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The East Midlands is one of the most haunted regions in the UK. It is made up of the counties Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, most of Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire – which probably has the highest concentration of haunted places of all the English counties.
The region can claim the world’s first factory and has to this day the world’s oldest working factory and has a rich history of coal mining, as well as the production of textiles and clothing. For hundred of year, so many people have lived, died, laughed and cried in the East Midlands, that it’s no wonder many are said to return to haunt the area to this day.
A lot of the paranormal activity, like strange noises and dark shadowy figures, seem to emanate from the attic, also known as Annie’s room. She was the maid of one of the former residents who lived in the attic, which was used as the servants’ quarters. She’s been blamed for sightings of the dark, hazy female figure who has been seen in this area and for the house’s poltergeist activity.
The Old Grammar School is now a hair salon and was once Derby’s Heritage Centre, but it started its life in 1554 as a boys grammar school and is built on an old plague pit. One of the most common ghost sightings here is that of a little boy, he’s been seen upstairs in the dormitories and wears a leather waistcoat and has blond hair. It’s been claimed that he wanders around the dormitories and has been seen to walk through walls.
The Jorrocks, another old inn which was formerly known as Lafferty’s and before that, The George dates back to 1693 and has been the location of many disturbing paranormal occurrences. In 1994, a team of men working in the pub unearthed a human skull directly under the pub. Ever since the pub is said to have been haunted by poltergeist activity. Visitors have seen glasses slide off bars on their own and even smash in their hands. The bar is also said to be where the ghost of a Victorian lady roams, could the skull belong to the lady?
Originally an augustinian priory and later converted to a home following the dissolution of the monasteries, Newstead Abbey is said to be haunted by a monk who appears as if to foreshadow a bout of bad fortune. The former abbey is the ancestral home of Lord Byron. The ghost of the famous poet’s faithful pet dog has been seen wandering the house in search of his master. The grounds of the abbey are also said to be haunted by a White Lady.
The club closed in 2006 and became a Chinese restaurant, May Sum. The theatre is said to be haunted by two resident spooks, both are believed to be the spirits of two people who died in a fire in 1886. In recent years the restaurant’s owners have brought in a medium to try to free the ghosts from the building.
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Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem was built in 1189 and is said to be the oldest pub in England, although other inns would challenge this claim. It’s said the pub is haunted by strange knocks and bangs, and disembodied voices. The Old Trip is also home to an unusual antique chair, it’s said that any woman who sits upon it increases her chances of becoming pregnant. However there’s one object in the pub that you should avoid touching at all costs as the last three people to touch it are said to have become sick and died. The object in question is a model galleon. The small wooden ship is covered in dust as it’s claimed that those who have tried to clean it have died mysteriously. Could this cursed galleon be the result of the many prisoners who were once incarcerated in the pub’s cellars? The cellar was originally part of the castle and would have held up to 40 prisoners in appalling conditions at any one time.
An Elizabethan mansion built in 1588 that had the honour of doubling as the home of Bruce Wayne in the 2012 Batman movie, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. The mansion is now the home of Nottingham’s Natural History Museum. It’s also famously haunted by the ghost of Lady Jane Middleton, known as the White Lady. It’s said that she was paralysed in an accident and confined to her room where she eventually died. She’s been seen roaming the mansion and in the former of an unexplained glowing light coming from her form bedroom. Witnesses have also reported hearing ghostly laughs, feeling as if they’re being watched, and even been touched by unseen hands.
Various professional investigations have been conducted in the castle, including by Yvette Fielding and the ‘Most Haunted’ team, with phenomena being reported including unexplained noises, unexplained apparitions, people being pushed and things being moved.
The castle’s ghosts are said to include a maid and “a strong woman”, as well as two spirits known as The Grey Lady and The White Lady. The White Lady is said to be the ghost of Maria, wife of the 4th Earl – she’s been seen sitting in the windows of the castle, and walking the grounds with a white dog.
In 2017 the ghost hunter Tony Ferguson believes he caught an eerie dark figure carrying a lantern on camera. The video clips shows the figure hovering through the 1000-year-old caves beneath the historic city. This dark shadowy figure is said to have been seen many times in the caves. Other visitors to the caves have reported hearing the phantom echo of wartime bombs dropping above ground, a woman has been seen in Victorian clothing wandering the caves, and objects are said to move on their own.
In the staff flat above the pub, pungent smells have been witnessed. Above this on the top floor, there’s another flat which no one has braved to live in for years. The Retford Ghost Hunting team caught some of their best evidence in this part of the pub. During their investigation they heard strange voices through their ghost hunting devices, which seemed to be saying “I was told to hang myself” and “I want to die.”
There are hundreds of items on display, everything from a copy of the famous ‘Crying Boy’ painting and old framed family photographs, to genuine death masks – from the macabre practice of making likenesses of someone’s face following their death. One of the most prominent items in the collection is an eerie haunted wartime wheelchair, which featured on ITV’s ‘This Morning’ last year. The show’s presenter, Philip Schofield, was brave enough to sit in the chair, which is said to be haunted by the ghost of hundreds of wounded servicemen.
The museum also has a smaller and darker room, known as “the witch’s room”. This part of the museum houses anything with any remotely negative or evil story attached to it. There’s also a dedicated séance room, which is set up to resemble a Victorian parlour. The centrepiece is a large table draped in a black velvet cloth, where visitors can conduct séances.
Various paranormal teams have visited the centre since it opened, including Barri Ghai who’s perhaps best known for his appearance in the 2018 ghost hunting show, ‘Help! My House Is Haunted’.
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Staff at the castle have also reported sighting themselves, a security guard said he has seen unexplained lights, and another member of staff heard screaming when she was locking up for the night.
Now in ruins after two devastating fires, the decaying hall was famously investigated by the ‘Most Haunted’ team back in 2005. Yvette Fielding and Derek Acorah believe they made contact with two of the Grade II listed country house’s resident spooks named Elizabeth and William. The historic stately home on the edge of Sherwood Forest is said to be haunted by the mistress of a former owner who died during childbirth. She’s been reported in the form of a White Lady in the house and grounds. The house is also said to be haunted by the ghosts of long-dead children and their bereaved parents, as well as the spirit of a young serving girl who is said to have hanged herself in the stables.
Underneath the building is a large network of cellars, allegedly many people have witnessed dark, tall shadows here. Could they be the ghosts of the monks that used to reside here during the early-1900s during the First World War. One of the most commonly reported occurrences at the hall is reports of the ghost of children who have been seen and heard running and giggling as they play in the dead of night.
The 15th-century pub in the city of Nottingham is a very active paranormal hotspot with sightings of the ghosts of a highwayman, the spirit of a young girl called Rosie, and a disturbing entity said to be the spirit of a former landlord who took his own life at the inn. The pub sits on top of part of the caves beneath the city and these caverns are said to be haunted by a young child, the highwayman has also been spotted in the caves behaving confused and aggressively. One witness reported seeing the phantom highwayman run towards him as if about to attack, but luckily he vanished into thin air as he approached.
Since 2015 there have been no less that 12 reports of full apparitions sited in at The Village, the most famous being that of Mr. Merryweather, the former owner of the malt house. There’s also the ghost of a woman called Catherine who is said to roam the old building who is said to have died by falling down the well now under the building.
The land The Village is built on was once farmland where a barn stood, which had a secret tunnel to St. Peter’s church 500 yards away from the location. Monks at the church used the barn to hide in, until the barn was burnt to the ground with seven monks inside in the 1500s. These seven monks are also said to haunted the building to this day.
Other paranormal activity included a piano which is often heard being played by unseen hands, slamming doors and a strange ghostly mist that was witnessed in the building in 2016.
The castle grounds are said to be haunted. The most famous story is that of a soldier of the Knight’s Templar who was injured in battle and took refuge in the castle over night. The soldier died during the night, and ever since, his rather aggressive ghost has been seen wearing a dull metal helmet in the castle grounds outside the cottage. He’s also seen running through the ruin of the great hall.
The grounds are also said to be haunted by a spirit known as the Grey Lady, the name could be linked to the De Grey family who occupied the castle for centuries. It’s said she was a heavily pregnant French woman, and died following an accident while out riding her horse. She has since been seen gliding around the estate and the echoes of a French woman singing have been heard.
A 16th century, farmhouse known as Codnor Castle Cottage was built on the grounds of the Codnor Castle estate, it has its own history of murder, suicide and witchcraft. In the foreboding attic space there are several unusual markings, which are believed to have been created to ward off evil spirits.
The paranormal occurrences at cottage range from dark shadows, to poltergeist activity like doors slamming, furniture being moved across rooms, and glasses thrown. There have been countless reports of disembodied voices including singing, laughter, the voices of children, and blood-curdling screams.
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As well as the prison, the building housed court, and many executions took place on the steps of the building, making this the only location in the UK where you could be tried, sentenced and punished under the same roof.
Due to the huge amount of death, torment, anguish and terror, the old gaol is said to be very haunted. The paranormal activity at the gaol seems to most frequently occur in June and July, and again between October and December. It ranges from doors opening and closing by themselves, through to full-bodied apparitions.
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Further Reading
Dive into the world of the paranormal and unexplained with books by Higgypop creator and writer Steve Higgins.
The Ghost Lab: Paranormal Meets Science
A critical examination of ghost hunting tools and their scientific foundations.
The Killamarsh Poltergeist
The story of a family in Killamarsh experiencing strange and unexplained events in their home.
