Editing Old Sarum (section)

{{Short description|Site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury in England}}
{{For multi|the aerodrome|Old Sarum Airfield|its political history|Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name        = Old Sarum
| static_image         = Aerial photograph of Old Sarum site, on departure from Old Sarum airfield.jpg
| static_image_caption = Aerial view of Old Sarum
| civil_parish         = [[Salisbury]]
| country              = England
| region               = South West England
| os_grid_reference    =
| post_town            = 
| postcode_area        = 
| postcode_district    = 
| dial_code            = 
| unitary_england      = [[Wiltshire (district)|Wiltshire]]
| lieutenancy_england  = [[Wiltshire]]
| hide_services        = Yes
| population           = 
| population_ref       = 
| area_total_km2       = 
| coordinates          = {{Coord|51|05|36|N|01|48|17|W|type:landmark_region:GB-WIL|display=title,inline}}
| website              = 
}}
[[File:Old Sarum Model from West.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A reconstruction of Old Sarum in the 12th century, housed at [[Salisbury Cathedral]]]]

'''Old Sarum''', in [[Wiltshire]], [[South West England]], is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of [[Salisbury]]. Situated on a hill about {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=on|abbr=off|sigfig=1}} north of modern Salisbury near the [[A345 road]], the settlement appears in some of the earliest records in the country. It is an [[English Heritage]] property and is open to the public.

The great [[stone circle]]s of [[Stonehenge]] and [[Avebury]] were erected nearby and indications of [[#Prehistory|prehistoric settlement]] have been discovered from as early as 3000&nbsp;BC. An [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] [[British hillforts|hillfort]] was erected around 400&nbsp;BC, controlling the intersection of two trade paths and the [[Hampshire]] [[River Avon, Hampshire|Avon]]. The site continued to be occupied during the [[#Roman period|Roman period]], when the paths were made into [[Roman roads in Britain|roads]]. The [[#Saxon period|Saxons]] took the [[Britons (Celtic people)|British]] fort in the 6th century and later used it as a stronghold against [[Viking invasions of England|marauding Vikings]]. The [[#Norman period|Normans]] constructed a [[motte and bailey]] castle, a stone curtain wall, and a [[Old Sarum Cathedral|great cathedral]]. A royal palace was built within [[Old Sarum Castle]] for {{nowrap|[[list of English kings|King]] [[Henry I of England|Henry I]]}} and was subsequently used by [[Plantagenet]] monarchs. This heyday of the settlement lasted for around 300 years until disputes between the [[Sheriff of Wiltshire]] and the [[Bishop of Salisbury]] finally led to the removal of the church into the [[Salisbury Plain|nearby plain]]. As [[Salisbury|New Salisbury]] grew up around the construction site for the [[Salisbury Cathedral|new cathedral]] in the early 13th century, the buildings of Old Sarum were dismantled for stone and the old town dwindled. Its long-neglected castle was abandoned by {{nowrap|[[Edward II]]}} in 1322 and sold by {{nowrap|[[Henry VIII]]}} in 1514. [[Edward Rutherfurd]]'s 1987 novel ''[[Sarum (novel)|Sarum]]'' traces the history of the town.

Although the settlement was effectively uninhabited, its landowners continued to have [[Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)|parliamentary representation]] into the 19th century, making it one of the most notorious of the [[Rotten and pocket boroughs#Rotten boroughs|rotten boroughs]] that existed before the [[Reform Act 1832]]. Old Sarum served as a [[pocket borough]] of the [[Pitt family]].

Old Sarum is also the name of a modern settlement north-east of the monument, where there is [[Old Sarum Airfield|a grass strip airfield]] and business parks, and large 21st-century housing developments at Old Sarum and Longhedge.