On a cold, clear night in late October, in the hushed, ancient quarters of the county town, The Walkers are abroad.

At their head strides a tall, caped figure who, with grim authority, spins wordy spells that bring the long-time dead back to life.

For it is the time of year when the veil hanging between this world and the next becomes gossamer-thin, the perfect season to partake of a ghost walk around Dorchester.

And who better to lead it than Town Crier Alistair Chisholm, he of stentorian voice and a boundless enthusiasm for and knowledge of the more shuddersome aspects of the historic town’s past.

He has been running the walks for 20 years, yet remains cagey about the number of spectres he has actually witnessed.

“We always assume that people ‘see’ ghosts, don’t we? But let us not forget that sight is only one of our five senses. How many people have been in a room when suddenly there is the smell of tobacco smoke when no one is smoking, or have felt the temperature of a room suddenly drop.”

Our intrepid band of 15 ghost hunters left the warmth and security of the King’s Arms Hotel, the venerable building where Michael Henchard conducted business in Hardy’s novel The Mayor of Casterbridge. The night was cold, wind whipping through the narrow winding streets as we headed to North Square and stood shivering at the gates of Dorchester prison, where once a Norman castle stood.

“Some say,” intoned Alistair, “that at night you can hear the screams of the incarcerated begging for water, for mercy – not from the prison, but from the dungeon beneath the castle. But one thing is for sure – more people have gone into that prison than have ever walked out again.”

At this point our frayed nerves were shredded further by the baying of hounds from somewhere down the hill, where an evening mist was rising over the River Frome.

Hell Hounds or the dreaded flame-eyed Black Shuck? Neither actually, just some chap walking his dogs.

“Evening Alistair, nice night for it,” he called, before heading home.

Down Friary Hill we trailed, passing cosy windows spilling light into the cold street, until we reached Frome Terrace where tails of a ghostly monk have been cropping up for the past couple of decades. A Franciscan priory once stood on the spot and at least one of its incumbents seems reluctant to leave.

“I first heard the story of the grey brother from a taxi driver and then from an elderly lady, now dead,” Alistair said.

“Earlier this year, a young couple moved into one of the houses down here and on their first night, as they were unpacking, the wife went to close the curtains and there she saw it, the monk, in the street outside.”

Chilled to the marrow and soul, we now crossed the Frome and stumbled along the riverpath, all-too-aware of the cold waters flowing next to our uncertain feet. We stopped beneath the spotlit prison walls where Thomas Hardy stood to watch murderess Martha Brown swing on the gallows.

She was hanged on a rainy day and the drizzle falling on the hood covering her head is said to have pressed the material against her face, so the assembled crowd could see her features in sharp and haunting detail.

Horrified, we ventured on past Hangman’s Cottage which is mentioned in the short Hardy story The Withered Arm, and on up to the Roman Town House where Alistair regaled us with a fantastical tale of gladiators and infant death.

From there, picking up speed against the increasing cold, we made our way down Greys Passage where concrete ‘eyes’ shiftily watch the walkers passing them by, and back into the welcome light of the high street. We passed St Peter’s and heard the tale of the ghostly vicar whose sudden appearance turned a boozy verger teetotal and ended our stroll in the shadowed graveyard of All Saints.

And it was there, as we stood underneath the spire, surrounded by stones and trees that out of the corner of my eye, quick as a wish, I saw... well, I’m not sure what I saw exactly, but if you go on one of Alistair’s ghost walks, maybe you will see it too, and then we can compare notes.

  • Alistair’s Halloween Special Ghost Walk Around Dorchester Town takes place on October 31 from 8pm. Meet at the Kings Arms in High East Street. Adults £6, children £3, for group bookings call 07773 286197