Old Sarum Cathedral

During the Norman conquest of England following his 1066 victory at Hastings, used Old Sarum (known at the time by variants of "Saresbury" or "Salisbury") as a base of operations. It was within a newly constructed strong fortress on a high hill (originally the Old Sarum Hill Fort) and was surrounded by the massive walls of the new fortress. In 1075, the Council of London translated Herman to Old Sarum as ', "bishop of Seribury". The see was a new foundation, uniting the former dioceses of Sherborne and Ramsbury. (Herman's initial choice for his seat had been at Malmesbury, but this plan had been blocked by the local monks and Earl Godwin.) Its district covered the counties of Dorset,…

]] At its largest, the Norman cathedral was 185 ft from end to end, smaller than most of the cathedrals being constructed at the time. Built in the standard cruciform shape, the building had a nave of seven bays with cross-shaped piers, an apse and a central crossing tower, as well as several peripheral chapels. The cathedral's six altars comprised the high altar in the presbytery; the altars of , , and in three apsidal chapels in the easternmost wall of the church; and the altars of the (the parish altar) and in the nave, set against the western side of the pulpitum.