Smithills Hall, near Bolton in Greater Manchester, is one of the region’s most haunted houses. RICK HALL takes us on a tour of the spooky mansion…
Situated on a slope high above the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester, on the West Pennine Moors, is Smithills Hall. This ancient country manor has so much history that if someone told me it wasn’t haunted, I would be shocked.
Smithills Hall is a Grade I listed manor house, and a Scheduled Monument, making it forever untouchable.
The oldest parts of the Hall is centuries old and was constructed in 1322.
Early historical records show the Hall was in the possession of William Radcliffe. And he acquired it from the Knights Hospitaller, a militant order of warrior monks closely related to the Knights Templars.
The Radcliffe family held tightly on to their ancestral home until the 15th century when their line died out and the Hall passed to the Barton family, Who lived in the house for 200 years.
Smithills Hall passed through the hands of several owners and was even visited in 1855 by American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne who was the US consul in Liverpool at the time.
The house was turned into a museum in the 1960s and is home to a Mary Poppins-inspired tea house today.
The Haunting Of Smithills Hall
The haunting of this old manor house has become something of a legend in Greater Manchester.
So much so, that its multiple ghostly tales attracted the popular show, Most Haunted to its doors.
And they were not disappointed by any means. Smithills Hall is undoubtedly home to a number of ghosts.
The Green Room
During the reign of Mary Tudor, local farmer George Marsh was brought before Robert Barton and made to stand trial for the then unforgivable crime of being protestant.
In the Hall’s Green Room, Marsh was found guilty and burned at the stake. All that because he didn’t share the faith of the queen.
And this tragic event left an indelible stain on Smithills Hall in the form of George Marsh’s restless soul.
Visitors to Smithills Hall have reported seeing the scowling form of a man standing at the top of the stairs near the Green Room. The very room that destroyed the farmer’s life.
Many people have been deceived into believing he was an employee dressed in period clothing playing a part.
When they go to compliment management on the realism, they learn that no actors work at the Hall. And the man they saw was a ghost
The Praying Man
Chapels were a common feature in many old manor homes and castles and were used as a place for prayer and reflection.
No one has used the chapel at Smithills Hall for many years, and yet one person still does. A person from the other side of life.
The ghostly form of a man in intense prayer is regularly seen in the pews, his head lowered and he whispers unintelligible words.
Even before the Hall was open to the public the man was seen in the chapel.
When employees go to question the praying Man why he is there, they suddenly find themselves alone in the place of worship.
The Man In Black
No, the legendary musician Johnny Cash doesn’t put in an appearance at Smithills Hall but another phantom man in black does.
While the mysterious man in his jet black clothes and white, frizzy hair is seen throughout the Hall, he seems to prefer the Hall’s gift shop.
A number of employees have been shocked to see the man’s reflection in a mirror. When they turn to question him, he’s nowhere to be found.
The mysterious dark clothed figure is believed to be Colonel Ainsworth who resided at Smithills Hall in 1870.
The ghost is believed to be the colonel because he always wore black and had long, unkempt white hair.
If it is Colonel Ainsworth, he is of an intelligent nature as he has been known to interact with visitors and staff alike over the years.
The Garden
And lastly, visitors to the garden have heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps following closely as they walk the path.
When they turn to see who is following so close, they of course find they are indeed alone.
Smithills Hall, Bolton, Greater Manchester is a must visit destination for history and ghost enthusiasts alike.
If you’ve been to Smithills Hall, and experienced any paranormal activity, let us know in the comment section!
The very thing that brought me to this page is the fact that I saw something about 20 years ago inside the staff toilets which I cannot explain, and it was in broad daylight about mid-day. It couldn’t have been any more obvious!
I was going into the toilets and there was a man dressed like a monk (about 6 feet tall) with his hood up and a black gown which went right down to ground level, covering up his feet. I could only see a little of his face, it looked like a grey-coloured Roman nose. The figure was stood facing the wall at the urinals, sideways on as I looked at it. I stopped at the door and was staring in disbelief for about 5 seconds before I started to back off slowly. At this point my mind (as a non-believer) was trying to think of a rational explanation but the staff didn’t strike me as being practical jokers. Just as I was backing off behind the door, it spotted me out of the corner of its eyes and shot off at superhuman speed behind the cubicle door. At the same time the door slammed to because of the suction in the air, and the entire room and floor shook hard. Also I caught a glimpse of its cloak wrapping around the cubicle door as it turned the corner to enter it. It made a loud snapping sound.
I was feeling brave and desperate for the urinal myself, so I walked into the toilets straight afterwards to check where it had gone. I wanted to proove that what I saw was real or not before I regret not checking afterwards. There was nothing behind the cubicle door, nor anywhere for it to escape.
Anyway, I went into the staff room next door and told them about it, which I don’t think they wanted to know. They said the description I gave them fits with a ghost often seen here. There was another member of staff in the kitchen at the same time as I saw the figure who said he felt strange a couple of minutes ago, and as he told me I realized that the ghost was staring right at him through the wall. I think the staff no longer liked me after telling them my story but I just needed to get it out of my system and tell someone. After all it’s not every day you see something so close-up like that in broad daylight. I’m sure seeing something is very rare, let alone close-up in daylight. I was stood there for a few seconds before it moved anywere and I’m absolutely sure that I couldn’t have possibly imagined all that.
There was no Internet those days so it was a number of years before I was able to use google to research anything. This all happened one summer when I was in my early 20’s and I’m now 45. At the time I was on a work placement doing my degree in Conservation Biology at the University of Bolton (then called Bolton Institute).
Hope you find my true story interesting!