A hilltop site occupied for two millennia — from Iron Age hillfort to Roman town to Norman castle and cathedral, before the medieval city of Salisbury replaced it.
Old Sarum is a remarkable multi-period site on a chalk hill two miles north of modern Salisbury, occupied almost continuously from the Iron Age to the medieval period. The outer bank and ditch that give the hill its impressive profile were first constructed as an Iron Age hillfort around 400 BC, enclosing a substantial settlement within its ramparts. The Romans built within the Iron Age enclosure, and the site appears in the Antonine Itinerary as Sorviodunum, a road junction and posting station on the route between Winchester and Cirencester.
But Old Sarum's most dramatic transformation came after the Norman Conquest of 1066. William the Conqueror held his court here in 1070, and the Normans built a royal castle within the old hillfort and, beside it, one of the first Norman cathedrals in England. The original cathedral, consecrated in 1092, was replaced by a larger one soon after. The medieval city of Old Sarum grew up within the outer earthworks, functioning as a bishop's seat and royal stronghold for nearly two centuries. But the hilltop site was windy, waterless, and cramped, and in 1220 the bishop moved the cathedral down to the river valley, founding New Sarum — modern Salisbury — and its great cathedral. Old Sarum was gradually abandoned, becoming a celebrated 'rotten borough' that returned two MPs to Parliament despite having no permanent inhabitants.
A rare example of continuous high-status occupation from the Iron Age through the medieval period, Old Sarum illustrates the reuse of prehistoric earthworks and the dynamics of urban foundation and abandonment in medieval England.
Outer bank and ditch constructed. A substantial Iron Age settlement within the enclosure.
The site as Sorviodunum: a road junction and posting station on a major Roman route. Roman buildings within the enclosure.
Royal castle built within the inner enclosure. The first Norman cathedral in England consecrated 1092 and replaced by a larger building c.1110. A growing medieval settlement.
Cathedral moved to New Sarum in 1220. Population declines. By the 16th century Old Sarum was uninhabited.
Foundations of two successive Norman cathedrals, the second 180 metres long, excavated in the 1900s
The Norman inner castle including a great tower and palace buildings
Roman road surfaces and building remains within the Iron Age enclosure
The remarkable survival of the Iron Age outer earthworks to near their original height
Medieval well-shafts and domestic debris from the occupied Norman city
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