Reading time: 4 minutes
According to historian Richard Felix, Croxteth Hall in Liverpool has no reason to be haunted. But the Most Haunted team discovers it’s a dark and creepy place, writes JOANNA HAGUE
Episode title: Croxteth Hall
Place: Liverpool
Series: 4 Episode number: 4
Originally broadcast: April 13, 2004
Croxteth Hall, most haunting review
Croxteth Hall is a huge 210-bedroom mansion just five miles from the center of Liverpool. The Hall was owned by the Molyneux family until the last earl died and the town council took over the property. The beautiful Yvette stands in front of the mansion as she talks about the background of the hall.
Richard Felix explains that he has researched the history of the property and can’t find anything terrible that happened there.
A ghost of a housekeeper has been seen in the kitchen, and sounds of staff working have also been heard. Dark figures have been seen in the billiard room, where smoke can also be smelled by visitors and staff. In the breakfast room, motion detectors go off as if they have a mind of their own. A photo of an apparition has been captured in one of the upstairs hallways and shadow figures are regularly seen there.
Phil has set up his trigger objects and the baseline tests. When he discusses this with Yvette, he talks about the sounds that are heard and the figures that are seen. He said he didn’t like the feeling he got when he was in the attic/servants’ quarters. He also says that part of the activity is due to the fact that there is a lot of original furniture in the hall.
When Derek joins the investigation, they start walking around the breakfast room, where he notices the energy of a group of ladies. As he starts talking, explosions sound from upstairs. Phil goes to investigate. Derek says that one of the energies of the ladies comes from Charlotte, but as always, without a last name, she is untraceable. There was a lot of banging all the time he was talking and Phil couldn’t find a reason for it. They contact security on site to make sure he wasn’t walking around.
Derek picks up a woman and says the other ladies are trying to protect her because she’s upset. The others don’t want anything to come out. Derek then picks up the energy of a man, who he tells is named Philip, and he has a lady named Mary who is with him. Phil asks him for a surname and Derek says Molyneux, he then says that Philip is a good man.
For a change, the crew has invited paranormal artist Brian Shepard. They leave Brian in one of the rooms that has been damaged by fire. Brian picks up two ladies who come up to him and he starts drawing them. He then says that the girls disappeared and the energy was replaced by a man, William Creedy. When he communicated with William, he told Brian that he belonged in the hall. Some information appeared on the screen saying that there is a possibility that an illegitimate child may have inherited the hall.
Yvette takes Derek to one of the hallways that she finds particularly scary because it is so long and so dark. He picks up a male ghost in the area who he believes is moving quickly in that area. The name given to him is Augustas and he thinks the last name is the same. No details of this person have been attached to the hall. Matthew Smith, the local skeptic, joins this study for the first time.
The team returns to the breakfast room while Karl goes to the attic on his own. Almost immediately they can hear banging coming from upstairs, but when the camera pans to Karl, he isn’t moving. Karl says he feels fine upstairs, until there is a very loud bang because he thinks he has seen someone. The team downstairs rushes upstairs because they are afraid something has happened to Karl. He finds a piece of wood on the floor that he thinks is the source of the sound, but he cannot remember if he knocked it over.
The team decides to split up at this point to cover a larger portion of the venue. Yvette starts in the hallway where the photo was taken, the girls go to the kitchen and this is one of the funniest moments of this episode. The girls are clearly tense and Cath coughs, causing the other two to run from the kitchen in alarm. Their responses are invaluable.
When there is not much activity left in the hallway, Yvette and her team go to the basement. They start calling and there are some sounds that they think sound like footsteps. As they leave, a loud crash sounds behind them, prompting them to leave.
Richard decides to brave the kitchen alone, but never actually enters. He says he can hear noises, but he can’t find anyone around. He says he tries to be very brave, but he is terrified and even more so when he hears footsteps coming from upstairs. This allows him to make a quick exit and never actually enters. Matthew goes in next and does get through the door, but says he’s quite worried inside; nothing happens while he is there.
This time Stuart braves the attic and tries to hold a séance, while he speaks he hears one of the other doors closing and immediately goes to investigate. While he is in the hallway, there is a very loud bang that he cannot find a reason for, followed by banging from other rooms. With a few curse words he quickly leaves the attic, while he is on the stairs many doors are slammed, forcing him to hurry even more.
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