Salisbury Cathedral had its delivery of this year's Christmas tree on Monday, December 2.

The tree was delivered from Longleat Forest early on Monday morning, and this year it was a bit different.

A Nordmann Furr was delivered, which means it is the first time the tree has been changed from the usual Norway Spruce.

Gary Price, Clerk of Works at Salisbury Cathedral, said "The spruce wasn't good all the way round this year because the trees grew too close together so the sunlight didn't hit them properly."

Standing at 28 feet, this year's tree is 4 feet shorter than last year's, but it still towers high into the Cathedral rafters.

Salisbury Cathedral has built up such a good relationship with Longleat Forest that it is the only place in the country that still uses trees from the sustainable forest. The use of Christmas trees from the forest was stopped because of such high demand, however, Salisbury Cathedral still pays for a tree every year.

The forest of the Longleat Estate consists of over 4000 acres of commercial 'continuous cover forestry' plantation. This means that trees can be cut down in a way that doesn't affect the ecosystem and is the most sustainable method of forestry.

The tree was delivered to the Cathedral gates by Guyatt's of Salisbury at 8am on Monday and was manoeuvred inside in record time using a crane.

Once it was in, it was attached with ropes and winched upright to slot into place. After all the heavy lifting, the tree was ready to be decorated in the coming days.