ENGLISH HERITAGE TEACHERS KIT

HISTORY

Old Sarum
Summary Medieval city of Salisbury before it was moved to its present site Norman Castle Surrounded by a Roman town A mighty Hill Fort of the Iron Age Discovery Visit workshops available for Key Stages 13 (charge applies)
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Aerial reconstruction of the Iron Age settlement at Old Sarum.

In origin an Iron Age hillfort, Old Sarum was abandoned in the more peaceful era following the Roman Conquest.

Distant aerial reconstruction drawing of William the Conqueror receiving the barons at Old Sarum in 1086

Briefly re-occupied when Roman rule collapsed, it was occupied again at the time of the Viking invasions. A seat of Norman royal power, its cathedral became redundant when the new town of Salisbury grew up in the 13th century.
BOOKING AND SITE INFORMATION W www.english-heritage.org.uk/onlinebooking E bookeducation@english-heritage.org.uk The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, SN2 2EH T 0870 333 0606 F 01793 414926

ENGLISH HERITAGE TEACHERS KIT

HISTORY

Old Sarum
The Iron Age 700BC43AD The Roman Period 43AD410AD The Saxon Period 4101066

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The Iron Age Hillfort The Iron Age in Britain (c.700BC to 43AD) seems to have been a restless and unstable period. Throughout southern England, large hill forts were constructed which acted as protective strongholds and symbols of tribal power. This is the society that Julius Caesar describes in his Gallic War, with its chariot-driving warriors tattooed with woad and its magnificent bronze shields, such as the one found at Battersea, now in the British Museum. From its size, Old Sarum must have been the centre of a Reconstruction drawing of a man and woman powerful tribe or clan, although no at Old Sarum in the Iron Age battle is known to have taken place there at the time of the Roman invasion in 43AD. The Roman Town Following the establishment of Roman rule, the hillfort was apparently deserted, although there was a settlement outside the east gate where four Roman roads converge. Sarum is generally thought to be the place called Sorbiodunum, mentioned in an official itinerary drawn up shortly after 200 AD. After the Romans With the collapse of Roman rule two hundred years later, some hillforts (e.g. South Cadbury in Somerset) were reoccupied by local leaders. In 552 AD, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records a battle between Britons and Saxons at Searoburgh the Old English version of Sorbiodunum. This suggests that Old Sarum may have been the seat of a local warlord, though as yet no archaeological evidence of this has been found.
Roman woman and man at Old Sarum BOOKING AND SITE INFORMATION W www.english-heritage.org.uk/onlinebooking E bookeducation@english-heritage.org.uk The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, SN2 2EH T 0870 333 0606 F 01793 414926

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ENGLISH HERITAGE TEACHERS KIT

HISTORY

Old Sarum
The Medieval Period (410-1500) The Saxons 410-1066AD The Norman Conquest 1066
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When the Saxons themselves faced repeated raids by bands of Vikings in the 10th and 11th centuries, Sarum was again used as a secure refuge, one of the few places in which it was safe to operate a mint.

Reconstruction drawing of a man and woman at Old Sarum in the Saxon Period

The Normans The years following the Norman invasion in 1066 were equally unsettled. An earth-and-timber castle was built within the old fort and it was here that William the Conqueror disbanded his army in 1070. To hold onto his new kingdom, William distributed large areas of land to his most trusted followers, including many churchmen. Bishops like Williams half-brother Odo of Bayeux, saw nothing wrong in leading troops into battle; others served the king as judges and administrators. The closeness of this arrangement can be clearly seen at Old Sarum, where the cathedral of a reorganised diocese arose alongside the royal castle. The new cathedral was destroyed by fire shortly after its consecration in 1092, but a larger and more impressive building quickly took its place.
A reconstruction drawing of the first cathedral being struck by lightning in 1092. BOOKING AND SITE INFORMATION W www.english-heritage.org.uk/onlinebooking E bookeducation@english-heritage.org.uk The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, SN2 2EH T 0870 333 0606 F 01793 414926

ENGLISH HERITAGE TEACHERS KIT

HISTORY

Old Sarum
The Medieval Period Old Sarums cathedral rebuilt c.1135 The city moved to Salisbury 1219

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The new cathedral was the work of Bishop Roger of Sherborne, who served as treasurer, chancellor and on occasion as regent under Henry I (110035).

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Reconstruction drawing of the second cathedral in about 1150

As regent, Roger held court in the royal castle, which he rebuilt in a sumptuous style; as bishop, he built an Episcopal palace beside the reconstructed cathedral. His was a career similar to that of Cardinal Wolsey and it ended in much the same way. In the shadow of the royal castle, the cathedral clergy felt ill at ease and increasingly aware of Reconstruction drawing showing the disadvantages of living on an exposed and the keep and palace in 1130 windy hilltop. There was some truth in their complaints; more practically, by the early 13th century the cathedral church needed upgrading and the best way to fund this was through the foundation of a new market town. In 1219 Pope Honorius III authorised the building of a new cathedral in a more favourable location two miles away this was the beginning of New Sarum, now known as Salisbury. For a time the castle continued to be the residence of the kings sheriff, but the rest of the site was gradually deserted. By 1540, when Henry VIIIs antiquary John Leland visited Old Sarum, there were no houses left standing and the castle was in ruins. Although the Norman buildings were excavated thoroughly at the start of this century including the foundations of the two successive cathedrals most of the site has never been touched. Much remains for future generations of archaeologists to discover.
BOOKING AND SITE INFORMATION W www.english-heritage.org.uk/onlinebooking E bookeducation@english-heritage.org.uk The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, Swindon, SN2 2EH T 0870 333 0606 F 01793 414926