieces having to do Prisoners of Conscience and other peace memorials (a beautiful scultpure called "The Thornflower" and a stained glass window) and one of only 4 remaining copies of the original Magna Carta that's on display there. Seeing the MC was pretty cool.

So after the Cathedral, Mom and I booked it back to the B&B, got our car, and drove to Mottisfont. This wasn't on our original itinerary but Mom and I added it after a chance comment by a National Trust employee at Sissinghurst, who mentioned in passing that Mottisfont is home to an immense and famous collection of antique rose varieties, and is well-known for its rose gardens. We certainly weren't disappointed. The rose gardens were unbelievable - I took far too many pictures.

Then on to Old Sarum and Stonehenge. We were expecting Old Sarum to be a quick jump-out-of-the-car-look-at-a-couple-brick-lines-in-the-ground-and go stop, but we ended up staying over an hour. The complex itself was much larger than we imagined with the castle situated on top of a huge hill. And there were more walls of various structures (mainly the king's palace and the great tower) visible and above ground. The cathedral was really just lines in the ground. Mom and I are still confused about why the Bishops built a new cathedral at Salisbury when they had a perfectly good one at Old Sarum just two miles away. One of the plaques at Old Sarum implied that it was because of the tensions between church and state that arose in the 1200s-ish. The Bishops apparently left Old Sarum because they wanted to be separate from the king, which I guess makes sense. But still, what a waste of a perfectly good cathedral and what an expenditure to get a new one!

Stonehenge, of course, was unbelievable. And again, I took far too many pictures. I kept trying to get new angles, etc. We got lucky and the sun came out soon after we got there so about half of my pictures are pretty good. Then the sun disappeared again, and the other half are pretty dark and horrible. Still, that was pretty awesome.

And now we're back in the Wyndham Park Lodge (which we love) for the second night. Tomorrow we'll tour Stourhead and Longleat, then on to Bath!