Notoriously haunted
Each issue we investigate the most ghostly buildings in Britain. Here we take a look at the National Justice Museum in Nottingham
Back in August 2018, Lauren Sulley was at work at the National Justice Museum in Nottingham when she heard a baby wailing.
But Lauren knew there wasn’t an infant anywhere in the building, a former court, prison and police station.
There could only be one explanation…
‘I was in the part of the museum that leads to what were once the women’s cells, where lots of babies would have been held with their mothers. That area of the museum is well known for being haunted,’ recalls Lauren.
‘The crying was really loud and it went on for quite a while. I stood there trying to work it out rationally, but I couldn’t. Finally, I decided it had to be the spirit of a baby. By then, I was so spooked I walked away.
‘I was a few weeks pregnant at the time and during the rest of my pregnancy I heard the spirit of the baby crying several times. But after I gave birth to my child, I never heard the crying again. I think the spirit must have been drawn to me because I was carrying a child.’
It isn’t the only other-worldly experience Lauren, the museum’s hospitality and events manager, has had while working in the building. In her very first week there, she was alone in a storeroom when her hair was pulled by unseen hands.
‘I had long hair tied back in a ponytail. Someone tugged it so hard that my head snapped back, but when I looked round there was no one there. It was really frightening,’ recalls Lauren.
Over the years, many people have described unnerving paranormal experiences at the museum. It is housed in the former Shire Hall and County Gaol and the neighbouring Edwardian police station.
People were both tried and imprisoned in the building – and in some cases it was where they were sentenced to death
and hanged from a scaffold on the front steps.
In August 1844, thousands of people turned up to watch the public execution of weaver William Saville for the murders of his wife and three children. When the crowd started to disperse after he was hanged, there was a crush and people were trampled. Twelve were killed at the scene and more died later from their injuries.
The death, misery and terror that the Grade II listed building has seen over the centuries appears to have left its mark, leading to regular and sometimes terrifying spooky activity.
Ghost hunters recount hot breath on the back of their necks, hearing footsteps and screams and feeling as if they’re being watched.
Richard Watson and his friend Carl Bennett were sceptics when they attended a paranormal investigation at the museum. That changed after several spooky goings-on, including a chilling encounter at the entrance to one of the tunnels beneath the building.
‘We were about to turn and head down the tunnel when in perfect sync we froze with fear,’ says Richard. ‘We both felt sick and were sure if we had taken another step, something bad was going to happen.’
Other intensely haunted areas of the museum are the two Victorian courtrooms, where people observe orbs, ghostly figures and shadows. One cleaning lady was adamant she’d been pushed on the shoulder while cleaning benches in one of the courtrooms. The incident was caught on CCTV cameras, which showed her falling over.
Like many members of museum staff, general manager Gary Holmes has had several spooky experiences, including some especially hair-raising ones in the court rooms.
‘Once a security officer and I were in one of the courtrooms, which was set up for an event, and I’d put a decanter of water and some glasses on a tray,’ says Gary. ‘We were chatting when suddenly we heard a sliding noise and saw the decanter moving by itself. We turned to each other in disbelief and said: “Did you see that?”
‘And one day during lockdown, while I was doing some work on a courtroom balcony, I heard footsteps and creaking, as if a presence was moving around. I knew I was on my own, but I still stopped work two or three times to make sure there wasn’t anyone there. It spooked me so much I had to get a radio and play some music so I couldn’t hear the noise!’
Things can also get creepy in the former prison cells. In the Condemned Cell, where prisoners facing the noose spent their last night on Earth, dark apparitions are spotted. Paranormal investigators’ spirit detecting equipment goes crazy in the pitch-black Dark Cell, where troublemakers were put. And once, contractors working in a cell were freaked out when the lift kept eerily moving between floors. But when the doors opened, no one got out.
‘It’s a fascinating building but it can also be very daunting and scary,’ adds Gary. ‘I’ve worked here for a long time so now it takes a lot to frighten me. But some visitors get spooked just walking through the door.’
You might just be one of them if you ever visit the National Justice Museum.