Last weekend over 2,500 people attended the three spectacular Advent Processions, From Darkness to Light, at Salisbury Cathedral.

Regarded by many as the un-missable prelude to the Christmas season and the birth of Christ, each service began in total darkness and silence, broken only by the lighting of the single Advent Candle and a solo voice ringing out across the ancient space.

As the choir sang, the two large and colourful processions made up of around ninety people including the Acting Bishop of Salisbury, Dean of Salisbury, Cathedral Canons, and forty-strong Cathedral Choir made their way around the ancient building until, by the conclusion of the service, the medieval building was lit by 1300 flickering candles (a total of 3,900 were used over the weekend) and the Prisoners of Conscience window was illuminated, gloriously blue at the East End.

Here are five stunning photographs from the Darkness to Light processions captured by Tom Gregory.