Most Haunted The Tolbooth, Aberdeen

Posted by admin as 13: Season Thirteen

The Tolbooth in Aberdeen, Scotland is a 17th century former jail which is now operated as a museum. It was built between 1616 and 1629 and is attached to Aberdeen Sheriff Court on the city centre’s Union Street.

The museum contains exhibits of prison cells and various police and law and order related items.

Its most famous prisoner was the 17th century ‘Fittie Witch’ Janet Walker. It also housed over 50 Jacobite prisoners after the Battle of Culloden

The building is claimed to be one of the most haunted buildings in Aberdeen and has been subject to many investigations

First Broadcast: 1st December 2009

Most Haunted Kelvedon Nuclear Bunker

Posted by admin as 13: Season Thirteen

The Bunker had three main lives. Initially as an RAF ROTOR Station and latterly a Regional Government Headquarters, with a brief period in the 1960’s as a civil defence centre. There were also spare bunk beds in the tunnel, to help accommodate some of the hundreds of civilian and military personnel that would be stationed here in time of nuclear attack. The bunker was built on land requisitioned from the local farmer J.A.Parrish.

Paradoxically as the heat of the Cold War died down, the bunker and it’s ancillary systems were no longer required by the Government, and were costing up to 3 million pounds a year to keep on standby. Upon decommissioning in 1992 the bunker was bought back from the government by the Parrish family, at a closed bid public auction, and hence is now privately owned.

First Broadcast: 24th November 2009

Most Haunted Inveraray Castle

Posted by admin as 13: Season Thirteen

History of Inverary Castle

The original Inverary Castle was built as a stronghold for the Campbell clan in the 15th century by Colin Campbell who was the 1st Earl of Argyll but it was burnt down by the Marquis of Montrose in 1644. The third Duke of Argyll build the Castle as we know it now in 1744. Early design drawings begin in 1720 and the first sketch was by Sir John Vanburgh who also designed Castle Howard and Blenheim Castle. He died in 1726 and his designs were developed further by Roger Morris. The original architect was William Adam, an esteemed Scottish architect at the time. It is an early example of the Scottish Baronial style of Castle with turrets and corner towers. The nearby town of Inverary was developed in the same era.

The architects John and Robert Adam remodelled the Castle in the 19th century for the 5th Duke of Argyll and then again after a fire in 1877 which had destroyed much of the upper floors. They were the sons of the original architect of Inverary Castle. An Armoury Hall was built and external conical caps added to the corner towers.

Another fire occurred in 1975 and a major restoration took place in the 1990s by the 12th Duke of Argyll.

Famous visitors to Inverary Castle include King James V in 1533 and Mary Queen of Scots in 1562.

In 1890 Inverary Castle was the first residence in Scotland to install electricity.

The Phantom Harpist

The first of the Inverary Castle ghosts is the phantom harpist ghost. The Duke of Argyll was driven from his Castle in the year 1644 by the Marquis of Montrose. But the Duke’s harpist was left behind. Some sources say the harpist was left behind as punishment for looking through the keyhole of the Lady of the castle. The Marquis of Montrose found the harpist and ordered him to be executed by hanging. Since his death the harpist has been seen roaming Inverary castle, playing his harp and dressed in the Campbell tartan.

Others say that the harpist was killed during the siege at Inverary Castle.

Whatever the true origins for the reasons for his haunting the castle he is known locally as the Harper of Inverary. He is a friendly ghost that appears more often to women and is rarely seen by men. His music can often be heard in various parts of Inverary Castle, especially the Library.

Ghost Battle

The second of the Inverary Castle ghosts involve a major haunting of the sight of a ghost battle. It was first seen by Sir William Bart, a Physician, on the 10 July 1758. He was walking the grounds of Inverary Castle with two other men (a friend and a servant) and all three witnessed the hauntings. It was also witnessed by two ladies at a later date. All narrate the story of looking to the sky to see a ghost battle taking place between Highland and French soldiers. The Highlanders were retreating after unsuccessfully attacking a French held fort and had to leave many dead comrades behind.

Weeks later the news came from abroad that a Highland Regiment from a British force of 15,000 men had lost 1994 men, of which 300 were Highland soldiers of the Black Watch Regiment, whilst attacking the French held fort of Ticonderoga in Canada.

Ghost Ship Loch Fyne

A ghost ship has been seen on nearby Loch Fyne. It is a ghostly galley with three men onboard and looks like the ship that is pictured on the Campbells’ coat of arms. Witnesses have seen it move up Loch Fyne and onto the shores and land and then disappearing into the land.

When the ghost ship of Loch Fyne is seen it is said to foretell the death of the clan Campbell Chief. It is thought that the ghost ship goes onto land to claim the life of the Chieftain. One Chieftain in the 18th century was said to have drunk poison after seeing the ghost ship come onto Loch Fynne.

Female Ghost

There have been sightings of a female ghost haunting Inverary Castle. This female ghost is thought to have been killed by a Jacobite soldier.

First Broadcast: 17th November 2009

Most Haunted Gaumont Cinema, Liverpool

Posted by admin as 13: Season Thirteen

The Gaumont Cinema by Toxteth – more commonly known as Dingle’s Gaumont Cinema – is situated in a very interested spot.  It has been observed that the haunted theatre’s position on a map of Liverpool forms a triangle if plotted alongside the nearby Turner Memorial Home and the impressive Ancient Chapel of Toxteth.

The odd shape of the cinema is simply due to the curve of the roads the building stands beside. It was built in 1937 to house Britain’s first Gaumont projectomatic system. This is a cinema system that automatically changed film reels and controlled the lights. The issue of light control is interesting as some of the reported hauntings in the old building have featured the lights.

The art deco building was built to replace the Dingle Picturedrome. After the Gaumont theatre was decommissioned it was turned into a bingo hall.

Hauntings at Toxteth Gaumont Cinema

There have been a number of ghost sightings at the cinema; ranging from strange lights to shadowy figures.

It is rumoured that a bingo player lost her life while playing the game – her heart giving out to the drama. One of the popular stories suggests that she still lingers on in the hall trying to claim her winners. Another local story speaks of a suicide; a man who killed himself behind the cinema screen.

 First Broadcast: 10th November 2009

Most Haunted Layer Marney Tower

Posted by admin as 13: Season Thirteen

Constructed in the first half of Henry VIII’s reign, Layer Marney Tower is in many ways the apotheosis of the Tudor Gatehouse. The building is principally the creation of Henry 1st Lord Marney, who died in 1523, and his son John, who continued the building work but died just two years later, leaving no male heirs to continue the family line or the construction. What was completed was the main range measuring some three hundred feet long, the principal gatehouse that is about eighty feet tall, an array of outbuildings, and a new church.

The buildings suffered considerable damage from the Great English Earthquake of 1884, and a subsequent report in The Builder magazine described the state of the house as such that ‘the outlay needed to restore the towers to anything like a sound and habitable condition would be so large that the chance of the work ever being done appears remote indeed’. Fortunately the repairs were begun, by brother and sister Alfred and Kezia Peache, who re-floored and re-roofed the gatehouse, as well as creating the garden to the south of the Tower.

The next owner was Walter de Zoete who carried on and expanded the work, with a team of 13 domestic and 16 outside staff. He enlarged the gardens, built a folly known as the Tea House (converted to a self catering holiday cottage in 1999), and converted the stables into a Long Gallery where he housed his collection of furniture, paintings and objets d’arts. As a consequence of all this work it would be fair to say that the interior owes more to the Edwardian aesthetic of Walter de Zoete than to the Marneys.

Walter de Zoete lost money in the Japanese stock market crash, and sold the house to a Dr and Mrs Campbell. The house came to the present owners, the Charringtons, in 1959. Gerald and Susan Charrington were married in Layer Marney church in 1957; two years later Mrs Campbell’s executors put the house up for sale and the Charringtons purchased it. It has been occupied by the Charrington family ever since.
One of the rooms in the tower is said to be haunted. Workmen have heard doors being slammed, but the only door is rusted shut. Not only that, but people have also seen a cloaked figure outside this very door.

First Broadcast: 3rd November 2009

Most Haunted Series 10 On DVD

Posted by admin as 10: Season Ten, Most Haunted DVD

MOST HAUNTED is the television series about the haunted houses of England, where Yvette Fielding, Karl Beattie, paranormal investigator Ciaran O’Keefe and the rest of the team come to visit, and sometimes stay overnight, running scientific tests and experiments in the hope of uncovering and proving the existence of supernatural activity. Contains every episode of the tenth series.

Most Haunted Series 11 On DVD

Posted by admin as 11: Season Eleven, Most Haunted DVD

MOST HAUNTED is the television series about the haunted houses of England, where Yvette Fielding, Karl Beattie, paranormal investigator Ciaran O’Keefe and the rest of the team come to visit, and sometimes stay overnight, running scientific tests and experiments in the hope of uncovering and proving the existence of supernatural activity. Contains every episode of the eleventh series.

Most Haunted Inveraray Gaol, Inveraray, Argyll and Bute

Posted by admin as 13: Season Thirteen

The Inveraray Gaol in Inveraray, Argyll and Bute, Scotland is known as a living 19th-century prison.

Designed by James Gillespie Graham (1776–1855) in 1813 after original plans by Robert Reid in 1807. The original plans had called for a courthouse and three prisons, one for males, one for females and one for debtors. The ground obtained was sufficient for such an ambitious plan, but the finance was not and the Prison Commissioners had to be content with only one prison.

Both the courthouse and prisons opened in 1820. The courtroom, on the first floor, has a semicircle of large windows giving a magnificent view overlooking the prison yard and, beyond, across Loch Fyne.

The two-storied prison has three-foot-thick walls of massive rough hewn red stone and originally contained cells on both floors, eight in total. A third of the ground floor was occupied by a day-room which was lit, like the cells, by narrow, unglazed windows. The Prisons (Scotland) Act 1839 brought about many changes, including the separation of prisoners. A second prison was finally built on the spare ground, opening in the closing days of 1848. Designed by Thomas Brown of Edinburgh, the new prison consisted of twelve cells on three floors with an exercising gallery at the top. A pair of outdoor exercise yards were also built, separated from each other by a wall. Prisoners were not allowed to fraternize. The Separate System was designed to give them time to reflect upon their sins.

The Prisons (Scotland) Act 1877 heralded another major change in the administration of prisons. Local authorities would no longer have the responsibility of running and financing prisons; the Government was taking control. Large prisons were built in the center of population. Barlinnie in Glasgow opened in 1882 and small local prisons in the West of Scotland began to close. Inveraray would be the last. On 20 July 1889 readers of the Argyllshire Herald were informed that “the prison of Inveraray will be closed on 31st August”.

Despite changes to the prison system, the court was still sitting, continuing until 1954, with a little activity since then. On several occasions the premises have come near to being abandoned, especially when it was necessary to spend money on repairs. In the 1980s extensive restoration was undertaken by the Scottish Office, but then all plans fell through and the building lay empty. Finally, private enterprise came to the rescue and Inveraray Jail opened in May 1989. The courtroom was once more filled with the sound of the judge, lawyers and witnesses re-creating trials of the 19th century; the corridors of the prisons echoed with the measured tread of a warder’s heavy boots and prisoners paced their cell or mournfully gazed through barred windows.

First Broadcast: 2oth October 2009

Most Haunted Speke Hall, Liverpool

Posted by admin as 13: Season Thirteen

A rare Tudor manor house, in a most unusual setting, surrounded by fragrant gardens protected by a collar of woodland. Constructed by a devout Catholic family, keen to impress visitors with their home’s grandeur, in particular the Great Hall, this beautiful building has witnessed more than 400 years of turbulent history. Priests fleeing persecution in the 16th century were offered sanctuary, hiding in the secret priest’s hole.

People have heard the sound of children crying during the night. Haunted bedrooms and a room that hid illegal priests not to mention two apparitions.

First Broadcast: 13th October 2009

Most Haunted Plas Newydd

Posted by admin as 10: Season Ten

Plâs Newydd or Plas Newydd, located in Llanfairpwll, Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom, is the country seat of the Marquess of Anglesey. It is not to be confused with the house of the same name at Llangollen; the family’s other seat being at Beaudesert, Staffordshire.

The house is situated on the bank of the Menai Strait and has magnificent views of Snowdonia. The house dates to the 14th century and is the work of James Wyatt. The estate itself can be traced to the 15th century when it was owned by the Griffiths’, owners of a large estate in nearby Bangor. It also contains Rex Whistler’s largest painting and an exhibition of his work. The house was built in both the Classical and Gothic styles. At the end of the 19th century the 5th Marquess had the chapel turned into a theatre and plays put on regularly, often taking the lead role himself. At the house there is also a Military Museum which contains campaign relics of the 1st Marquess of Anglesey and the Battle of Waterloo. For a short period of time after the Second World War part of the house was used as a training school for the Royal Navy.

The house has been owned by the National Trust since 1976. Modern additions arising from this include a tearoom and a second hand bookshop as well as historical cruises along the Straits, running from the house. The 7th Marquess of Anglesey still retains rooms at the house. Lady Rose McLaren grew up at the house along with the 7th Marquess – her brother.

Source: Wikipedia

First Broadcast : 29th April 2008