We took a pleasant day-trip to Stonehenge and Old Sarum yesterday. We started late in the morning and stopped at Millet’s Farm for lunch. That’s a farm grocery and garden store south of Oxford where some of the children went to a corn maze during church camp in the summer. Then we coninued south, the children in a jolly mood singing songs and performing, for the hour or two to Stonehenge. The countryside is easier to see now that the leaves are gone.
Stonehenge is right next to the highway. We joined English Heritage, which manages it, and went under the highway through a tunnel to get to the walkway around the stones (which people aren’t actually allowed to go into and touch). We were given little speakers with controls; you press the number of the sign you are near, and put the speaker next to your ear to hear all about it. It was around freezing and windy, so Mother, Faith, and Lilli turned back soon. Dad lent his gloves to Elizabeth, who had forgotten hers, and Amelia managed somehow. The commentary was good and the crowds were light. Then in the car we ate pastries from Millet’s Farm.
It was around 3, so we decided to try to see Old Sarum and Salisbury Cathedral, some 15 miles to the south. We arrived at Old Sarum and found that in December, because of early dusk, the castle closes at 3! The place was surprisingly enjoyable, though, since we could walk around most of the site. On a hill the ancient Britons and Romans constructed earthen ramparts, and within those, the Saxons and Normans built a deep deep ditch and a higher hill for a castle. The Normans even built a cathedral there. Around 1220, the entire town was abandoned, though, in favor of Salisbury down near the river. Only a few ruins remain of the castle walls, and even the cathedral’s location was lost till the 1800s. It was excavated then, and one can see the foundations and part of the cellar. Old Sarum is most famous because despite its ghost town status, it continued sending two members to Parliament till the 1832 Reform Bill.
On our way back we missed an important turn and ended up too far east, but that let us eat at a pub in the village of Dummer which was most enjoyable. A dozen or so people were having a dinner party in the dining room in which we were the only other guests. Some of them were wearing paper crowns. We had cod and plaice and lasagna and chips and peas, and Old Speckled Hen ale. We also got directions, and made it back to Oxford around 8 p.m. We saw a meteorite fall– a Geminid, no doubt– on our drive back.
All in all,one of our best days, despite the cold.