Salisbury
We make a field trip to Salisbury, which figures in Thomas Hardy's Wessex novels under the fictional name of Melchester.
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral (Aglican), formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was consecrated in 1258. Among many other distinctions it has the tallest spire in England.
A guide shows us the cathedral.
Arches and angles.
Vaulted ceiling.
Pulpit.
Cathedral likeness etched into a cylinder of glass.
St. Thomas's Church (Church of St Thomas Becket)
The church was built around 1220 as a place of worship for the masons working on the 13th-century Salisbury Cathedral. It was rebuilt around 1450.
The Parishes of St Thomas and St Edmund were merged together in 1974.
The medieval doom painting above the chancel arch dates from 1475, and is believed to be the largest such painting in England.
At the time of our visit we could not go into the church to take more photographs because a marriage service (or possibly a rehearsal) was in progress at the very same spot where Jude was compelled to give Sue Bridehead away in marriage to Mr. Phillotson in Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure.