Sarum College

Sarum College is a centre of theological learning in Salisbury, England. The college was established in 1995 and sits within the cathedral close on the north side of Salisbury Cathedral.

The Sarum College education programme ranges from short courses to postgraduate level, including certificates, diplomas and master’s degrees courses in Christian Spirituality, Theology, Imagination and Culture.

The on-site theological library holds a collection of more than 35,000 books and journals and is open to students and the general public.

The college is a meeting and conference centre for groups, organisations and businesses and welcomes individuals for private stays, including B&B, study breaks, sabbaticals and retreats.

History of Sarum College

From the early Middle Ages, Salisbury was an important centre for theological training, its great cathedral and Close attracting students and scholars from the whole of Europe.

The oldest part of Sarum College is the main building at the front of the site which was built in 1677. Attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, it was built for Francis Hill, a distinguished London lawyer and Deputy Recorder for Salisbury. He chose a particularly striking site, at the north end of Bishop’s Walk, facing directly down to the Bishop’s Palace, now the Cathedral School.

The establishment of the theological college in 1860 began with a gift. Walter Kerr Hamilton, Bishop of Salisbury, used an anonymous donation to buy the house (then no. 87) from Miss Charlotte Wyndham – and the first students arrived in January 1861.

In the 1870s William Butterfield, foremost church architect of his day, and best-known for Keble College, Oxford, was commissioned to add a residential wing to provide accommodation for students, and then, in 1881, a chapel and library. In 1937 further extensions designed by William Randall Blacking were added, study bedrooms for students and a meeting room that is now the Common Room.