Salisbury Plain - Cultural References

Cultural References

The plain has featured in the writings of William Wordsworth, Thomas Hardy, William Henry Hudson and A. G. Street, and in the paintings of John Constable. It is also used in The Beatles movie Help! as they sing "The Night Before" and "I Need You".

It is also the setting of a scene in John Boorman's film Catch Us If You Can when the film's hero, pop star Dave Clark, encounters a group of sinister beatniks in a deserted village used as target practice by the British Army. It is also mentioned in Ayreon song "And the Druids Turn to Stone". In the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Iolanthe, the Lord Chancellor has a nightmare in which he is crossing the English Channel in a steamer, which changes to a 4-wheel vehicle, and finally he is "Crossing Salisbury Plain on a bicycle".

Billy Bragg makes mention of Salisbury Plain in the song "Island of No Return".

Salisbury Plain is also marked as the location of a Piece of Eden in the video game Assassins Creed.

In the episode One of Us of the British television series Yes, Prime Minister, a lost dog on Salisbury Plain becomes a crucial plot point.

The second Uriah Heep album, Salisbury is named for the plain, as is the closing track on the album. The original cover featured a Chieftan tank, emphasizing the plain's role as an Army training area.