Salisbury: Wiltshire Cathedral City Famous for Its Spire and Infamous for Novichok
Salisbury has the tallest church spire in Britain at 404 feet, visible for miles across the Wiltshire plain. The cathedral, completed in 1258, holds one of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta. The city's population is about 45,000. It was planned as a new town in the 13th century, replacing the hilltop settlement at Old Sarum two miles to the north. The grid-pattern streets (called "chequers") still form the basis of the city centre. In March 2018, Salisbury became internationally notorious when Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok on a park bench near the Maltings shopping centre. The cleanup operation took months, and a woman in nearby Amesbury later died after coming into contact with the substance.
The city sits at the confluence of five rivers: the Avon, Nadder, Ebble, Wylye, and Bourne. The water meadows south of the cathedral were painted by Constable and remain largely unchanged. The Market Place hosts a charter market twice a week, as it has since 1227. The Playhouse theatre and the Salisbury Arts Centre on Bedwin Street handle the cultural programme. Stonehenge is eight miles to the north. Salisbury station is on the West of England Main Line, with services to London Waterloo in about 90 minutes and connections to Exeter, Bristol, and Southampton. For those considering adult companionship in the Wiltshire area, Salisbury is the county's principal city, with the nearest comparable alternatives being Southampton and Bournemouth.
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Salisbury has the tallest church spire in Britain at 404 feet, visible for miles across the Wiltshire plain. The cathedral, completed in 1258, holds one of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta. The city's population is about 45,000. It was planned as a new town in the 13th century, replacing the hilltop settlement at Old Sarum two miles to the north. The grid-pattern streets (called "chequers") still form the basis of the city centre. In March 2018, Salisbury became internationally notorious when Sergei and Yulia Skripal were poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok on a park bench near the Maltings shopping centre. The cleanup operation took months, and a woman in nearby Amesbury later died after coming into contact with the substance.
The city sits at the confluence of five rivers: the Avon, Nadder, Ebble, Wylye, and Bourne. The water meadows south of the cathedral were painted by Constable and remain largely unchanged. The Market Place hosts a charter market twice a week, as it has since 1227. The Playhouse theatre and the Salisbury Arts Centre on Bedwin Street handle the cultural programme. Stonehenge is eight miles to the north. Salisbury station is on the West of England Main Line, with services to London Waterloo in about 90 minutes and connections to Exeter, Bristol, and Southampton. For those considering adult companionship in the Wiltshire area, Salisbury is the county's principal city, with the nearest comparable alternatives being Southampton and Bournemouth.
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