Wakefield's Whispering Walls: An Echo of History Tour

Explore Wakefield at your own pace

Beneath Wakefield's quiet skyline, secrets from centuries past echo between stone walls and iron gates-stories of power, peril, and faith that shaped the very soul of Yorkshire.

Embark on a self-guided audio tour through Wakefield, where history hides in plain sight. Let hidden legends, political intrigue, and untold scandals come alive as you explore grand landmarks and shadowed alleys most passersby overlook.

Who once plotted desperate escapes behind the forbidding walls of HM Prison Wakefield? Which curious rites inside Wakefield Cathedral left its mark on generations of townsfolk? Why did a seemingly ordinary day at County Hall spiral into political uproar?

Photo: Rcsprinter123, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Tour details

• Duration: 1 hour 10 minutes, entirely at your own pace
• Distance: around 2.9 km (1.8 miles)
• Stops: 12 landmarks, including Milnes' Orangery, Westgate Unitarian Chapel, HM Prison Wakefield
• Audio: up to 30 minutes of narration
• Starts at: Milnes' Orangery

Map data by Mapbox and OpenStreetMap contributors

How it works

• Book here and a redemption code arrives by email within minutes.
• Download the free AudaTours app on your phone and enter the code.
• Download the tour once and the whole thing works offline.
• Walk to the first stop and press play. The audio for each landmark starts automatically as you approach it, so your phone can stay in your pocket.

There is no fixed date and no start time. The date you pick at checkout does not matter, and the tour stays on your phone permanently, so you can use it whenever you next visit and walk it again as often as you like.

What is included

• Professionally narrated audio that plays automatically at each stop
• An interactive map showing the walking route between landmarks
• Full offline access once downloaded, so you need no data or signal
• Freedom to start, pause and resume whenever you like
• Lifetime access - your code never expires

Where you will stop

• Milnes' Orangery
• Westgate Unitarian Chapel
• HM Prison Wakefield
• The Art House
• Theatre Royal, Wakefield
• Wakefield Museum
• St Austin's Church, Wakefield
• County Hall, Wakefield
• Wakefield Town Hall
• Old Town Hall, Wakefield
• Wakefield Cathedral
• ABC Cinema, Wakefield

Image: AudaTours

What is AudaTours?

AudaTours turns a walk through a city into a story. Our guides bring landmarks to life with the history, the scandals and the detail you would never get from a plaque.

• Immersive: real stories about the places in front of you, not a dry commentary
• Offline: download once and use it with no data, anywhere
• At your own pace: start, pause and resume whenever you want
• Accurate: every story is built from verified historical sources and checked before release

Good to know

• This is a self-guided audio tour on your own phone. There is no in-person guide.
• It does not include entry to any building or site along the route.
• The landmarks on the tour are not affiliated with AudaTours.
• You need a smartphone with Android 7.0 or later, or iOS 16 or later.
• Bring headphones and start with a charged phone.

Who it suits

Solo travellers, couples, families and small groups who would rather explore on their own schedule than follow a guide and a fixed departure time. It suits a first visit, and it suits anyone who has already seen the famous sights and wants to know what actually happened in them.

Image credits

Photos: Rcsprinter123, Poliphilo (Wikimedia Commons, public domain); AudaTours.