Adventures around Salisburywith PlusBus
Visible from near and far, thirteenth-century Salisbury cathedral is a spectacular example of Early English Gothic architecture. The 123m-high spire – Britain’s tallest – was added in 1320. The popular Town Path leads through water meadows, where John Constable painted views of the cathedral, from the Old Mill at Harnham. To the north of the city is the important site of Old Sarum with its ruined castle and iron age ramparts. A PlusBus ticket can help you reach all these sights and more. Just ask for PlusBus when you buy a train ticket to Salisbury (or at the station when you arrive) and you can travel all over the area all day.
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1. Salisbury Cathedral and Mompesson House
Sixty thousand tonnes of stone went into the building of soaring Salisbury cathedral, which began in 1220. Inside this remarkable building, you can see the world’s oldest working clock and one of only four surviving copies of Magna Carta. There are chapels and cloisters, carved Quire stalls and stained glass. You can even see the rat that might hold the key to a medieval murder. And there’s lots more to visit nearby: museums, walks and grand houses. Regular Great Western trains arrive from Bristol, Portsmouth and Cardiff and South Western trains from Exeter and London Waterloo.
- How do I get to Salisbury cathedral by bus? Turn left out of Salisbury railway station and walk past Caboose into Fisherton Street. Catch any bus one stop to the United Reform Church. Cross the river and turn right along the High Street.
- Walk through the archway and turn immediately right into Chorister’s Square to find Mompesson House, a classic eighteenth-century townhouse with a carved staircase and impressively ornate plasterwork ceilings. Look out for the collection of drinking glasses and the flowering garden.
- A few steps further, the Rifles Museum has a big collection of military artefacts in a fine old building. Next door is Arundells, once home to former Prime Minister Edward Heath, and Salisbury Museum, where you can see ancient remains from burials at Stonehenge or paintings by J M W Turner.
- Cross the grass to visit Salisbury Cathedral. Don’t miss the medieval frieze in the elegant Chapter House, where Magna Carta is housed. It shows the stories like Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Lot’s wife and Joseph. There’s plenty to see here and, when you’re ready, a lovely walk nearby through the timeless water meadows.
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2. Harnham Old Mill
Salisbury’s many attractions include ancient country pubs and artistic walking routes. A famous painting by John Constable shows Salisbury cathedral under a rainbow with a rural scene in the foreground. To reach this scenic viewpoint, still looking much as it was in Constable’s day, visit Harnham Old Mill, where the millrace whooshes through the dining room under glass.
- How do I get to Harnham Old Mill by bus? Bus R5 runs every half an hour (hourly on Sundays) from Salisbury City Centre to Harnham. The bus stops on Brown Street and at St Osmund’s School, but to combine the bus ride with short walks through some of the city’s loveliest areas, follow these directions.
- Turn left from the imposing west front of Salisbury cathedral and left again through the stone archway, Harnham Gate. Stroll down pretty De Vaux Place and right along St Nicholas Street over the River Avon. Turn right again into Harnham Road and catch the bus from the stop opposite the Rose and Crown.
- Get off the bus three stops later, just after it turns off the main road, at the Wiltshire Road stop on Parsonage Green. Stroll across the grassy area and a few steps right to find a way into the Cricket Pitch. Walk left and towards the river to reach a gate near the Old Mill.
- Turn right past the mill, follow the path over a bridge and back along the half-mile tarmac Town Path through the water meadows for classic views of the cathedral. Alternatively, buses back into the city run from the Old Parsonage stop near the cricket pitch.
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3. Old Sarum
The ancient city at Old Sarum predates Salisbury by many centuries. This is the only place in England where you can find the remains of a medieval castle, built by William the Conqueror, and cathedral inside the ramparts of a prehistoric Iron Age hill fort. The Romans occupied the fort soon after they invaded Britain in 43AD and, more than a thousands years later, medieval rulers made Old Sarum cruicial centre. In 1220 work began on the new cathedral, miles below, which still stands today and the area’s focus shifted with it.
- One of the best things about a trip to Old Sarum are the fabulous views all around the hill of the city, the cathedral and across Salisbury Plain.
- How do I get to Old Sarum by bus? Buses X4 or X5 or activ8 all run to Old Sarum from Blue Boar Row (Stop N) in the middle of the city. Between them, there are several buses an hour.
- After about five minutes, get off at the stop called Old Castle and walk in the direction the bus was going, keeping left along the road or parallel Portway, until a lane runs left to Old Sarum.
- Don’t miss the outline of Old Sarum cathedral in the grass beyond the walls and ramparts. Among the acres of chalkland, there are butterflies and wild flowers, sweeping views and hidden paths.
- There’s a small cafe in the Visitor Centre at Old Sarum and if you need refreshments after your visit, the Old Castle Harvester pub is close to the bus stop. Or there are lots more choices back in town, five minutes away on the bus. Salisbury has a number of good pubs and cafes close to the railway station.
- For more car-free adventures in the area, check out our guides to Portsmouth, Bournemouth and Southampton (half an hour on the train). Bristol, Swindon and Reading are all also within an hour or so’s journey by train and offer PlusBus tickets to explore the area by bus. Have a great day out!
