The Royal Victoria Hospital for Sick Soldiers, erected after the Crimean
War, can be seen at Netley.
[Illustration: Photochrom Co., Ltd.
NETLEY ABBEY, LOOKING EAST.]
SALISBURY AND ITS CATHEDRAL
=How to get there.=—Train from Waterloo. L. and S.W. Rly.
=Nearest Station.=—Salisbury.
=Distance from London.=—83-1/4 miles.
=Average Time.=—Varies between 1-3/4 and 3-1/4 hours.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=—Single 14s. 0d. 8s. 9d. 6s. 11-1/2d.
Return 24s. 6d. 15s. 4d. 12s. 0d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=—"Angel Hotel," "Crown Hotel,"
"White Hart Hotel," etc.
=Alternative Route.=—Train from Paddington. Great Western Rly.
Salisbury Cathedral is, in the opinion of many, the finest of all the English cathedrals, and it certainly has many claims to be considered so. The vast building was completed within fifty years, and is therefore practically in one style throughout, an advantage not shared by any other cathedral in the kingdom. Its situation, too, is unique, standing as it does in the fine old close, entirely separated from any other buildings, and with its grey walls and buttresses rising sheer up from such velvety turf as is seen in England alone. The tower and spire are perhaps the most beautiful in this country.
Passing into the close by the gate at the end of the High Street, one reaches the west front, which is very rich in effect, with its tiers of canopied statues and wonderfully proportioned windows. Through the beautiful north porch one passes into the nave, which, though exceedingly beautiful, has a certain air of coldness owing to the absence of stained glass. It seems hardly credible that this beautiful glass, the making of which is now a lost art, was deliberately destroyed at the end of the eighteenth century by the so-called "architect" James Wyatt. In addition to this, "Wyatt swept away screens, chapels, and porches, desecrated and destroyed the tombs of warriors and prelates; obliterated ancient paintings, flung stained glass by cartloads into the city ditch, and razed to the ground the beautiful old campanile which stood opposite the north porch."
The Lady Chapel of the cathedral is one of the most beautiful in the kingdom.