Today was just a bad morning! I woke up chipper and ready to go in Salisbury, England but unfortunately, I blew out all the outlets in our wonderful hotel room when I turned on my blow dryer. There was a hiss, smoke, and then nothing. I know! I have a cheap converter and I’d learned not to turn any of my appliances on high, but this morning I forgot. The front desk was very nice about it though and by the time we returned to the hotel that evening, the outlets were all working again. We headed downstairs for breakfast, which left something to be desired, and then I forgot my notebook in the hotel room and had to run frantically from the bus back upstairs to retrieve it. But don’t worry! I was not about to let this ruin my day, and we set out on the short drive to Salisbury Cathedral.

As we first entered the Cathedral, I was taken aback by its beauty.

It was in a slight state of disrepair and there were many scaffolds flanking the sides of the cathedral as restoration procedures were being done. Our tour guide was a very short, round man who was quick to joke and an even quicker talker. It was sometimes hard to keep up with my notes. Over the course of about an hour and a half, he introduces us to the many unique items that the cathedral possesses, including the world’s oldest working clock, and one of the four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta.

One of the first things you notice as you approach the Cathedral is its gothic architecture. It was built on its present location in 1228, moved from another location because the foundation was better here. The other was too soft and the Cathedral was unstable. However, because the church is sitting over five feet of water tables, people are not buried under the cathedral floor, as is typical. They are cremated and placed directly under the floor, in the stable foundation. There are many children buried here and the floor is peppered with small white rectangles to signify where they are placed.

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The Cathedral was built in just 38 years and houses the world’s oldest working clock. The clock was made in 1386 and was in commission until 1792. It has no face sinceit is designed to only strike the hour. Another interesting piece of information the guide pointed out to us is the “little green men” that are scattered throughout the knave, quire, and throughout the Cathedral. These little men are not actually green, but are the color of the woodwork and marble that they are carved into. There have been 27 of these carvings numbered throughout the cathedral and it is not sure why they are here or their meaning. They are thought to be symbols of fertility and nature and date back to the 17 th century. The “little green men” simply look like little grotesque faces with beards and chubby cheeks that are hidden throughout the carvings.

In this cathedral, I learned that depending on a person’s rank at time of death, affects what their feet “rest on” in their tomb carving. In Salisbury Cathedral, we saw tombs where knights rest their feet on dogs, dogs symbolize loyalty. Royalty has the elite privilege of resting their feet on lions. Another figure here rested their feet on dragons, and the number of claws on the dragon is a depiction of your status during life. I am amazed at how much attention to detail the people of these times showed to life after death. Every single detail was planned out depending on your social status.

Choir boy initiation stone

One of the most amazing architectural features at Salisbury Cathedral were the four main pillars that support the spire. The spire at Salisbury Cathedral is so heavy that the pillars actually bend under its weight. Luckily, they have not succumbed under its weight and have remained erect for hundreds of years. Salisbury Cathedral has so many nuances and interesting artifacts that it is impossible to write about them all. It has everything from etched glass artwork to remember the deaths of two young teenage girls, to huge stained glass windows built to commemorate people who have been persecuted for their political and religious beliefs.

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One of the most extraordinary features present at Salisbury Cathedral is the Magna Carta. The cathedral has one of the four remaining original copies and it is stored under glass in one of the cathedral’s wings. The Magna Carta is the agreement made between King John and the barons in 1215. It is written in Latin, by hand, on vellum. My question is, how did Salisbury Cathedral come to won a copy? I think it is amazing how closely related politics and religion are in this country, they are almost one in the same. I guess with churches being so historically powerful, it is not surprising that a church owns a copy of this powerful document.

Another interesting piece of information we learned at the Cathedral was about the "hazing" practices of initiating choir boys. Now I don't mean to say that there is actual hazing, but before a new boy can sing in the choir, a few of the older boys must perform a certain unpleasan ritual on him. Near the entrance of the choir is a worn stone in the shape of a forehead. This stone is worn away by hundreds of years of thousands of new choir boys as their heads are struck against the stone on the first day that they will sing with the choir during mass. As you can see, it has worn quite a spot on the stone of the church. The guide told us that it was an honor and that boys looked forward to the day when their head would be bonked against the stone that has served the church for hundreds of years.

Lost in Salisbury

After the cathedral, a small group of us went out to a small café for lunch. We unfortunately got a little lost on our way back to the coach, but were able to make it back in time. We then departed for the hour long ride to Avebury. When we arrived at out destination, some people seemed unimpressed by it. However, I was very intrigued. Avebury was a sight of a village in the Neolithic Period, about 4,000-2,000 BC. It consists of four main sites: Windmill Hill, West Kennet Long Barrow, Silbury Hill, and the Sanctuary. I am amazed at how old this place is and everything that we have recovered. There is

Stones of Avebury. To view more information, click here.

so much that we do know, yet there is still so much that we do not. I believe the two most visually stunning attributes of Avebury are the mounds and the stones. As I walk among the stones, I really wanted to know about the people who put them there. Why did they do this backbreaking labor to place the stones and build the mound? Who is buried in this monumental place? Is it just one person or many? These are questions that have been only half answered. It is believed that the stones were used for ceremonial and religious purposes.

Man of Avebury

In the museum at Avebury, the class was able to view artifacts and renderings as to what the people of Avebury might have looked like. The displays of bowls and utensils were extremely fascinating, particularlary the skeleton of a young Avebury child. The skeleton is named Charlie/Charlotte, as it cannot be told whether it is a girl or a boy. The skeleton is curled in the fetal position and is miraculously intact after all these years. Avebury is many times lumped in with Stonehenge, another ancient henge in Europe. However, we know so much more information about Avebury. Ancient people actually used to live and work here and their belongings are found scattered among the ruins. Unlike Stonehenge, as more information is recovered, we will learn more and more about the people of Avebury and perhaps why they built this circle of stones and large mound on this particular site.

Class at Avebury	Neolithic Utensils	Charlie/Charlotte	Silbury Hill - photo site