For those of you who dont have a head for heights or cant face the thought of walking up 332 steps to the top here is a short film to the top of the spire and back again. The cathedral's iconic spire is instantly recognisable and at 404 feet high is the tallest spire in the United Kingdom!
Tower Tours last approximately 90 minutes. You will climb 332 steps in easy stages by narrow winding spiral staircases to reach the foot of the spire 225 feet above ground level. See up inside the Cathedral spire with its medieval wooden scaffold then walk outside onto the four balconies from where you can enjoy spectacular views over the medieval city of Salisbury, Old Sarum and the surrounding countryside from where John Constable painted his famous ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the Water Meadows.
The Cathedral was built in just 38 years in a single architectural style, early English Gothic using 70,000 tons of stone, 28,000 tons of oak and 420 tons of lead – the spire is Britain's tallest and weighs 6,500 tons! Salisbury also has the Britains largest Close (40 hectares) and largest Cloisters and its Quire stalls are the largest and earliest complete set in Britain.
It is home to the best preserved of only four surviving original Magna Carta (AD1215) which is listed on the UNESCO ‘Memory of the World register. Magna Carta's clauses on social justice form the cornerstone of modern democracy and liberty worldwide and are as pertinent today as they were 800 years ago. It inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, American Bill of Rights and the constitutions of many other democratic countries. The document is housed in the exquisite and newly restored Chapter House which also has a unique 13 century stone frieze of bible stories in it.
