Beyond the Blue: Stonehenge and Salisbury

Good afternoon from London,
I have neglected posting for the last few days because I truly have been too busy to do so! Thursday was a blur of activity, classes and a show, and Friday consisted of an all day trip to the Salisbury plain to see Stonehenge and the Salisbury Cathedral. Today I haven't been feeling very well, so I have been resting all day. I am finally feeling better this late afternoon.

A beautiful day, but cold!

Stonehenge's entrance. The ditch on either side surrounds the
monument and was there before it was even built!

The view of Salisbury from Old Sarum's bridge.

The Cathedral of Salisbury

I've recently been considering what it means to live in a kingdom-minded way. This has been brought on by a discussion in my Charles Dickens class over the novel Oliver Twist. What I mean by "kingdom-minded" is this: how am I, as a believer in Christ and a Christian, supposed to live, behave, and interact in and with this world? I am in the process of writing about this, and will post this on my other blog when it is complete!

Stonehenge is one of those landmarks that you just have to see while you are in England. Unfortunately, that picture to the left is now the closest they allow you to get to this 5,000 year old structure. And literally, this was all there was to see. Nothing to read about it, no explanations of what it is or what it was for (not that anyone knows the answer to that!). I don't want to say that it was a letdown, but I expected at least some informational plaques around the perimeter or something. It is fun to conjecture how this was built and what it's purpose was, but they have no earthly idea what it is! Kind of funny :)
The Cathedral of Salisbury is one of the oldest in the country. It was built in the 1200s, and completed in about 30 years. Because of the short time of construction, there is only one style of architecture represented: English Gothic. It also has the tallest spire in the country, rising 402 feet from the ground! The weight of the spire has caused the pillars to buckle and bend under the weight. Quite scary to think about. The poor thing is sinking into the ground. Someday it will probably come crashing to the ground. There are arches and buttresses that were built to support the spire's weight, but who knows how long that will hold?

Sundial on the wall.

The tomb further on down the page is that of William Longspee. He was the illegitimate son of Henry II and half-brother to John and Richard the Lionhearted. His is the oldest tomb in the cathedral. He was present at the laying of the foundation in 1220 and was buried here in 1226. His tomb is interesting in that the top is a carved stone effigy and the bottom is English oak. This is the original tomb! They took his skeleton out at one point, and confirmed it did indeed come from this time period. They also found a mummified rat inside his skull. It had eaten the brains, and they found that it was full of arsenic! The interesting thing is that Longspee returned from war home to Salisbury, and they had a huge feast to welcome him home. The very next day, he died! They can't determine if he was poisoned because people took arsenic as a medicine back then. I think it is completely fascinating. This is the kind of thing I find so interesting about history.
The sundial to the left is such a beautiful piece of work. It tells not only the time of day, but also the time of year. As you can see, it is just before 2 o'clock in the afternoon. In 1752, they reformed the calendar. This calendar is dated 1749, and this Julian calendar made the year too short, an error of 11 days in total. England adopted the Gregorian calendar, so the next day after September 2nd, 1752 was September 14th, 1752! Is that cool or what? 11 days of 1752 never officially happened!
Well, those are some interesting anecdotes for you!
Tomorrow, the group is going to St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London for church. This is the church that dominates the London skyline in pictures you see of the whole city. I found a very cute teal wool hat on sale, and I am planning on wearing that tomorrow to church! I'm excited about that :) I'll be sure to post a picture!
I hope you enjoy the rest of the photos on down the page!
Cheers!
Faith