England's tallest spire and the gateway to Stonehenge
Salisbury is a compact, handsome cathedral city in Wiltshire — the site of England's only medieval cathedral built entirely to a single plan (1220–1258), topped by the country's tallest spire at 123m, and home to the best-preserved of the four surviving Magna Carta originals. Fifteen miles away stand the stones of Stonehenge, making Salisbury the natural base for visiting the world's most famous prehistoric monument. The medieval street pattern, cathedral close, and the River Avon running through the city centre make it one of England's most photogenic market towns.
The original settlement, Old Sarum, was an Iron Age hill fort that the Romans, Saxons, and Normans all used. In 1220 Bishop Richard Poore moved the cathedral and city down from the windswept hill to the water meadows — making Salisbury one of the few English cities planned from scratch in the medieval period. It was given one of the four 1215 Magna Carta originals, and its cathedral library, established in 1078, is one of the oldest in England.