Home▸Geometry▸Salisbury: Britain's Tallest Medieval Spire and the Gateway to Stonehenge

⛪ Salisbury: Cathedral Spire & Stonehenge Lab

A dual 3D scene comparing Salisbury Cathedral's soaring spire engineering with the megalithic geometry of nearby Stonehenge, including a sun-alignment simulator for the solstice axis.

Geometry3DAdvanced60 FPS

A side-by-side 3D scene puts Salisbury Cathedral's record-breaking medieval spire next to Stonehenge's megalithic stone circle under one shared, controllable sun.

🔬 What It Demonstrates

The cathedral's 123m spire casts a shadow whose length tracks the sun's elevation, while Stonehenge's fixed solstice axis lights up when the sun's azimuth lines up with the Heel Stone — the same alignment prehistoric builders engineered by eye.

🎮 How to Use

Scrub the time-of-day slider and pick a season to move the sun. Toggle the 1320 spire on and off to see the tower before its dramatic addition, and toggle the alignment ray to watch it glow at solstice sunrise or sunset.

💡 Did You Know?

Salisbury's spire is so heavy that its four crossing piers have visibly bent inward over 700 years — yet it remains the tallest surviving church spire built in medieval England.

⚙ Under the hood

A dual 3D scene comparing Salisbury Cathedral's soaring spire engineering with the megalithic geometry of nearby Stonehenge, including a sun-alignment simulator for the solstice axis.

architecturestonehengemedievalspiregeometricalmodelingsun-alignmentThree.js

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install