Old Images of Salisbury, Wiltshire

Old colour photo of Salisbury Cathedral from the river Wiltshire England Circa 1905

Enjoy a glimpse of history through old images of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, USA.


Salisbury is an attractive city in the rural county of Wiltshire of South West England, and home to an ancient Cathedral and many smaller historic buildings.


Old Photos of Salisbury

If you click on the top half of one of these old pictures or photos, it will display a larger version of the full image.


Salisbury Before 1920

It’s not clear if the Canadian soldiers wading through Salisbury’s floods during their Great War service were in the outskirts of the city or nearby.

Canadians In Floods At Salisbury (1914-1918)- British Pathé on YouTube

Crowds of local people turned out to see the children’s parage celebrating peace in the aftermath of the Great War, later known as World War I.

Peace Celebrations At Salisbury (1918-1919) – British Pathé on YouTube

Historical Pageant At Salisbury (1919) – British Pathé on YouTube


Salisbury in the 1930s

England: Salisbury Carnival Week Custodian of the Keys (1930) – British Pathé on YouTube

On 1st February 1930, 21-year-old Lady Margaret Douglas Hamilton, second daughter of the 13th Duke and Duchess of Hamilton, got married to Mr James R. Drummond-Hay in Salisbury Cathedral.

More than a thousand guests attended the event. There was even a special train put on to bring the London guests down to Salisbury.

Major James Drummond-Hay went on to have a daughter, Elizabeth, born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, in 1937.

Picturesque Society Wedding (1930) – British Pathé on YouTube

The City By The Plain – British Pathé on YouTube

Salisbury & Stonehenge – Scenes Aka The City By The Plain Salisbury (1934) – British Pathé on YouTube


Salisbury in the 1940s

Salisbury Issue Title – In Other Words (1943) – British Pathé on YouTube


Salisbury in the 1950s

A £100,000 appeal was launched in the 1950s, with repairs needed to a lot of the Cathedral’s structure and fittings, including some which were about 600 years old.

This footage includes some great aerial footage of the city below.

Salisbury Cathedral (1950) – British Pathé on YouTube

Salisbury Cathedral (1950) – British Pathé on YouTube

The major renovations allowed the Cathedral’s oldest clock to chime again.

Oldest Clock Chimes Again (1956) – British Pathé on YouTube

Near to the city was the Common Cold Research Unit.

Common Cold Research Unit – Salisbury (1958) – British Pathé on YouTube


DVD Trailer

A short clip from the DVD called “A Century of Salisbury and District on Film”, available from the registered charity Windrose Rural Media Trust.

Salisbury Inner Ring Road – Peter Elliott on YouTube


FAQs about Salisbury

What is Salisbury famous for?

Salisbury is famous for its Cathedral, which is home to Britain’s tallest spire and the world’s oldest clock. Since March 2018, Salisbury has been known for the Novichok poisoning of former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal, his daughter Yulia, several British citizens and the subsequent death of Dawn Sturgess.

What is the meaning of Salisbury?

The building of Salisbury Cathedral started in 1220, two miles south of the hillfort town known during Anglo Saxon times as Searoburh, (searu =armour,  burh=town or fortress), Searobyrigand Searesbyrig and in the Domesday book as Sarisberie. An abbreviation of Sar̅ led to confusion with the Latin suffix -um, so by 1239 the town was Sarum. 

Why was Old Sarum a rotten borough?

From the 1220s onwards, residents abandoned the hillfort town of Old Sarum and moved to the nearby city of New Sarum (Salisbury). But Parliamentary seats didn’t change with populations until the Reform Act of 1832, so Old Sarum became a rotten borough with no residents and 2 Members of Parliament. 


More about Wiltshire

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