With a loud creak, the iron gate swings open. Our group walks into the dark courtyard, enclosed on three sides by the high stone walls of the old workhouse. The illuminated spire of the cathedral stands tall over nearby rooftops, the glow around its shadowy nooks forming spectral vertebrae.

This is the scene half way around the Salisbury ghost tour and, as our guide tells us about a lady in this building who woke in the middle of the night to the sound of disembodied sobbing, a gust of wind whips through the yard with an eerie drawn-out whistle.

It raises a few smiles among the 20 or so people who came along, a larger group than the organisers had been expecting. The guide makes no mention of the ghostly sound effects, though: importantly, the tour doesn’t take itself too seriously. Instances like this are treated as amusing coincidences rather than signs of a haunting presence.

 

All along, our guide has been aware that not everyone believes in ghosts and restrains herself from any overblown melodrama. I was grateful for this as my own inherent cynicism prevented me from truly getting into the spirit of things, but actually that proved no barrier to enjoying the experience.

The real strength of the ghost tour is that it doesn’t try to produce a cheap horror show, but simply gives you the stories of reported hauntings and lets you do what you will with the information. And, believer or not, you will learn of fascinating tales from Salisbury’s history along the way.

 

Did you know, for example, that where Debenham’s now sits was the site of the Duke of Buckingham’s execution after he turned on the king during the Wars of the Roses? Or that builders found a hand, holding a pair of playing cards, in an old fireplace in a building behind St. Thomas’ Church? Or that the old hospital had an exorcism performed on it when it was converted for commercial use in 1992?

The tour peels back the skin of the town and its familiar buildings, revealing histories that you might never consider as you go about your daily business. Local or not- and I have to confess that that I don’t know Salisbury especially well- you should appreciate the alternative insight. Of course it helps if you have a taste for the macabre but it needn’t be seen as essential.

It also makes you appreciate just what a beautiful city Salisbury actually is. As you take your time to wander around and take in the sights, it is impossible to escape the fact that it is truly the gem in Wiltshire’s ‘urban’ (and I use that term loosely) landscape.

 

The tour ends back in the city centre, via Cathedral Close, at the Red Lion hotel. Next time you’re nearby, pop into the courtyard there and look up at the attic window to the lifeless face gazing back at out you. If you want to know the story behind it, and many more besides, the ghost tour will reveal all.
Price: £5 for adults, £2.50 for children.
No need to book.