Thackray Workhouse and Asylum, Leeds

Click on image

Just north of Leeds city centre you'll find the award winning Thackray Medical Museum housed within the Grade II listed old workhouse building of St James Hospital.

In the late 1840s after an influx of Irish vagrants in the wake of the Great Famine, the old Lady Lane workhouse was unable to cope so the "Poor Law Guardians" of Leeds resolved to build a new workhouse with the latest facilities. The new workhouse comprised a main block, infirmary, chapel, and "idiotic" wards with a large new infirmary added to the site in 1872-4. The original infirmary, to the north of the chapel, had up to 140 beds, including some for the mentally ill.

In 1904, the building underwent a "reconstruction" and several new buildings were erected at the site, the updated Workhouse now accommodated 784 paupers who existed under a spartan regime of work in return for food and accommodation, with discipline rigorously applied by the Master, who was responsible to the Guardians.

Since 1997 the building has been used to house the impressive Thackray Medical Museum with its highlight being a real life Victorian Street and operating theatre. Its conversion from hospital to museum seems to have stirred a great deal of energy and the building is well known for paranormal activity including: 

A ghost of a woman in 18th century clothing has been witnessed waving to staff, mysterious footsteps, often followed by a smell of urine. Feelings of dread and depression in certain parts of the building. In the recreation of the Victorian street a ghost of a man in a white coat has been witnessed many times. Intelligent poltergeist activity such as knocks and bangs reply to calling out. 

Source: Frightnights.co.uk

Man in a White Coat

Location: Leeds (Yorkshire) - Thackray Medical Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post 1997
Further Comments: A ghostly man in a white coat has been spotted in the recreation of a Victorian Street within this building, while a grey lady dressed in nineteenth century clothing waves at staff along the second floor.

Source: Paranormaldatabase.com

More Information

http://www.thackraymuseum.org

http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Leeds/

'Witch's cottage' unearthed near Pendle Hill, Lancashire

 

The building also contains a 19th Century kitchen range, still in its original position

Engineers have said they were "stunned" to unearth a 17th Century cottage, complete with a mummified cat, during a construction project in Lancashire. The cottage was discovered near Lower Black Moss reservoir in the village of Barley, in the shadow of Pendle Hill. Archaeologists brought in by United Utilities to survey the area found the building under a grass mound.

Historians are now speculating that the well-preserved cottage could have belonged to one of the Pendle witches. The building contained a sealed room, with a mummified cat bricked into the wall.

It is believed the cat was buried alive to protect the cottage's inhabitants from evil spirits.

'Tutankhamen's tomb' Carl Sanders, United Utilities' project manager, said: "It's not often you come across a fairytale cottage complete with witch's cat.

"The building is in remarkable condition. You can walk through it and get a real sense that you're peering into the past. "Pendle Hill has a real aura about it, and it's hard not to be affected by the place.

"Even before we discovered the building, there were lots of jokes from the lads about broomsticks and black cats. The find has really stunned us all."

Simon Entwistle, an expert on the Pendle witches, said: "In terms of significance, it's like discovering Tutankhamen's tomb.

 

The engineering project has been put on hold while archaeologists investigate the site "We are just a few months away from the 400th anniversary of the Pendle witch trials, and here we have an incredibly rare find, right in the heart of witching country. This could well be the famous Malkin Tower - which has been a source of speculation and rumour for centuries.

"Cats feature prominently in folklore about witches. Whoever consigned this cat to such a horrible fate was clearly seeking protection from evil spirits."'Something special'
 

United Utilities routinely brings in experts before turning the topsoil in areas believed to have archaeological significance. Frank Giecco, from NP Archaeology, who unearthed the building, said: "It's like discovering your own little Pompeii. We rarely get the opportunity to work with something so well preserved.

"As soon as we started digging, we found the tops of doors, and knew we were on to something special. "The building is a microcosm for the rise and fall of this area, from the time of the Pendle witches to the industrial age. There are layers of local history right before your eyes."

The engineering project has been put on hold while the archaeologists complete their investigation of the site. The building also contains a 19th Century kitchen range, still in its original position.

Many artefacts from the building's latter years, such as Victorian crockery, a tin bath and a bedstead, were discovered around the site.

The Ghosts and Magic of Somerset & The Cotswolds

Locations: Lower Slaughter, Wells, Cheddar, Boughton on the Water, Snowshill Manor, Glastonbury, Rollright in Oxfordshire, Moreton in Marsh, Wookey.



My paranormal tour this year took me to Somerset and Gloucestershire, mainly the Cotswolds area. Unfortunatly I didnt get to visit Prestbury due to time commitments.

Click on pics for larger image. (Im still editing this page, locations need cross referencing) 

Two Figures on Steps

Location: Wells - Wells Cathedral, Chapter House
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 19 April 1954
Further Comments: There is a photograph two people in white, possibly a child with its mother, standing on the steps. The photographer reports that no one else stood in front of the camera at the time of the long exposure.

Camera on the floor shot at an angle

Wells Catherdal (Smallest in the UK)
No ghosts in this photo btw, its a 3 exposure shot. (HDR)High dynamic range

The Priest House - Snowshill Manor
Read Judy Farncombe's >> account

Wade's House - Snowshill Manor

Rollright gifts

ROLLRIGHT STONES - OXFORDSHIRE

Rollright Stones

More info here 

SNOWSHILL MANOR

Snowshill Manor, Gloucestershire
More info here
and here


WOOKEY HOLE 

Wookey Hole, Somerset (See video below)

GLASTONBURY ABBEY

Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset
More info here 

Glastonbury

GLASTONBURY TOR

Glastonbury Tor, Somerset 

More info here

MORETON IN MARSH

According to local research, Moreton also has an extraordinary number of ghosts. Dame Creswycke apparently haunts the Manor House Hotel; Redesdale Arms Hotel has ghostly footsteps; an ethereal male appears at the White Hart Royal Hotel; a poltergeist called Fred haunts the Black Bear Inn and a "hugging" ghost roams the Bell Inn! Leamington House visitors have also been recently overcome by a strong and sudden smell of orange blossom.

THE BLACK BEAR INN

The Black Bear Inn, Moreton in Marsh

Redesdale Arms

The Bell Inn - Moreton in Marsh - Spirits? We spent our time drinking cider and beer here!

The Bell Inn garden

MORETON IN MARSH - MANOR HOUSE HOTEL

Manor House Hotel, Moreton in Marsh

More info here

Manor House Hotel, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire

WOOKEY HOLE

Wookey Hole, Somerset

Im still cross-referencing these locations - Lower Slaughter village, Boughton House, Upper Slaughter Manor

www.hauntedsouthwest.com

Spooky Derbyshire

Click on images to enlarge, press ctrl+ on your keyboard to enlarge in browser.

Eyam Plague Village

We were very privileged to have the whole of the Chatsworth country estate to ourselves day and night, as we were staying there for 5 days. We decided to pay Eyam a visit.

At the heart of Derbyshire's haunted heritage is the quaint and very haunted village of Eyam.

Eyam (pronounced 'eem') is well known because of its association with the bubonic plague. The local Vicar, Rev Mompesson, organised the quarantine of the entire village of Eyam in 1666. Food and other essentials were left at a well (Mompesson's well) in order to avoid spreading the plague. Many people lost their lives and the village is a testament to their deaths.

There has been a huge amount of sightings and incidents occurring in the village. The Miner's Arms pub, is allegedly one of the most haunted buildings in the village. Footsteps have been heard upstairs and there have been strange occurrences in the bedrooms, causing some guests to leave in the middle of the night!

One of the plague cottages is apparently haunted by a pleasant faced lady in a blue smock, who has woken the owners in the middle of the night!

Eyam Hall was built between 1671 and 1676 and incorporates part of the earlier, smaller house. The property is in the hands of the Wright family who have owned the Hall since its construction. Ghosts - Eyam Hall has Sarah Mills, a young servant girl who drowned in the well. In an upstairs room, it was so repeatedly visited by the ghost of an old man that the door was permanently locked!

Plague Cottage

Plague Cottage

Plague cottages and graveyard

Eyam Hall and stocks

Greyfriars Kirkyard, Edinburgh Scotland - Graveyard Cemetary

View Larger Map

Weird!

The Covenenters Prison

Greyfriars Kirkyard has to be one of the creepiest places I have ever visited, the stones aren't staged they are real, dating as far back as the 16th century. The tombs are mostly locked and surrounded by iron railings and high stone walls, these were not prisons they were there to stop bodysnatchers such as the famous Burke and Hare raiding fresh bodies and supplying the Doctors at the nearby medical college with corpses for dissection. The covenanters prison is a makeshift prison and is locked at all times for good reason because so many people were getting attacked by the alleged poltergeist in there, only ghost tours are allowed in. The Covenanting movement began with signing of the National Covenant in Greyfriars Kirk in 1638 it was the first stage of a democracy in Scotland, but many were killed and tortured; 1200 people were forced to lay face down in the mud for 5 months all through the Scottish winters and snipers stood on the upper walls so if they tried to escape they would be shot instantly, most were, some believe that the unbridled slaughter in the kirkyard is grossly exaggerated.  In there is the alleged spirit called George 'Bloody' Mackenzie, it took a lot to warrant this title in Scotland, he was the King's adversary and eminent judge and he killed the covenenters and it was his job to think up torture methods. It is well documented that his spirit resides in the 'Black Mausoleum' and attacks visitors and famous throughout the world as 'The Mackenzie Poltergeist'. People have felt cold here, heard noises, smelt smells which could be explained, also people were receiving scratches, bite marks, bruises, burns and knocked unconscious, where is harder to explain. The council were not prepared to be held responsible for these attacks and decided to lock up that part of the cemetery. 450 people have reported having been 'attacked by an unknown force' and 140 people have fainted (but I think the statistics are high as thousands of tourist come here, some are bound to be tired etc standing in a cold dark scary place all night, also suggestion plays a major part in these cases.) The weird flip-side of this story is that they buried the man responsible for so many of these deaths this close to were the deaths took place, his spirit is mostly blamed for all the paranormal activity that occurred. His tomb was recently desecrated by two youths who found a skull (his?) and started to throw it about the place, but nothing of a supernatural nature attacked them!

Some of the paranormal activity seems to have extended to the houses that surround the kirkyard too.

Ghost Hunters ONLY!!

Symptoms of an acute stress reaction caused by adrenylin and the amygdala (primitive brain area)Fight or flight:-

Fainting, disorientation, agitation, overeactivity, anxiety, impaired judgement, confusion, detachment, tachycardia, sweating, and nausea.

Home of the famous MacKenzie Poltergeist

Nothing of a paranoiac nature happened to me whilst I visited the kirkyard, I wasn't pushed scratched or kicked in the head and I didn't faint yay! Mind you I couldn't get in the covenenters prison to let myself in for slaughter as it was locked! Shame oh well. The graveyard is creepy plain and simple, it psychologically sets you up to fear it what with its weird tombs with obscure carvings, the naked baby with the skull was quite perturbing. I would certainly go at night for sure.

Wikipedia entry
Part1

Part2