Bishop Roger, St John Hope, and Old Sarum Cathedral

Abstract

Between 1909 and 1915, the former Iron Age hill fort at Old Sarum was excavated under the aegis of the Society of Antiquaries of London. These excavations were abandoned in 1915, and although the findings of individual seasons were published in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, the principal interpreter of the archaeology, William St John Hope (1854–1919), died before the promised final report could be written. The absence of a final report complicates understanding of the constructional phases of the medieval castle and cathedral, while the lack of a detailed record of the find sites for the 11th- and 12th-century carved stonework hinders attempts to reconstruct the appearance of the cathedral. The following paper reviews the early-20th-century excavations and asks whether what was found is susceptible to alternative interpretation.