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HOW IT RATES Salisbury was granted a charter in 1227 when the present cathedral was being built. A walled close with houses for clergy was built around the cathedral and a new town spread from there. A wool and cloth trade flourished, and when the railway came in Victorian times an age of prosperity developed. Now it is a thriving tourist centre.

ARCHITECTURAL GEMS The cathedral is a masterpiece of Early English Gothic style, with the tallest spire in Britain (404ft). There is a splendid Elizabethan manor, Wilton House, and an elegant Queen Anne townhouse, Mompesson House. But probably the area’s showpiece is the nearby Stonehenge: prehistoric, mysterious and unique.

WHAT’S NEW There hasn’t been a lot of new development in the area, the last in the city being Spire View, by the railway station. But NH Developments Ltd is building seven three or four-bedroom homes just off Tollgate Road, within easy reach of the city centre. Contact Woolley & Wallis on 0845 2612938.

QUALITY OF LIFE Pretty good. The River Avon is in walking distance of the high street and it is a very beautiful area in which to saunter, with bridges and pubs and restaurants for those fancying a bite and a pleasant view. To the north is the 300 square miles of Salisbury Plain.

POPULATION According to the 2001 Census, the Salisbury area had a population of 114,613, although the city centre has roughly 39,000 residents.

TRAVEL The railway station is a ten-minute walk from the market square, with trains to London Waterloo in about an hour and a half. The M3 is near by, leading north to London. Heathrow is the nearest big airport, with bus connections to Salisbury. For selected flights around the UK and to Europe, Southampton’s Eastleigh airport is about 25 miles away.

Within the city centre, Cathedral Close is the place Salisburians aspire to live. There are only about 30 properties on the close and Savills has one of these, Myles Place, on the market for £4.25 million. West of the city, beautiful Cranborne Chase is attracting buyers due to very good schools close by.

BEST RESTAURANTS For good cheap food, try the Italian bistro, Prezzo, where there are some interesting specialities. For a cosy, rustic-style venue, Café Med is very good, particularly for seafood and vegetarian options. However, the hottest seat in town is at LXIX, serving creative modern British cuisine in stylish surroundings with a price tag to match.

TOP NIGHTLIFE The Salisbury Playhouse is running a production of Shakespeare’s Othello in the main house. There are plenty of old pubs – why not pop into the Haunch of Venison, where during renovation a severed human hand and a yellowed, marked playing card were found, now on display in a glass case. For trendier settings, Moloko and Spirit have late-night DJs and serve as precursors to the local nightclubs, NNBar or The Chapel.

EDUCATION Godolphin School, for girls up to 11, Salisbury Cathedral School, Sandroyd School or South Wilts Grammar School for Girls. William Golding, the author, worked as an English teacher at the boys’ grammar, Bishop Wordsworth’s.

WORKING LIFE Salisbury is an agricultural centre; its industries include brewing and engineering. But, the largest source of work here is wholesale and retail with 15.8 per cent of the workforce, then construction at 14.8 per cent.

UPSIDE There is so much English heritage here: view one of the original copies of the Magna Carta in the cathedral or escape from the city to the timeless landscape of Thomas Hardy.

DOWNSIDETourist traffic can reach ridiculous levels in the summer. Transport links to Stonehenge are not good.

£257,140 The average property price in Salisbury

Source: Halifax

12% The increase in property prices in Salisbury over a year

Source: Halifax

182% The increase in property prices in Salisbury over the past ten years

Source: Halifax

80 acres The size of Salisbury cathedral close – the biggest in Britain salisburycathedral.org.uk

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