Haunted Halls

Wycoller is a famous Hamlet outside Colne in Lancashire only 3 miles North of Howarth; Charlotte Bronte took her walks here.
Wycoller Hall was thought to be 'Ferndean Manor' in Charlotte Brontes 'Jane Ayre' novel. The hall is said to be Haunted by a spectral horseman that comes out only when there is a full moon also the ghost of a black woman wanders the grounds. Pearson House joined on to the tea-room has the ghost of the blue lady who walks through walls. Wycollar House has a poltergeist.
We visited Wycoller Hall on a very pleasant summers day. The ruins looked very romantic surrounded by wild flowers. Not at all creepy on a sunny Saturday. Too many children running amongst its stone-work. Definitely a spooky hot spot for wanabee ghost hunters. We shall certainly be paying the spectral horseman a visit one moonlit night soon.




Oakwell Hall in Batley, West Yorkshire is a local haunt of mine 'so to speak' it has a famous legend. The ghost of William Batt, a former owner of the Oakwell in 1684 the ghost story comes from the Victorian writer Mrs Gaskell in her "Life of Charlotte Bronte".

"Captain Batt was believed to be far away; his family was at Oakwell; when in the dusk on winter evening, he came stalking along the lane, through the hall and up the stairs, into his own room, where he vanished. He has been killed in duel in London that very same afternoon of December 9th 1684."

A classic crisis apparition sighting, there is a legend that he left a bloody footprint behind in a bedroom, I remember seeing a dark stain on the floorboards many years ago but I can't remember which room I saw it in. Maybe it was just my young imagination.

A more modern witness saw children playing in the rear garden the children were wearing period costume they ran off into a dead end part of the garden totally vanishing into thin air and never to be found outside nor inside the hall.


Annesley Hall, Nottingham

Athelhampton Hall, Dorset
There are several ghosts at Athelhampton Hall; the Grey lady is often seen in the Tudor room a house maid saw her sitting in a chair, she thought that she was a visitor and asked her to leave as it was quite late in the day. She was astounded when the lady got up and walked through the wood panelling. One of the daughters had an unhappy love affair, and decided to kill herself in one of the hall's secret rooms.
A priest in long robes and a hood has also been seen at the Hall and is thought to be the ghost of a priest who was once writing a book about the area. Also phantom duellists and a cooper who hammers away at ghostly casks in the wine cellars. A spectral ape is the most famous spectre. The family who lived there originally owned the pet monkey and there family motto was related to the monkey. The crest on the hall is of an ape sitting on a tree stump with the motto "He who looks at Martyn's ape, Martyn's ape will look at him." The story goes: She made her way up the secret staircase and into the room, the monkey followed her. She locked herself and her pet inside and her faithful monkey soon died of starvation. Ever since, its ghost has been seen on the secret staircase and one can hear its claws scratching at the door. She said, "It was my fault, I was so sad I didn't notice our pet. I opened the secret door by the fireplace in the great chamber. I went in, closed the door behind me and climbed the stairs. I didn't know the monkey had followed me. My lover had jilted me and I no longer wanted to live". She took her own life but, unknown to her, had locked the monkey in the room. The poor creature starved to death and you can still hear claws scratching at the door. Other bizarre occurrences that have taken place here is a baby's cradle rocking back and forth on its own. A little girl voice has been heard shouting for her mother, Monks have been seen in silent prayer, they have also been witnessed in the gardens only from the waist up Sounds like the jangling of keys and chanting have been heard too People have smelt things like tobacco smoke and floral smells.


Levens Hall, Cumbria


Location: Cumbria, England
Built: 1694, there has been a dwelling on the site since 1350
Ghostly manifestations: There are several ghosts, The Pink lady, black dog, grey lady (gypsy).
Ghostly anomalies: The ghostly black dog occasionally makes solitary appearances running playfully in-front of visitors as they walk the stairs for it only to disappear without trace, then re-appears close to their feet for them to nearly trip over the dog. Desperate attempts are made to avoid stepping on him then he simply vanishes into thin air once again.
History: The first dwelling at Levens dates from circa 1350, and was built by the de Redman family as defence against the Scottish raiders of the time. It was then a primitive pele tower, with underhousing for the women and cattle in time of raids, and a large room where smoke from the open fire would escape through a hole in the roof. The medieval structure was built around in Elizabethan times when the Bellingham family created a mansion and beautified it with fine panelling and plasterwork still to be seen today.

The Gypsy of Levens Hall

Levens Hall on the edge of the Lake District is haunted by a gypsy woman who set a curse on the house, saying that no son should inherit it until the River Kent ceased to flow and a white fawn was born in the park. Levens passed continually through the female line until the birth of Alan Desmond Bagot in 1896, when the river froze over and a white fawn was found in the park. The gypsy woman has been seen quite often on the back drive and the bridge over the river. Besides its resident ghosts, Levens Hall, still home of the Bagot family to this day, is well worth visiting for its gardens, which include the best, the oldest and most extensive topiary garden in the world. Apparitions have been
Seen in both the house and the gardens.



Beningbrough Hall, North Yorkshire
Blickling Hall, Norwich
Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire
Chairs and door-nobs have been seen to move by a former resident of the hall, a man in Edwardian dress has been seen sitting in a chair, he is thought to be the ghost of Augustus Thellusson. A woman in Victorian dress on the library stairs, a man in khaki uniform on the same staircase, two female figures. One member of staff is not allowed into one room by an unruley ghost, she is frequently pushed in the back.

Dalston Hall, Cumbria

East Riddlesden Hall, West Yorkshire

The most well-known spirit is of that of the "Grey Lady". Legend has it that the Lady was the wife to a lord of the manor. One day he returned home to find his wife in bed with another man. Fit with rage, he through her into a small room (believed to be the "Red Bedroom" where she starved to death, whilst he locked her lover in another room and bricked up both the doors and windows. In the Grey Lady's Chamber, apparitions of a lady have been seen both by the window and in the rocking chair. The chair also rocks on its own with no breeze in the room.

Another legend is that of the "White Lady". It is said that she was hunting one day where she fell from her horse into the duck pond and drowned. Her body was never discovered. An apparition believed to be her has been seen both in and out of the pond, presumably looking for her body.

In the "Old Barn", resides the spirit of a female known as "Alice" and the spirit of her cat. She was believed to be a witch and one day, two men dragged her to the pond, and drowned her until the verge of death, dragged her back to the barn, molested her, then burnt her and the cat. A strange feeling occupies this barn.
*** I have heard something that sounds like a scream twice; once as I walked past the Old Barn and the second time when I was cleaning in the Airedale Barn (used for functions).***

In both the Shop and Tearooms, there is an oppressive atmosphere. This is due to the so-called "Assassin-Dishwasher" spirit. Believed to be a man who worked as a Dishwasher at one time in the Hall, who then led a second life as an Assassin by night. Usually he is kept at bay, but if there is a depressing atmosphere (in the mood of a person) then he strikes. If fresh flowers are left on Table 3 one evening, sometimes the next morning they have completely wilted where the rest are fine. *** I can actually vouch for this. I have seen the fresh flowers one evening, then the wilted ones the next...***. Also, chairs have been reported to move.

Staying in the tearooms, There are also the friendlier spirits of a Mother and two young boys. Legend says that one of the boys drowned in the pond. Some mornings, books and toys (usually stuffed toys) have moved from the toy-box to places in the Tearooms where its impossible for them to land if they simply fall out. ***I went up to the Tearooms one morning before the Catering staff got in and a large grey stuffed bear from the toy-box had moved from his usual place (sat proud on top of the toy-box) and he was sat on the table opposite and the catering staff swear that he was on the toy-box when they left the night before.***

There is sometimes a strange feeling in the shop. A few visitors have felt to be being watched from someone or something. ***I was in the shop on the morning that the Most Haunted team were in filming, and I was dusting a clock original to the house which has been broken and not working for about 7 years started chiming. Also, at the beginning of this season (March 2006), the same clock one morning started up and continued all the way through until the end of the day when it suddenly stopped.***

Also on the property are two spirit dogs. One is said to be the spirit of the Gardeners dog who sadly passed away just before Christmas 2005. The other is rumoured to be a "Devil-Hound", a large black dog with red eyes. Legend says if you see these dogs, it means that someone will die soon.

This information was kindly submitted by an employee at the hall.

Gainsborough Old Hall, Lincolnshire
Hardwick Old Hall, Derbyshire
Minster Lovell Hall, Oxfordshire
Samlesbury Hall, Preston

Sutton Scarsdale Hall, Derbyshire

Location: Chesterfield, England

Built: 1724 AD

Brief History: Sutton Scarsdale Hall is North of Derby, you can reach it via the M1 motorway, where you will see it opposite Bolsover Castle on the other side of the hill. There is a footpath that leads you right from the Hall to the castle, but be prepared to walk 4 miles. This now skeletal ruin was built in 1724 by Smith of Warwick and it is an 18th century remodelling of an earlier house. It used to be one of Derbyshire finest houses in its heyday similarly matched to Chatsworth House. The remaining artefacts from the building now reside in a Philadelphia and Los Angeles museums.

Ghostly manifestations: The White Lady.

Ghostly anomalies: Sutton Scarsdale Hall has the reputation to be a very haunted house, witnesses have seen disembodied floating body parts, footfall and strange tobacco smells, sometimes unexplained screams. Moving shadows have also been captured in the cellar area by paranormal investigators.

Some of the weirdest things have been seen in the cellar area. This area is cordoned off to the public, there is a small aperture where you can see into, but it has a substantial iron grill over it. Apparently there are tunnels that run from these cellars. There has been talk of some dreadful act that took place in the cellar. This is the main area of all the accounted paranormal activity. Shadows have been seen whilst filming in the cellar too, I managed to put my night shot camera in but I didnt see anything.

During the latter half of the 1960's Sutton Hall was the centre of a ghostly enigma. A Bolsover man and his son reported seeing a ghostly apparition early in the morning moving between the church of St. Marys and the hall, the 'white lady' was seen gliding through the churchyard without legs, wearing a white hood with slits for eyes and crying like a baby or sobbing like a woman.

When interviewed the vicar of Saint Marys church, the Reverend Stanley Hare said, "It flies through the bushes and makes very weird noises at night and could very well frighten anybody".


Raynham Hall, Norfolk
The Famous photograph of 'The Brown Lady of Raynham Hall' she is said to be the ghost of Dorothy Warpole the daughter of the first every prime minister in this country.

St Mary's Guildhall, Coventry
Famous ghost photograph of 'top table' hooded figure. An uninvited spook at the Freeman's guild in 1985, no one sitting in the vicinity saw or noticed it, but he was clearly visible on the photograph.

Capesthorne Hall, East Cheshire
Wem Town Hall, Shropshire - The famous girl in the fire photo.
Moresby Hall, Cumbria
Bagdale Hall, North Yorkshire
Smithhills Hall, Bolton
Somerleyton Hall, Suffolk
Oakwell Hall, West Yorkshire

Ordsall Hall, Manchester
This notable looking Tudor building dated as far back as 1180 is reputed to have many resident ghosts. The spirit of Margaret Radclyffe who is known to be White Lady has been seen near the portrait in the center of the Great Hall, and the raised stage, people have witnessed her apparitional form her. Also and monk and the ghost of a little girl, has been seen near the bottom of the stairs.

Pondon Hall, Stanbury, West Yorkshire.
Leith Hall, Aberdeenshire
Howley Hall ruins, West Yorkshire
Shibden Hall, West Yorkshie
Tissington Hall, Derbyshire
Ordsall Hall, Manchester
Bolling Hall, West Yorkshire

Littledean Hall, Gloucestershire
Littledean Hall is one of the oldest houses west of the river Severn and is the most haunted house in the most haunted village in Gloucestershire. The hall is famous for its poltergeist, often if white flowers are arranged in the dining room they will be flung on the floor. A ghost of a monk has been seen there. also a misty figure has been seen moving about Sammy's yard. An apparition has been seen outside the house.

Throwley Hall, Staffordshire