Haunted Britain and Ireland: Over 100 of the Scariest Places to Visit in the UK and Ireland. Derek Acorah
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Park House, Jersey Road, Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 4RB; Tel:020 8232 5050 (visitor services), (01494) 755566 (info line); Fax:020 8232 5080; Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Red Lion Square
Red Lion Square, in the West End, is said to be haunted by three famous parliamentarians: Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton. They were all involved in sentencing King Charles I to death at the end of the Civil War. Bradshaw was president of the trial and was afterwards appointed Permanent President of the Council of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster by Cromwell. Cromwell himself became Lord Protector and his son-in-law Henry Ireton was appointed Lord Deputy.
After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, a court was appointed to try those regicides who were still alive. Ten were found guilty and were sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. Ireton had died in 1651, Cromwell in 1658 and Bradshaw in 1659, but they were all posthumously tried for high treason, found guilty and also sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. In January 1661 their corpses were exhumed from Westminster Abbey, dragged to the gallows at Tyburn, hung in chains and decapitated. The decomposing heads were then displayed on poles outside Westminster Hall, while the rest of their remains were thrown into a pit in a field. This has since become Red Lion Square and the ghostly parliamentarians have been seen walking across it, deep in conversation.
See also Oliver Cromwell’s House at Ely, page 41.
Red Lion Square, London WCIR
DEREK’S TIP
Don’t rush things. Patience is required, as spirit people are not performers who just turn on and turn off, appearing on demand. If they are prepared to make themselves known, they will do it in their own good time. Always remember to thank them for their efforts.
Barrock Fell, Cumbria
The Black Swan, York
The Civic Theatre, Darlington
Clifford’s Tower, York
The Coach and Horses Hotel, Chester
Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland
East Riddlesden Hall, Yorkshire
Kirkstone Pass Inn, Cumbria
Marston Moor Battlefield, Yorkshire
The National Railway Museum, York
The Octagon Theatre, Bolton
The Old Original, Oldham
Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire
The Prospect Shopping Centre, Hull
The Shakespeare Public House, Manchester
The Snickleway Inn, York
Tynemouth Priory and Castle, Tyne and Wear
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle upon Tyne
Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire
Winter’s Gibbet, Northumberland
Ye Olde Black Boy, Hull
Ye Olde Man and Scythe Inn, Bolton
I am a northern lad, so how could I not love northern England? I was born in Liverpool in the north-west and that city itself abounds with stories of hauntings and ghostly sightings. I have conducted one or two investigations in Liverpool around the Rodney Street area (as documented in The Psychic Adventures of Derek Acorah) and I can guarantee that anybody who is looking to visit this city on a ghost-hunting expedition will not be disappointed.
Of course there are many other towns and cities in the north of England where a plethora of ghosts walk. Travel north following the M6 to the ancient town of Lancaster with its castle and history of the Lancashire Witches, then go to the Lake District and beyond to Carlisle. Turn right and follow Hadrian’s Wall through Northumberland. How can anybody who is looking for a paranormal experience be short of locations to investigate? But of course my heart will always belong to Liverpool and its haunted history.
Barrock Fell
Barrock Fell, in Cummersdale, to the south of Carlisle, was occupied by the Romans in the late fourth century. They built a small fort and signal station there, possibly to guard the important road to the south.
The fell is not haunted by Romans, however, but by a notorious highwayman, John Whitfield of Cotehill, who terrorized the neighbourhood in the mid-eighteenth century. Finally, in 1768, a young boy witnessed him shooting a man called William Cockburn on the road near Armithwaite and he was caught, tried and sentenced to be gibbeted on Barrock Fell. Hanging in his iron cage and starving to death, he cried out in agony for several days until a mail coachman passing by finally put him out of his misery by shooting him. Now it is said that his ghost can still be heard crying out in torment.
Barrock Fell, Cummersdale, Carlisle, Cumbria
The Black Swan
The Black Swan is one of York’s most traditional pubs. It has a medieval timber-framed exterior and a classical seventeenth-century interior. It was originally built in 1417 and for many years was the home of the Bowes family. William Bowes was Lord Mayor of York in 1417 and 1428, and Sir Martin Bowes became jeweller to Queen Elizabeth I and the Lord Mayor of London. There may have been a secret side to this eminent family, for there is evidence of a secret passage leading from the house to St Cuthbert’s church and of a secret room, which may have been used for cock fighting. The first record of the house being used as a pub was in 1763.
Today the Black Swan offers pub lunches, live folk music and two en-suite
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