Until last year it was called the Star, and was well known in previous years for heavy metal music and as a bikers bar. Its most famous tenant was a previous brothel keeper, Agnes Bottenham, who gave part of the extensive brothel property in Trinity Street behind the Star to found Trinity Hospital in 1370 as a penance for her sins and to house retired prostitutes. At that time the area was a red-light district with Love Lane around the corner as the centre of the trade.

The present building dates from the 16th century and is on the site of the original brothel built in the 13thc. to service the needs of the craftsmen constructing Salisbury cathedral. Two separate tenement houses were joined together to create what became the Star. The most historic and interesting part is the roof with its huge timbers.

The bar was re-roofed sometime after its rebuilding so that the 2 houses could be given a single roofline facing Brown St. The corner tenement still retains traces of the external double staircase with a balcony where the prostitutes could show themselves. The smaller inner tenement has a fine inglenook fireplace which is now the centre of the main bar area. It is also the place where the ‘Doctor’, one of the 5 resident ghosts, can sometimes be seen.

It is difficult to establish when the Rai d’Or ceased to be a brothel but it is likely to have been in the early part of the 19th c. when the moral tide turned against its ancient profession. However these activities are likely to have carried on until more recent times although in a less public way. The Rai d’Or can certainly claim to be a building with one of the most interesting histories in Salisbury although not as an inn (there are no coaching facilities) nor for the length of a continuously held license.

Although much altered over the years, the Rai d’Or still retains the atmosphere of a traditional bar even though the pub now specialises in Thai food. Real ale has also made a comeback after a recent history of the place being a lager pub. The Rai d’Or was in fact the place chosen by the Great Bustard Group for the recent launch of new ale, sales of which will help support the re-introduction of the great bustard onto Salisbury Plain. Profits from the brothel paid for Trinity Hospital. Now profits from ale will pay for the Great Bustard.