Haunted Britain and Ireland Read online

  derek acorah

  HAUNTED BRITAIN

  AND IRELAND

  over 100 of the scariest places to visit

  To Ray and Jayne

  for their endless support

  contents

  Acknowledgements

  Introduction

  Things you should know before you start

  ENGLAND

  Eastern England

  London

  Northern England

  The Midlands

  Southern England

  WALES

  SCOTLAND

  The Highlands and Islands

  The Lowlands

  NORTHERN IRELAND

  REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

  Index of Places

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  introduction

  ‘All houses wherein men have lived and died are haunted houses!’

  Longfellow

  Following the tremendous success of Ghost Hunting with Derek Acorah, I was inundated with requests to compile a book of locations throughout Britain and Ireland that are reputed to be haunted – and I was certainly spoiled for choice.

  One of the most difficult things when deciding to go on an investigation into the paranormal is finding the right location. Hopefully Haunted Britain and Ireland will take the hard work out of this by suggesting over 100 of the most haunted places in England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, divided into areas for ease of reference. No matter where you live or how little you are prepared to travel, there will always be somewhere worthy of a visit if you are on the hunt for a ghost or two.

  While I have not yet been able to visit all the places covered in this book, I very much hope to investigate them in the future. Some of these sites may be slightly off the beaten track, but I’m sure all are worthy of the ghosthunter’s attention.

  When undertaking an investigation into the paranormal it is as well to remember that there are many different types of ghostly manifestation. First, there are the ‘feelings’ we all pick up from atmospheres. When entering premises, take care to note in which room or rooms you feel comfortable and in which you feel less at ease. Use your basic psychic senses – we all have them – to assist you in the first steps of your investigation by picking up on the residual energies left in a property by previous occupants. Obviously unless you are a trained medium you will not be able to experience specifics, but you should be able to identify areas where you feel there is more likelihood of paranormal activity. As you take an initial walk around the location, make notes on where you feel would be the most interesting sections to concentrate your investigation.

  Of course not all ‘hauntings’ are the result of spirit presence. There are a variety of reports where people have described ghosts appearing at the same time on the same date of a year. These are known as ‘anniversary’ ghosts. If you are intending visiting a location alleged to have an anniversary ghost, please go along on the relevant day, as if you do not, you may well be disappointed.

  There are also lots of grey ladies, blue ladies and occasionally a green lady or two haunting Britain and Ireland. Sites reporting this type of ghost are always well worth a visit as, although you may not be able to define the clothing or features of the ‘lady’ concerned, sightings are usually quite regular and so you are less likely to be disappointed in your quest.

  Then there are the ghosts who walk through walls and disappear in the most unusual circumstances into fireplaces and the like. This happens because a spirit person visiting a former residence does not recognize any changes that have been made to the building – they perceive their former home or workplace as it was when they inhabited the mortal world. So where there was once a doorway, a door will still exist for them and they will continue to use it, thus giving the appearance of disappearing through a wall.

  There are also earthbound spirits, i.e. spirits of people who have not moved on from this physical world, and the spirits of people who return in visitation to their old homes or places of work. If they wish, they may allow you to glimpse them. This may manifest itself in a number of ways. You may catch a slight movement out of the corner of your eye as you move around a place, you may see a shadow moving quickly from one part of a room to another or you may see spirit lights – bright lights flashing for a brief moment. All are signs that you are not alone.

  The first thing to remember when conducting an investigation is that there are many ways in which the residents of that world beyond make their presence known to us. They may cause items to move, they may make all kinds of noises, they may brush past you or draw close to you, causing the atmosphere to chill considerably. What the investigator then has to do is confirm whether in fact there is spirit activity around or whether there is a logical and more worldly explanation for the movement of objects, the noises or the drop (or in some cases rise) in temperature. The use of a thermometer – and I would recommend the digital variety – will enable you to pinpoint temperature changes to within a degree.

  Always make sure that when a noticeable temperature drop takes place you look for open windows or doors, open fireplaces or even loosely fitted window panes. All too often a draught may give rise to much excitement, only for that excitement to be dampened by the discovery that somebody has forgotten to close a door. If, after ensuring that all possible logical explanations have been dismissed, draughts are still felt moving around a room, it is more than likely that there is spirit presence there.

  Parapsychologists use electromagnetic field meters to measure fluctuations in energy in an attempt to establish whether in fact there are paranormal events taking place, but I have found that EMF meters are not always capable of delivering an accurate indication of spirit presence.

  The source of noises must also be examined before they can be attributed to a ghostly presence. Ensure that nobody is moving around or speaking in an adjoining room. Check to see that the noises are not emanating from the exterior of the building, i.e. cars, animals or passers-by.

  Further interest can be added to an investigation by the use of audio recording equipment. Examples of electronic voice phenomenon have been widely reported in the press and you just may be fortunate enough to capture the voices of spirit entities on tape.

  Another ‘must have’ on an investigation is camera equipment. A video recording of your experiences is a marvellous addition to your archives, but at the very least a camera of sorts should be taken along. This may enable you to capture different examples of phenomena such as orbs or traces of ectoplasm. It matters not whether the camera is of the digital or flash variety. Point it into the darkest recesses of a room at night and very often you will find that you have managed to photograph some type of paranormal phenomena.

  If you are intending to hold a séance at the location it may be a good idea to place a lighted candle in the centre of the table. The flickering of the flame could indicate the movement through the atmosphere of a spirit being, but please do be careful and do not leave the candle unattended. Most importantly when holding a séance, do ask for protection from your guides and door-keepers in the world of spirit. Ask them to guard you and ensure that only the highest and the best spirit connection is made. After completing a séance, it is also important to close the circle down by sending whichever spirit people chose to call back to the light.

  Apart from the above, the only other item which you have to take along to an investigation is your common sense. Do make sure that you respect the property of others. Do take along torches and spare batteries if you are visiting a location where there is no electricity connected and do wear suitable clothing and footwear.

  With Haunted Britain and Irel
and guiding your footsteps around haunted locations in these islands you will have many, many hours of enjoyment to look forward to.

  Good luck!

  things you should

  know before you start

  What Is a Ghost?

  The word ‘ghost’ conjures up the image of a wispy wraithlike figure floating along the corridors of ancient buildings, lonely derelict monasteries or sites where historical events have taken place. In fact it is a generic word used to encompass paranormal sightings whenever they may occur. Ghosts can be ladies or gentlemen. They can be headless horsemen, tramps and crones or sprightly children. They can be dressed in modern garb. They are varied and innumerable and appear from all stages of the history of our world.

  But what are ghosts? Simply, they are memories! Photographs in time! They are the result of the energy left in the fabric of a place or a building by the people who have lived, worked and died there. Today we are all imbuing the fabric of our homes and workplaces with our residual energies. In time to come mediums of the future will be picking up these energies and relating details of our lives to the people who are interested enough to listen. It will be possible for the actions of today to be picked up mediumistically by the sensitives of the future. Our daily lives leave an unseen and unwritten record in the fabric of the buildings we inhabit.

  It follows of course that the more emotional the events in people’s lives are, the stronger the energy they leave behind. A sensitive may pick up on the mundane day-to-day items but should something of great importance occur, whether it be great happiness or deep sadness, then the energies will be so much stronger and they will more readily tune into those energies.

  This is rather well demonstrated by anniversary ghosts – those apparitions that appear at the same time on the same date in any given year. Usually they recall a tragic and untimely loss of life. Rarely do anniversary ghosts recall memories of great joy.

  What Is a Spirit?

  A spirit is a soul. Our spirit is the part of us that lives on for ever and is eternal. Once we have shed the physical garb and passed on through what is termed ‘death’, we progress into the world beyond, returning to the home from whence we came. Spirit people are as alive as you and I. They are merely people who live on a faster vibration as they are not weighed down by either the physical body or the cares that plague us during our lifetime here on Earth.

  It is the spirit people with whom a medium such as I connects through either clairvoyance (clear seeing) or clairaudience (clear hearing). As well as communicating directly with a medium, spirit people may also choose to communicate through that medium’s spirit guide, who will then act as an intermediary, passing on messages from the people in the world beyond to their loved ones who still live in this world.

  You may have heard the term ‘crises ghosts’. These are not in fact ghosts but a phenomenon that occurs when at the emotionally charged moment of death the spirit projects itself into the consciousness of the person or persons who were closest to it during its lifetime here on Earth. There have been many documented occasions when people have seen a member of their family appear before them, only for them to disappear just as quickly. They have later learned of the passing to spirit of that loved one at the precise moment of their experience.

  The people in the spirit world are not burdened with timetables and do not have to cope with the rigors of travel. They can be where they want when they want. They can drop into their old home to see how their family are doing or can travel to any part of the world they choose to. Just because you go on holiday or move to another part of the globe it does not mean that your family in spirit do not travel with you if they wish to. The only difference is that they don’t have to find the price of a ticket!

  When a medium takes part in a paranormal investigation they will, through their sensitivity to the spirit world, pick up the presence of a spirit person, but it is not beyond the realms of possibility for anyone to see a spirit if that spirit person wishes them to do so. The people from the spirit world move on a much faster vibration than we do, but by slowing down they can become visible to us all. I liken it to watching the propeller of an aeroplane. When it is static or slow moving it is clear to everyone that what is there is a very solid piece of metal. Once the engine gains momentum, the propeller vanishes from sight and all we see is a blur. We know that the propeller is there, but we just can’t see it. So it is with the spirit world. Spirits only become visible to us when they choose to slow down their vibrations.

  Psychic Breezes

  During paranormal investigations the participants may become aware of areas of cool moving air in certain rooms. I call these ‘psychic breezes’ and they are caused by the movement of a spirit person around that particular room.

  If a séance is held in a room where paranormal activity is recorded to have taken place, it is not unusual for the sitters to experience a feeling of coldness passing over their knees and hands as they sit generating energy in order to attract spirit presence.

  In extreme cases, if an investigator is walking around an area which also contains a spirit presence, that investigator may well experience feelings of dizziness and slight nausea, or even an overwhelming flood of emotion, as they walk through the energy field of that spirit presence.

  Cold Spots and Hot Spots

  These two terms are commonly heard during paranormal investigations, but what do they mean? I know that parapsychologists have their own interpretation, but how they arrive at their explanations I really don’t know, as they certainly don’t communicate with the spirit world and indeed, in some cases, deny its very existence.

  From my understanding of what I have been told by my spirit guide Sam, a cold spot is a portal or vortex, a spiritual doorway which facilitates the entry and exit of visiting spirit people into and out of our earthly atmosphere. These cold spots do not move but remain in the same area of a building. They are not to be confused with the coolness of psychic breezes, which come and go with the movement of a spirit entity.

  Hot spots are the energy of a grounded spirit, i.e. a spirit person who has chosen for whatever reason to remain close to our earthly atmosphere. These spirit people remain in the surroundings that were familiar to them in their earthly life. Unlike cold spots, which remain static, hot spots move from place to place with the movement of that spirit person. The heat is caused by the energy of the grounded spirit.

  ENGLAND

  Eastern England

  Blisworth Tunnel, Northamptonshire

  The Caxton Gibbet, Cambridgeshire

  Dunwich Heath, Suffolk

  Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk

  Hamilton Stud Lane and Newmarket Racecourse,

  Suffolk

  Happisburgh, Norfolk

  The Lantern Man at Thurlton, Norfolk

  The Battle of Naseby Battlefield, Northamptonshire

  The Norfolk Broads

  The Old Ferry Boat Inn, Cambridgeshire

  The Old Hall Inn, Norfolk

  Oliver Cromwell’s House at Ely, Cambridgeshire

  The St Anne’s Castle, Essex

  The Triangular Lodge at Rushton, Northamptonshire

  The White Hart Hotel, Lincoln

  Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire

  The World’s End, Northamptonshire

  Eastern England may not have such dramatic scenery as some parts of Britain do, but it possesses its own distinctive beauty, captured by the Suffolk painter John Constable. The region includes the famous university town of Cambridge, the historic cathedral cities of Lincoln, Norwich and Ely, North Sea coastal resorts such as Skegness and Great Yarmouth, and the picturesque waterways of the Norfolk Broads.

  The eastern area known as East Anglia, which contains the reclaimed marshland of the Fens, is known for its flatness and ‘big skies’, and there is surely something particularly eerie about this largely featureless landscape where the horizon seems to stretch to infinity and sounds echo from miles away. This haunting atmosphere is captured perf
ectly by the Victorian ghost-story writer M. R. James (see page 24), a Suffolk man, who used his archaeological knowledge to evoke the region’s legends and myths – you may be surprised at how many supernatural secrets from the Dark Ages lurk beneath the bogs and quicksands of the Fenland.

  Blisworth Tunnel

  Blisworth Tunnel, on the Grand Union canal near Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire, is one of the longest in Britain – 3,076 yards (2.81 km) long and broad enough for two narrowboats to pass. When construction began on the Grand Junction canal, as it was then known, in 1793, the tunnel was a major feat of engineering. There were problems with alignment, but teams of navvies worked with picks and shovels for three years until they hit quicksand and the tunnel collapsed, killing 14 men.

  The rest of the canal opened in 1800 and a road and tramway were built over Blisworth Hill to ‘tranship’ cargo from boats at either end of the collapsed tunnel. A new route was found and the tunnel finally opened on 25 March 1805, the last part of the Grand Junction canal to be completed.

  The canal quickly became one of the main forms of transportation for goods from the Midlands to London, but nowadays is used mainly for pleasure cruises. However, its tragic past still lingers on. People travelling through Blisworth Tunnel have been confused by lights and a fork in the waterway, but in fact the tunnel runs straight through the hill. What people have seen is the flicker of candlelight at the spot where the first tunnel would have intersected with the main canal tunnel. The ghostly navvies are working there still…