Photo: MARKEDWARDS · CC BY-SA 4.0More violent crime is recorded per resident in Old Sarum than in 83% of UK towns
At 7 per 1,000 residents, public order in Old Sarum runs well past the 3.6 of a typical town its size (28 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026). The Safety Grade comes out at C−, drawn from crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026. Annual rates stand at 39.0 violent and sexual offences and 11.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Old Sarum
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% less violent crime per resident in Old Sarum than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 539 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, Old Sarum has the 467th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Lenham and Harrietsham, St Asaph and Backworth, higher than Chirk, Rownhams and Nursling and Kegworth. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Old Sarum’s C− for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 610 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Old Sarum against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How Old Sarum’s neighbourhoods rank in England
29% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Old Sarum’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
Old Sarum places 467th of 539 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Lyneham Wiltshire | 4,645 | 10.9 | 2.5 | 3.7 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 80 | Purton Wiltshire | 3,193 | 15.6 | 4.9 | 4.4 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 106 | Bulford Wiltshire | 4,923 | 17.3 | 5.2 | 3.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 138 | Cricklade Wiltshire | 4,030 | 17.9 | 6.5 | 4.1 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 464 | Chirk Clwyd | 3,930 | 35.4 | 14.9 | 7.6 | C− |
| 465 | Rownhams and Nursling Hampshire | 4,796 | 27.4 | 22.9 | 22.5 | C− |
| 466 | Kegworth Leicestershire | 4,293 | 31.2 | 19.3 | 19.6 | C− |
| 467 | Old Sarum Wiltshire | 4,013 | 39 | 11.6 | 5.5 | C− |
| 468 | Langwith Derbyshire | 3,009 | 34.6 | 16.5 | 3.3 | C− |
| 469 | Esh Winning County Durham | 3,877 | 38.7 | 12.6 | 6.4 | C− |
| 470 | Sutton Bridge Lincolnshire | 3,912 | 37.1 | 14.7 | 7.7 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 539 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Old Sarum, and others in Wiltshire.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Old Sarum runs highest on public order (7 per 1,000 against 3.6), anti-social behaviour (15.9 per 1,000 against 8.8) and violence & sexual offences (39.6 per 1,000 against 22.4). Other theft sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 159 | 39.6 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 64 | 15.9 | 8.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 28 | 7 | 3.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 24 | 6 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 11 | 2.7 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 10 | 2.5 | 2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 5 | 1.2 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 1.2 | 1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 4 | 1 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 3 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Police in Old Sarum identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 57% of Old Sarum’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 11% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (70% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 6% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 169 crimes.
Violent crime down 12% in a year, while towns its size held steady
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -12% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -31% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -32% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +5% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Old Sarum per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 9 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 4 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Old Sarum’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 3 collisions with injuries inside Old Sarum in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Old Sarum is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Old Sarum’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Old Sarum had 0.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Old Sarum’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Old Sarum
Old Sarum records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Salisbury, 2.2 miles away, records 34.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Old Sarum’s 39.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Old Sarum sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Old Sarum
Is Old Sarum safe?
Police recorded 39 violent and sexual offences and 11.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Old Sarum’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 21% of UK towns. Among 539 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, Old Sarum is 467th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Old Sarum?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 31%, shoplifting and theft fell 32% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Old Sarum?
Violence & sexual offences: 159 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (28) and criminal damage & arson (24), with 64 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Old Sarum compare with Salisbury?
Salisbury records 34.3 violent and sexual offences and 15.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Old Sarum’s 39 and 11.6, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.