Haunted Britain and Ireland

by Derek Acorah

  The theatre is also haunted by the ghost of a flyman who hanged himself there. A flyman is a technician who raises or lowers – or ‘flies’ – the scenery by means of ropes. Many of the techniques used are similar to those used on sailing ships and it was once common for former sailors to work as flymen. There have also been sightings of the ghost of a young ballerina in the theatre.

  A team of psychic investigators from Yorkshire recently spent a night carrying out tests on the premises and apparently detected several ghosts, including those of Signor Pepi, an unhappy young girl and a dog. The body of a dog was later found buried near the building.

  The Civic Theatre, Parkgate, Darlington, County Durham DL1 1RR; Tel: (01325) 486555 (enquiries), (01325) 486555 (box office). Guided tours of the theatre are available on request and ghost tours are run from time to time.

  DEREK’S TIP

  If your investigation is to take place at night, ensure that you have warm clothing and the facility to make hot drinks. Remember that even the warmest of summer days can turn chilly after the witching hour.

  Clifford’s Tower

  York is reputed to be one of the most haunted towns in Britain and Clifford’s Tower, one of its most famous landmarks, is notorious for the strange phenomena that have taken place there.

  The tower was originally built in wood by William the Conqueror during his campaign to subdue the north of England. In 1190 it was the scene of one of the most terrible events in York’s history. Anti-Semitism swept through the town and many of the large Jewish community fled their homes and sought refuge in the tower. However, the mob caught up with them there and offered them the choice of being baptized or murdered. Most chose to commit suicide and the remainder were massacred when the rioters stormed the tower and set it on fire.

  In the thirteenth century the tower was rebuilt by Henry III, using stone from a nearby quarry. Not long afterwards people reported a red fluid oozing from the walls. It was thought to be the blood of those who had died there, though scientific tests have since revealed that it was probably the result of iron oxide in the stone. Yet strangely none of the other stone taken from the quarry contained iron oxide.

  Staff in the tower today often feel they are being watched, even when they are on their own, and in the chapel several people have felt the touch of a ghostly hand on their shoulder. A team of psychic investigators recently held a ghost watch at the tower and claimed to have found the spirits of a young boy, a man and two dogs there.

  Clifford’s Tower, Tower Street, York, North Yorkshire YO1 9SA; Tel: (01904) 621756 (event line), (01904) 621756 (info line)

  The Coach and Horses Hotel

  The Coach and Horses Hotel is a traditional pub and hotel in the heart of the historic Roman city of Chester. It has a very strange tale of haunting.

  One hot summer’s evening in 1988 an old gentleman in a tweed suit came into the pub and sat down near the side entrance. He ordered a drink and sat quietly for a while on his own. When the barmaid asked if he was alright, he said he was, then came over to the bar, ordered another drink and started to talk to her. He explained that his wife had died suddenly and he wasn’t looking forward to going home, because everything there reminded him of her. He asked if there was a room free at the hotel. There was, so the elderly gentleman paid cash and the barmaid booked him in and gave him his key. He drained his drink and said he would take a walk around the city walls before coming back. With a smile, he left the inn.

  When he hadn’t returned by 2 o’clock in the morning, the hotel staff began to worry that something had happened to him and rang the police. After searching the city in vain, the police went to the address that the man had given in Birkenhead. Neighbours told them that he had lived there and his wife had died suddenly, but so had he – eight years ago!

  The Coach and Horses Hotel, 39 Northgate Street, Chester CH1 2HQ; Tel: (01244) 325533

  DEREK’S TIP

  If nothing happens on your first investigation, do not be too disappointed. Spirit people are not performers and will only appear if and when they want to. Just because you have had no success on one investigation does not mean that you will fail on others.

  Dunstanburgh Castle

  The windswept skeleton of Dunstanburgh Castle, the largest castle in Northumberland, lies nine miles northeast of Alnwick, dominating the coastline from its position high on an outcrop of the Great Whin Sill. It was built in the fourteenth century during the border wars between Scotland and England by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, nephew of King Edward II. Unfortunately relations between the two broke down and Thomas eventually led a barons’ rebellion against the king. He was captured and executed at Pontefract Castle (see page 100) in 1322, but the executioner was inexperienced and took 11 strokes to sever his head. Even soldiers fainted at the sight. Now his ghost is said to walk the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle carrying his mangled head.

  By the sixteenth century the castle had fallen into decay, but according to legend when a knight called Sir Guy sought shelter there in a storm, the drawbridge was lowered and a hideous figure in white appeared and asked him to enter and find a ‘beauty bright’. Sir Guy entered an ornate chamber where he found 100 knights and their horses lying asleep. In the middle of the room a beautiful woman lay sleeping in a crystal casket. On either side of her were two serpents, one holding a sword, the other a horn. The ghostly figure told Sir Guy he could wake the woman but must choose whether to use the sword or the horn to do so. He chose the horn, but as he blew it, the knights woke instead and rushed towards him. Sir Guy fainted clean away and when he came round the vision had gone. For the rest of his life he searched the ruins for the beautiful maiden, but he never found her again. Now his ghost continues the search.

  Dunstanburgh Castle, Craster, Alnwick, Northumberland; Tel: (01665) 576231; www.english-heritage.org.uk

  Open daily April–October and Thursday–Monday November–March. Closed 24–26 December and 1 January.

  The castle can be reached by foot from Embleton and Craster. Car parking is available at both. There is a small shop.

  East Riddlesden Hall

  East Riddlesden Hall is a seventeenth-century merchant’s house a mile north-east of Keighley. It stands in its own grounds, which include gardens, a duck pond, an orchard and one of the largest medieval tithe barns in the north of England.

  The hall is haunted by four ghosts. Perhaps the best known is a Grey Lady who was starved to death by her husband and who now rocks an ancient cradle. The other ghosts are those of a Scottish merchant murdered by a steward for his money, a White Lady who haunts the pond where she drowned and a Blue Lady who haunts the grounds.

  East Riddlesden Hall, Riddlesden, Bradford Road, Keighley, North Yorkshire BD20 4EA; Tel: (01535) 607075; Fax: (01535) 691462; E-mail: eastriddlesden@ntrust.org.uk; Website: www. visitbrontecountry. com/erh. htm

  Open April–November. The hall is run by the National Trust. It has free parking, a shop, tea room, children’s play area and educational facilities. Regular costumed tours and a variety of events are held through the year.

  Kirkstone Pass Inn

  Kirkstone Pass Inn is a well-known inn dramatically situated on the Kirkstone Pass between Ullswater and Windermere. At 1,500 feet, it is believed to be the third highest public house in England and it is a favourite with walkers and other visitors to the Lake District.

  The inn is said to be haunted by a seventeenth-century coachman. He hangs around the bar as if reluctant to go back out into the hills and continue his journey. Travel was often hazardous in past times, as shown by the fate of the other ghost at the inn, a young woman who died of exposure while travelling over the pass during a blizzard.

  Kirkstone Pass Inn, Kirkstone Pass, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 9LQ; Tel: (01539) 433888. Food served. Accommodation available.

  Marston Moor Battlefield

  Marston Moor lies beyond the southern end of Nidderdale in the Vale of York, about a mile north of Long Marston and to the east
of Tockwith. It was the site of a major battle in the Civil War.

  On the evening of 2 July 1644 a Royalist army of 15,000 soldiers under the command of William Cavendish, later Duke of Newcastle, and Prince Rupert of the Rhine, King Charles I’s nephew, met an army of 25,000 allied Parliamentarian and Scots troops under the overall command of Alexander Leslie, Earl of Leven, and Generals Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. The Royalist commanders had been convinced that battle would not take place until the following morning and been surprised by the Allied attack. The battle lasted for two hours, lit by moonlight. After initial success, the Royalists were defeated and their northern army destroyed.

  As night fell, 300 Allied soldiers and 4,000 Royalists lay dead. The Allied dead were respectfully buried by their comrades, but the Royalists were robbed and stripped and the Parliamentarians forced the villagers of Tockwith and Long Marston to dump the bodies in a pit. Marston Moor is now peaceful farmland, but the ghostly battle continues to this day. Royalist cavalry has been seen charging across the fields and there have been many sightings of phantom soldiers walking along the road between Long Marston and Tockwith which runs across the centre of the battlefield. A monument commemorating the battle has been erected halfway along this road, next to a layby.

  Marston Moor lies off the B1224 to the west of Tockwith, Vale of York.

  DEREK’S TIP

  It is pointless to shout and scream at every little noise. Put yourself in the place of the spirit person. If somebody standing next to you were suddenly to jump and yell out, what would you do? I am sure that you would beat a hasty retreat! And that is exactly what spirit people do when confronted with such behaviour.

  The National Railway Museum

  The National Railway Museum is the largest railway museum in the world. It traces the history of the railway industry from the early nineteenth century, when George and Robert Stephenson developed Rocket. Alongside a large collection of photographs there are millions of railway artefacts and many railway vehicles, including the famous Flying Scotsman, Mallard, which holds the world speed record for a steam train, the only bullet train outside Japan and a host of royal carriages, including Queen Victoria’s.

  There are often special Thomas the Tank Engine days for children, and rides on the miniature railway or full-size trains are usually available.

  There are also rumours of ghostly activity in the travelling post office, where mail used to be sorted and then dropped off at stations in sacks as the train raced through the country.

  The National Railway Museum, Leeman Road, York, North Yorkshire YO26 4XJ; Tel: (01904) 621261; Fax: (01904) 611112; Website: www.nrm.org.uk

  Open all year, every day except 24, 25 and 26 December. Admission free except for some activities during special events.

  The Octagon Theatre

  The Octagon Theatre, Bolton, was established in 1967. It presents two seasons of shows per year with a wide range of both home-produced and touring productions, including musicals, classics and comedies. Although the theatre is actually hexagonal, the main auditorium is an elongated octagon. It seats up to 380 people. The building also houses the Bill Naughton Theatre (an 80-seat adaptable studio theatre), the Spotlight Café and a theatre bar.

  The theatre’s ghost is its first wardrobe mistress, Fida, who died while she was working there. She has been seen strolling across the gallery and in the stage control box and has even appeared to operate the sewing machines from time to time!

  The Octagon Theatre, Howell Croft South, Bolton BL1 1SB; Tel: (01204) 520661; Website: www.octagonbolton.co.uk

  The Old Original

  The Old Original is a traditional pub in the former mill town of Oldham. It is haunted by a woman called Eliza Jane MacKay, who lived in the area in the nineteenth century and was a regular drinker at the inn. She came to a bad end one night when she was murdered and thrown down the local well,800 yards down the lane from the pub. Each year on a certain night in May people in the houses nearby can hear the sound of screaming. This may be a re-enactment of Eliza being dragged screaming from the pub to the well. The inquest took place in July and the Oldham Chronicle’s account of it is on the wall in the pub today. Eliza herself is also still around her old haunt, appearing as an ill-defined shadowy shape and always passing through the same part of the inn. It seems she haunts the cellar too, as things are often turned on and off down there.

  The Old Original, Thurston Clough Road, Scouthead, Oldham, Lancashire OL4 3RX; Tel: (01457) 874412. Food served.

  Pontefract Castle

  Pontefract Castle, built in 1090, was one of the most important fortresses in England during the Middle Ages. It became a royal castle in 1399, upon the accession of Henry Bolinbroke to the throne. He imprisoned his predecessor, Richard II, in the castle and had him murdered the following year. During the Civil War the castle was held by Royalist forces through three sieges, but was largely demolished by the victorious Parliamentarians at the end of the war.

  No one has yet seen the ghost of Richard II at the castle – though a photograph of the keep once showed a ghostly figure wearing a crown – but it is known to be the haunt of many other ghosts. Visitors have often seen a black monk walking from the kitchen towards the steps up to the Queen’s Tower at around 5 o’clock in the afternoon. A grey monk has also been seen and a woman wearing grey walks regularly from Stoney Hill to the castle gates, sometimes holding a lantern.

  Another ghost has been seen reflected in a mirror at the visitors’ centre. She is a young girl with long brown hair, dressed in ragged clothes. Unexplained sounds of a girl crying and screaming have been reported in the ladies’ toilet which adjoins the visitors’ centre.

  Strange knocking has also been heard in the castle’s underground magazine, which held gunpowder and prisoners during the Civil War. A shadowy figure has been seen descending the stairs to the magazine and cavaliers have been seen coming up them and walking off to various parts of the castle. Two phantom children have been seen playing near the entrance, while on top of the keep a man dressed in black has been observed reading a parchment. Though the castle is now in ruins, it seems there is still a lot going on there.

  Pontefract Castle, Castel Chain, Pontefract, West Yorkshire WF8 1QH; Tel: (01977) 723440. Open daily.

  The Prospect Shopping Centre

  The Prospect Shopping Centre, Hull, has a wide selection of high street and department stores and places to eat. The site was once the venue for public executions. Subsequently the Hull Royal Infirmary was built there. It opened on 1 September 1784 and remained on the same site for 183 years until the new Hull Royal Infirmary opened in Anlaby Road. The old building was then demolished and the land allocated to the development of a new shopping centre.

  The new complex opened in the mid-1970s and ever since there have been reports of strange events taking place on the premises. Canteen utensils and waste bins have been strewn around, stock has been moved inexplicably and several items have appeared in unusual places and been uncannily cold to the touch. When one shop opened the staff posed for a photo and when it was developed they saw that an extra person no one recognized had been standing there with them.

  It is believed that the ghosts haunting the shopping centre are those of hospital patients and workers. Staff working late in the offices have seen the shadowy figures of hospital porters dressed in ‘whites’. One porter is said to have been around since the 1930s, when he committed suicide in the porters’ lodge. A nurse in an old-fashioned uniform was also seen by a woman working late in one of the shops, but when she approached her, she walked behind a column and disappeared.

  The Prospect Shopping Centre, Brook Street, Hull HU2 8PP; Tel: (01482) 324619; Fax: (01482) 325640

  DEREK’S TIP

  A more sceptical member of the group is useful in providing ‘the voice of reason’. It is very easy to attribute every squeak or groan to spirit activity when in fact the source could well be something as mundane as the building cooling down at n
ight or the floorboards relaxing after constant use during the day.

  The Shakespeare Public House

  The Shakespeare is now located in the centre of Manchester, but in the 1920s the entire pub was transported from Chester, where it was known as the Shambles. It dates back to 1656 and still has the original black and white façade, old wooden floors and oak beams.

  It also still has its ghost. She is said be a kitchen maid who lived in the nineteenth century and died after being raped by the chef, who later hanged himself. The rope marks are still there on an old beam.