Salisbury

Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement (3000 BC) at Salisbury in southern England, thought to have been known as Sorviodunum in roman times. It is a hillfort situated on the conjunction of two trade routes and the River Avon just 2 miles north of Salisbury, west of the road which leads to Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain.

The hill fort is oval in shape - 400 m long and 360 m wide - with immense ditch and banks, with an entrance at the eastern end. The Normans constructed a motte and bailey castle within the earlier earthworks.

In 1100 the motte and bailey castle was replaced by a stone keep, and a royal palace with a great tower was built in the inner bailey in 1130.

The first cathedral was completed in 1092, burned down just 5 days after it's consecration, and a larger cathedral was completed around 1190. The outline of the walls of the original cathedral can still be seen on the north side of the outer bailey.

Relations between clergy and castle were stormy and eventually the clergy determined to build the present cathedral a few miles further south.

Dowsers claim that a straight and powerful ley runs from Stonehenge, through Old Sarum and Salisbury Cathedral to Clearbury Ring.

Old Sarum forms part of the sacred landscape, around Stonehenge and Woodhenge.