The Cloister and Bishop's Palace at Old Sarum with Some Thoughts on the Origins and Meaning of Secular Cathedral Cloisters

Abstract

Between 1909 and 1915 the Society of Antiquaries of London sponsored the excavation of the Iron-Age, Roman and medieval levels of Old Sarum. Progress was halted in the latter year because the demands of the First World War had created a shortage of man-power. Nevertheless, by 1915 most of the site had been examined in some form or other. Annual interim reports were delivered to the Society of Antiquaries, but the comprehensive appraisal of the site that was intended was never written as a result of the untimely death of the principal director of excavations, Sir William St John Hope. This has resulted in confusion over the sequence and chronology of construction at Old Sarum, particularly as regards those buildings to the north and east of the cathedral church. The following article is a reappraisal of the evidence, especially as it pertains to the cloister and the bishop's palace, and proposes a new interpretation of the chronology of the buildings in this sector of the cathedral close. Certain implications, including those that apply to our understanding of early secular cathedral communities after the Norman Conquest, are considered in the light of this new appraisal.