As Halloween is just around the corner the most recent census figures show there is a surprising number of people who identify as witches, pagans and even Satanists within England and Wales.  

These statistics highlight that the main religion in Salisbury and the surrounding areas is Christianity, with more than 50 per cent of people claiming that they are Christians. The next more common response was no religion, followed by ‘did not answer’. 

As well as these mainstream religions many other people have recently highlighted other faiths, such as 158 people selecting Wicca as their religion.

The religion developed in England during the first half of the 20th century with its name deriving from the Old English ‘wicca’ and ‘wicce’, the masculine and feminine term for a witch.

Across England and Wales, more than 12,800 people opted for Wicca as their religion in 2011, which is a slight jump from 11,800 in 2011.

In Wiltshire, 158 people selected Wicca as their religion in Census 2021, which is up from 124 in the 2011 census.  

However, the number of people choosing Witchcraft as their religion has fallen to under 1,100 in a recent census.

Despite this, there has been a 30 per cent rise in pagans from 56,600 people in 2011 to over 73,700 two years ago. In Wiltshire 1,032 people said that they were pagan. 

Satanism is also on the rise across all nations.

Nearly 5,100 people identified as Satanists in the recent census- more than doubling from 1,900 a decade earlier.

In Wiltshire, 63 people identify as being Satanists. Despite the name, not all Satanists believe in the literal Lucifer but instead use this title as a metaphor for questioning authority and rejecting mainstream religions.