My idea of looking of places that have a bad history or even a history of haunting, made me begin to serch with a basic search local historical places. On the councils website ive found a few interesting locations i can go to photograph and some of the history of the places.
I wanted to kick start this project at last so locations near by are the best place to start.
The locations on the website are:
Belgrave Hall and gardens
Belgrave Hall is often reported as one of the most haunted places in leicester. Its history is swamped in accounts of ghosts and most famously ghosts caught on camera there.
The 'Victorian Lady' has often been heard walking around the upstairs of Belgrave Hall and on occasions, fleeting glimpses of her have been witnessed by staff on duty. On occasions, the aroma of cooking has been smelt within the Hall when nothing has been cooked. The smells are usually of fresh bread, stewed fruit and gingerbread. In 1998, staff w by the main door when one of the group suddenly went extremely pale. He said that while they were talking, out of the corner of his eye he saw a women in a "terracotta coloured Victorian style dress" walking down the stairs and turn into one of the adjoining rooms. When he looked at her full on, she disappeared. Another member of staff witnessed the same figure on the first floor landing. Footsteps are often heard on the first floor landing, doors close of there own accord and room alarms are mysteriously activated when no one is there. In December 1998, luminous figures, one believed to be wearing a long flowing dress complete with bustle, were captured on film outside the hall. The figures appeared to be surrounded by a halo of light. The image was recorded on the halls security camera at about 5.00 a.m. and was first spotted by a museum assistant who was reviewing the overnight video. Other members of staff who studied the tape confirmed that the images appear to be that of two figures in Victorian style clothing. The story was made even more bizarre when it was discovered that the camera, which records an image every second, froze for five seconds while the image appeared. It also appears that the images come through the courtyard wall. Experts confirmed that the figures 'were not human' due to the luminous effect they made on the film - it is believed that the figures were producing heat and energy similar to that given off by a fluorescent light. A suggested cause for the camera to stop filming was sudden surge of electricity in the atmosphere. A mysterious ball of mist or fog was also seen swirling over the garden throughout the experience. The curator of the museum admitted that the video had him and his staff baffled. "The images appear from nowhere. "They make no entrance nor exit - they just appear and disappear". It is thought that the ghost is that of Charlotte Ellis, who lived at the Hall with her seven sisters after John Ellis brought the property in 1845.Many explanations have been given regarding the two figures including a leaf, a moth, people dressed in luminous clothing and…a ghost. As there isn’t a definite answer, staff at the museum let visitors reach their own conclusions. Abbey Pumping station
Abbey Pumping Station is reputedly haunted by the ghost of an engineer who worked at the site in the early nineteenth century. He plunged to his death in 1890, falling over 50 ft from the top balcony of the pump house down into the depths of the engine room. Friends of the engineer commemorated the funeral with a cross and an inscription on the basement wall which bared his initials.Unexplained occurrences have happened at 'the pumper' over many years, mostly taking place around the engine house. strange noises have been heard on many occasions, usually late at night when the museum is about to be locked up, items have been moved around. Previous members of staff at the pumping station have, on many occasions, been too spooked to lock up.
The GuildHall
The Guildhall is reputedly Leicester's most haunted building – five ghosts have been reported in total. The most frequent visitor is the White Lady, a name given to the phenomenon though she is very rarely seen. The ghost makes her presence known by moving the heavy Tudor furniture around the library and by opening doors once they have been locked and bolted.On numerous occasions, staff and police have been called out in the evening to attend to burglar alarms which have been triggered by an unseen presence. The White Lady also has a soft spot for the large Bible which is situated on the main table within the library. Staff will often close the Bible in the evening only to find that in the morning it is back open in exactly the same place as the night before. No one has any knowledge to the identity of the ghost.the sound of heavy footsteps has often been heard crossing the main entrance to the constable’s cottage. This ghost is believed to be that of one of the officers who would have been based in the building during the Victorian era. Footsteps have also been heard in the roof space which, again, is believed to be associated with the Victorian police force. The officers slept in the roof space - the pegs for their uniforms can still be seen today. a medium visited the site and said that she could 'see' a cavalier type character in the Great Hall and a phantom dog in the courtyard, though no record of this phenomena has been recorded.
The Newarke Houses
The figure of a man dressed in an Elizabethan style costume has been seen at Newarke Houses. The figure appeared out of the wooden panelling in the Gimson Room and disappeared through an adjacent wall. A mysterious shadow, with a distinct human form, has also been seen in the area.On more than one occasion, staff have moved to one side to let a figure through only to realise that no one was there. A figure in a long, dark cloak has also been seen at the top of the main staircase walking towards the window. Once, when repairs were being made in the building, a postcard holder rotated on its own, throwing all of the cards out on the floor. Although the figure is mainly seen in the area of the Chantry House, its identity remains a mystery.
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