Guest writer and paranormal investigator LEE ROBERTS takes us through his top 10 haunted locations in Nottinghamshire.
I’ve worked as a Paranormal Investigator/Ghost Hunter for the past 21 years up and down the UK. Over the past 10 years I’ve focused on my local area and the hauntings that are on my doorstep and I can honestly say, Nottinghamshire has it all.
I believe over the past 10 years the actual locations and activity within them have changed and you may not agree with all my choices. This top 10 haunted locations Nottinghamshire is based on my personal experiences investigating the locations in and around Nottinghamshire and not on media reports or TV shows.
So here we go then, my top 10 haunted locations in Nottinghamshire!
10. The Galleries of Justice, Nottingham
I’m sure most will agree the Galleries of Justice deserves its spot in any Nottinghamshire poll of haunted properties. Maybe a few years ago it would have been up there in the top 3 and it was very popular back in 2003 when Most Haunted visited, but I find recently the activity has subsided.
We are getting less and less reports of paranormal activity coming out of this famous old building. I’ve investigated many times there and found it to be fairly flat, but it remains a fan favourite and very popular with Ghost Hunters every weekend.
9. Annesley Hall/Church Yard
Like the Galleries I think this location would have been in the top 3 around 10 years ago. It’s always been an enigma among Ghost Hunters as it is a very difficult location to access legally. Again visited by Most Haunted back in 2004 it was then the site for regular events with Historian Richard Felix.
In 2007 these events stopped and so did Ghost Hunts at the Hall. Ghost Hunters regularly get access to the Graveyard next to the hall and I have seen some great results from there and also people capturing shadowy figures in the old hall.
I myself have never really seen or heard anything there but I feel it deserves a place in the top 10 for now but slipping fast. Recently the hall has had bad fire damage so it is unsafe for explorers to just go and trespass. I think we will hear less and less of this great hall in future years.
8. Ye Old Salutation Inn, Nottingham
A Rock pub on Main Marion way known for great ale and rock music and hidden underneath is a small set of caves. This has been the starting point for local Ghost walks in Nottingham for many many years.
I investigated this location quite a lot and found it very intriguing. Even it is though pitch black down there, there seems to be an even darker presence roaming the caves. It’s hard to explain but you just know you are not alone down there and that whatever it is, it’s not nice. Many reports of things being thrown, people seeing figures walk through walls and even being attacked.
7. The Brew House Yard, Nottingham
Situated under Nottingham Castle, this old building stands where dwellers used to live outside of the castle walls feeding on the scraps. The location consists of a museum of a few old shops and children’s toys, as well as a cave system going into the castle.
It’s the new kid on the block when it comes to the Paranormal as I have only recently been allowed in there to investigate, but I was not let down. Lots of noises, evp’s and also got a child’s toy move on its own on command. Watch this space because this location is on the up.
6. Nottingham Castle
The Castle along with its Dungeons and caves together make a great venue, however it is not how you would expect a castle to be, more like a museum. But what the Castle lacks, David’s Dungeon and Mortimer’s Hole certainly make up for.
Reports of a strange shadowy figure has been seen walking down the stairs into the dungeon and many have also reported feeling sickness and weak in the cave.
5. Sherwood Forest
One of my favourites, Sherwood Forest is one of the darkest locations I have ever worked in, even though outside there are reports of witchcraft, child spirits and also ghosts of military personal on the military path.
All this as well as the major oaks make for a very interesting location. I think the unknown helps this location as you not only fear the spirits but also the wildlife. I think if you could conduct more controlled experiments here it would be in the top 3.
4. Newstead Abbey
The Black Monk, The While Lady, Lord Byron and even his dog are reported to haunted this location. It was also the location that started it all off for me when I was 6 years of age.
Recently there have been reports of a strange figure on one of the staircases and while a team was there a table flew up and smashed on the roof with 10 witnesses. Was Lord Byron having one of his famous parties or is there something more sinister there?
3. Wollaton Hall
Wollaton Hall is famous for so many reasons, it was the backdrop for Batman The Dark Knight Rises in 2011 and some cast and crew actually reported seeing a grey lady standing in a window which would have been Room 19, known as the most haunted room in the building.
There have been reports of a ghostly girl being pushed down some stairs and also more recently a guest on an event was assaulted by an invisible ghoul that punched him in the nose, followed by scratches on the arm of a second guest. The Middleton family built the Hall in 1518, and it would appear they still around not happy so many visitors are visiting the famous hall.
2. Clifton Hall
Probably the most famous case I have worked on and up until a few years ago I would say this was easily number 1. An old School house and living quarters Clifton Hall was purchased by the Rashid Family in 2006.
The plan was to renovate the hall into a wedding venue, while Anwar Rashid, the head of the family moved his wife and children in to separate quarters, however, their plan quickly turned to a nightmare. Reports of blood spots being left on their babies head, a room smothered in wasps, only for seconds later for it to be clear and strand figures appearing on stairways. It was described by Mr Rashid as a scene from ‘The Others’ and it as the UK’s Amityville Horror house.
I spent a year investigating the strange happenings and although many many things happened I could not get to the source of the problem. The Rashids eventually moved out and left the keys to the bank, it was the most expensive repossession in Europe at that time. A new family now live in the hall and have reported no fresh activity since 2012.
1. The Village Mansfield
This venue never fails to amaze me, I stumbled across it back in 2014 as it was an old nightclub I used to go to. I had heard that it had been purchased after it had been abandoned since 2001.
I started running events there and quickly realised that we need to let others in to experience it. Shadows, pianos playing on their own, ghostly attacks, monk spectres and 12 full apparitions reported since November 2015. The building is built over the river Maun, it was a malt house initially in 1873 till 1950’s when the council purchased it. The nightclub “The Village” opened in 1973 until 2001, hosting over 3,500 people per night. Activity wise this location has it all – huge location that offers space, activity and the unknown.
So many I didn’t mention in Nottinghamshire, a great county full of history and mystery.
