Salisbury's Chequered History Guides

About

Based in the Medieval City of Salisbury, in the county of Wiltshire, and delighted to be guiding in this part of Wessex.

Can offer transport for up to 6 passengers (including 2 child seats) to visit sites they wish to within the area. Whether you want half a day, a whole day, a couple of days, or a week, a tour will be prepared suited to your requirements and aim to accommodate as many of your interests that are feasible within the duration of your stay.

This part of Wessex contains many ancient, historic and fascinating places, including the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Stonehenge and the Jurassic Coast.

There are plentiful other sites from the Iron-age hill-fort of Old Sarum, the royal hunting grounds of the New Forest, or over the sea to the Isle of Wight and Osborne House, home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

But it may be your wish to walk around a beautifully set out garden, such as Hillier Gardens, Stourhead, or delight in a significant stately home, as in Blenheim Palace or Highclere Castle all easily accessible. Maybe you wish to visit several sites and also walk in the New Forest.

If you wish for a different experience in Salisbury, Lorna currently guides in costume depicting a character from Salisbury's past. These costume tours include some information on the person depicted and their place in Salisbury's past society.

They have also introduced bicycle tours of the city, if you wish to experience the city in a completely different way. The cycle route starts in the city and gently takes cyclists over to Harnham taking in the views that so entranced artist John Constable. A tour suitable for families as well as adult cyclists.

City/Town Walks:

Salisbury, Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth, Chichester, Dorchester, Oxford, Romsey, Shaftesbury, Wilton, Sherborne, Wimborne to name a few.

Country Walks:

The UNESCO World Heritage sites of: Jurassic Coast including Lyme Regis and Stonehenge including Woodhenge. The New Forest a diverse landscape with free roaming livestock, plus the towns of Lyndhurst  and Lymington.

Any combination of town and country

Tours by car or coach:

Themed by, history, for example where the Romans walked Geology, the incredible Jurassic coastline, where dinosaurs walked; The Isle of Portland whose rich stone quarries provided material for St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Chesil Beach with the nature grading shingle it's history for smuggling and serene nine hundred year old Abbotsbury Swannery..

Literature: Thomas Hardy Country, the incredible Wessex;

Jane Austen, T E Lawrence, Charles Dickens.

Historical figures:

Shakespeare, Admiral Nelson, Handel, the Duke of Wellington, King Alfred the Great who burnt the cakes! Mary Anning of Lyme Regis, the girl who invented fossil hunting.

Stately homes and Gardens:

Wilton House and the market town’s Italianate Church. Heale House Gardens where Charles the II hid up a tree, Beaulieu Motor Museum, Abbey and Beaulieu village, Buckler's Hard, Ship Building and Museum and hotel, Blenheim Palace birth place of Winston Churchill and the village of Woodstock, Athelhampton House and Dorchester Town, Osborne House and the Isle of Wight, Hillier, Mottisfont and Stourhead Gardens.

Castles:

Old Sarum, Corfe, Lulworth, Porchester.