Editing Old Sarum (section)

=== Modern period ===
{{See also|Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)}}
[[File:Foundations of Old Sarum Cathedral.jpg|thumb|The exposed foundations of the cathedral]]

The castle grounds were sold by {{nowrap|[[Henry VIII]]}} in 1514.<ref name=beeb/> From the reign of [[Edward II]] in the 14th century, the [[Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency)|borough of Old Sarum]] elected two [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Members of Parliament]] to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] despite having, from at least the 17th century, no resident voters. One of the members in the 18th century was [[William Pitt the Elder]]. In 1831, Old Sarum had eleven voters, all of whom were landowners who lived elsewhere, making Old Sarum the most notorious of the [[rotten boroughs]]. The [[Reform Act 1832]] subsumed the Old Sarum area into an enlarged [[Wilton (UK Parliament constituency)|borough of Wilton]]. The fortified site<ref>{{Cite web|title=Boundary Map of Old Sarum ExP/CP|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10411580/boundary|access-date=3 November 2021|website=A Vision of Britain through Time|publisher=University of Portsmouth}}</ref> was an [[extra-parochial area]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20394|title=History of Old Sarum, in Salisbury and Wiltshire|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=16 May 2024}}</ref> and became a [[civil parish]] in 1858, but the civil parish was abolished in 1894<ref>{{cite web|title=Old Sarum ExP/CP|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10411580/relationships|access-date=3 November 2021|website=A Vision of Britain through Time|publisher=University of Portsmouth}}</ref> and merged with [[Stratford sub Castle]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/alderbury.html|title=Alderbury Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=16 May 2024}}</ref> In 1891 the parish had a population of 13.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10411580/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Old Sarum CP/ExP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=16 May 2024}}</ref> The site and surrounding area is now the northernmost part of Salisbury civil parish.<ref name="boundaries">{{Cite web|title=Election Maps|url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/|access-date=3 November 2021|publisher=[[Ordnance Survey]]}}</ref>

The site of the castle and cathedral is considered a highly important British monument: it was among the 26 English locations [[Scheduled monument|scheduled]] by the 1882 [[Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882|Ancient Monuments Protection Act]],<ref>Ancient Monuments Protection Act, 1882 [45 & 46 Vict. Ch. 73], reprinted in Robert Hunter's [[:s:The Preservation of Places of Interest or Beauty/Appendix A#37|''The Preservation of Places of Interest or Beauty'', App.&nbsp;A: "The Ancient Monument Protection Acts", p.&nbsp;37]]. University Press (Manchester), 1907. Hosted at [[:s:Main Page|Wikisource]]. Accessed 3 Jan 2014.</ref> the first such British legislation. That protection has subsequently continued, expanding to include some suburban areas west and south-east of the outer bailey.<ref name=EH-2014-OS-sched>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1015675 |desc=Old Sarum |access-date=5 November 2021}}</ref> It was also [[listed buildings|listed]] as a [[Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire|Grade I site]] in 1972.<ref name=EH-2014-OS-CC>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1015675 |desc=Remains of Old Sarum castle and cathedral |access-date=5 November 2021 |fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

Between 1909 and 1915, [[William St John Hope|W.H. St&nbsp;J. Hope]], [[William Hawley|W. Hawley]], and [[Duncan Hector Montgomerie|D.H. Montgomerie]] excavated the site for the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]].<ref name=EH-2014-OS-sched/> A second excavation occurred in the 1950s under John W. G. Musty and [[Philip Rahtz]].<ref name="EH-2014-OS-sched" />

In 2014, an on-site [[geophysical survey]] of the inner and outer bailey by the [[University of Southampton]] revealed its royal palace,<ref name="stratigraphy">{{cite news |last=Keys |first=David |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/archaeologists-find-vast-medieval-palace-buried-under-prehistoric-fortress-at-old-sarum-9898759.html |title=Archaeologists find vast medieval palace buried under prehistoric fortress at Old Sarum |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=3 Dec 2014 |access-date=1 Jan 2015}}</ref> as well as the street plan of the medieval city.<ref name="beeb">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-30300837 |title=Old Sarum archaeologists reveal plan of medieval city |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=3 Dec 2014 |access-date=2 Jan 2015}}</ref><ref name="ush">{{cite press release |last=Strutt |first=Kristian |url=http://www.southampton.ac.uk/archaeology/news/2014/12/03_archaeologists_reveal_layout_of_medieval_city_at_old_sarum.page |title=Archaeologists reveal layout of medieval city at Old Sarum |publisher=University of Southampton |place=Southampton, GB |date=3 Dec 2014 |access-date=2 Jan 2015}}</ref> The survey made use of [[soil resistivity]] to [[Electrical resistivity and conductivity|electric current]], [[electrical resistivity tomography]], [[magnetometry]], and [[ground-penetrating radar]].<ref name="beeb" /><ref name="ush" /> The team planned to return in 2015 to complete a similar survey of the [[Romano-British]] site to the south of the hillfort.<ref name="ush" />