Today, the International Summer School student body took a daytrip to Stonehenge and Salisbury. I have always wanted to see Stonehenge, and was very exited for our trip. After a two hour drive by coach we arrived in a field-like area with lots of other tour groups. After making our way through the line, we grabbed an audio tour guide, and walked toward the massive time-tested monument. The audio guide was a helpful tool in providing information about what remains a mystical piece of history. What we do know about Stonehenge is that it was constructed somewhere around 3000 BC- 1600BC. It aligns with the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, the longest days of the year, and can even be used to tell the months of the year by where the sun shines through it. The stones used for the iconic pillars and lentils (arch stones) are Blue Stone, which is from Wales. This means that these stones were chosen and transported, likely by rafts, to their current location. The stones were also shaped to taper at the top and notched and grooved to fit together like pieces of woodwork. The building of Stonehenge and its maintenance for hundreds of years indicates it was of importance to its builders, especially when you consider each stone weighs around 5 tons! Although rumors exist of its purpose, the truth is no one is really sure what it was used for, and in my opinion, this makes it an even more interesting piece of human history.

After Stonehenge, we drove half an hour to the town of Salisbury which is famous for its beautiful, Gothic medieval cathedral. The Salisbury Cathedral is more recently noted as the site where the courtyard scenes from the Harry Potter movies were filmed. Once arriving in town, myself and a group of ISS students walked towards the Fisherman’s Mill which has been transformed into a cafe and art gallery for local artisans. Once we finally found the place, we looked at the local art displays and grabbed a snack before heading towards the city center and the cathedral. High Street in Salisbury is a quaint short stretch of pedestrian streets lined with shops in buildings which are hundreds of years old. As soon as you turn onto High Street, though, the Salisbury Cathedral’s spire takes precedence in the city skyline. The traditional Gothic architecture of the huge cathedral which was built in the 1200s is breathtaking! The spire itself is over 300 feet tall and covered in intricate stonework. The inside of the cathedral is no less opulent and includes memorials to hundreds of individuals from a steward of King Richard II to a young woman intended to be in the wedding party of a queen. The cathedral is also home to the Magna Carta, a famous document in human rights and democratic history and possibly the oldest working medieval clock which more closely resembles an industrial machine than a clock.

After leaving the cathedral, we used our remaining time in Salisbury to walk through local shops and markets and take in the scenery. I even found one of the rare “Edward” mailboxes!