SALISBURY Rotary Club members recently walked from Laverstock to Clarendon Palace to learn more about the site’s history.

On arrival, members were met by Professor Emeritus Tom James of the University of Winchester, who studied and worked on the site for decades and has also written books about its history.

Professor James gave a “fascinating talk” about the site and its importance in the context of English history, the group said.

“This was followed by a guided tour of the site, where he pointed out many interesting features that would otherwise go unrecognised and whose significance would not be appreciated,” a spokesperson added.

The palace, now a ruin, and the surrounding deer park were key sites for the English monarchy from the twelfth to the fifteenth century.

Together with Westminster Hall in London, they were the two largest royal palaces in the realm for much of that period.

Clarendon provided a grand location for business and recreation. It is thought that some 1,800 people gathered there at the time of the Constitutions of Clarendon in 1164, arising out of the dispute between Henry II and Archbishop Thomas Becket.

The group then walked back to Laverstock, with many now suddenly aware of how little they had remembered about the history of their own country and their proximity to such an important feature in that history.

Members said they were grateful for the opportunity to have their knowledge and experience enhanced by one of the leading authorities on Clarendon.

The walk was capped off with an afternoon tea at one of the member’s home, where the walkers were joined by others who had been unable to complete the walk.