Heritage and History

Based in the St Edmunds Church building in the heart of the city, the history and heritage of the building is an important part of the atmosphere and work of Salisbury Arts Centre.

 

 

A History of Salisbury Arts Centre

(formerly St Edmunds Church)

 Salisbury Arts Centre was founded 1975.  To learn more about the history, both of the building and the arts centre, read on…

St Edmund

The first church on the site was founded and named after St Edmund, who was born in Abingdon in 1180.  The son of a rope maker, Edmund taught ‘the arts’ at Oxford for several years, and was ordained as a priest in 1214.  He was appointed Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral in 1222, and even  took the role as papal missionary to preach the Crusade in England. In 1234 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury.  Edmund died in 1240 and was canonised 6 years later.

 

 

15^th & 16^th Century

By 1407 the original church was too small for its congregation, and was destroyed to be replaced by a larger building.  The second church on the site survived for the next 200 years, during which time new chapels and features were added or taken away, depending upon the financial situation of the church community and the political and religious problems of the day.

By 1559 the steeple had been removed and in 1623 the tower started to sink.  Between 1629 and 1632, the Recorder of Salisbury, Henry Sherfield, ran a campaign to remove one of the church’s last remaining stained glass windows depicting a creation scene.  Religious opinion at the time had already led to the removal of many of the windows, but on this occasion the campaign was not successful.  When Henry Sherfield failed he fought back, and attacked the window with a pikestaff!  For this dramatic act Henry was fined £500, was sent to prison and forced to admit his fault to the Bishop of Salisbury.     The stained glass window didn’t survive long however, as on 27 June 1653 the tower collapsed and demolished the greater part of the church, including the window!

The rebuilding of the church was a huge challenge.  Not only would it cost a lot, but also the political situation, and the Puritan administration meant very few churches were not being built. Luckily for the congregation the church was rebuilt making it one of only two English church buildings built during the commonwealth period.

 

17^th – 20^th Century

Between the 17th and 20th century several additions and conservation works were made.  In the late 19^th Century Sir Gilbert Scott completely rebuilt the floor of the interior of the church and replaced the chancel with side chapels.

Throughout the 20th century conservation work continued with repairs to windows, roofs and masonry.

 

 

It was during the 1970’s that the church congregation numbers were falling, and it was decided to merge with the neighbouring parish of St Thomas’.  In 1975 a covenant was drawn up with the local District Council that handed the building over to the Council but restricting its use to only social, educational and recreational activities, and Salisbury Arts Centre was founded.

Salisbury Arts Centre 1975 – 2004

From small beginnings, the centre developed gradually over the years into a fully-fledged and highly popular community arts centre, with a broad artistic programme of events and workshops. In the early days the pews and pulpit were still in place in the building, and the ‘temporary’ stage that was built to last for the two weeks of the first Salisbury Festival was still being used up until the refurbishment and Capital project in 2003!

In the early 1990’s the Arts Centre faced a major funding crisis. For over a year, it was run entirely by volunteers. In the meantime the people of Salisbury took the streets to demonstrate in the ‘Save Our Arts Centre’ campaign. The campaign was successful, new funding was agreed with the then Southern Arts and Jill Low was appointed to build the organization up again. Over the next decade the centre grew and flourished. As it did so, it began to outgrow the building and its very basic facilities.

So began the capital campaign...

 

The Capital Campaign

In 2003 Salisbury Arts Centre closed to the public for 16 months to undergo a huge redevelopment.  With funding from the Arts Council South West, and many loyal supporters, including local people and businesses, the arts centre raised over 4.2 million pounds, which enabled a complete redevelopment of the site.  All areas of the building underwent a dramatic refurbishment and the extension on the north side of the building was added.  During the period of redevelopment staff worked tirelessly raising money and working to ensure a successful re-launch – all from their offices in the old abandoned swimming pool on College Street!

In the spring of 2005 Salisbury Arts Centre reopened with a brand new programme of events, and to great acclaim.  Since reopening the arts centre has gone from strength to strength and continues to provide the highest quality of diverse and stimulating arts experiences for the people of Salisbury and beyond!

 

We are always interested to hear stories about the building past.  If you have any memories of the early arts centre, or even before, we’d love to hear them!  Please do share them with us and other website users, by clicking here and sharing them on the comments page.