Haunted Nottingham

Robin Hood may have been it's most famous son, but he's not all thats worth watching in Nottingham.
From the xploits of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, to tales of knoghts who passed through on their way to the crusades, Nottingham is a city steeped in legend. The castle once a medieval fortress and now a 17th century mansion, is built on a honeycomb of caves, harbouring secrets of royal affairs, hidey holes and dungeons.

Depths of Despair
Beneath Nottingham Castle runs a series of secret passageways. Amongst them is a cave known as Mortimers Hole.
Back in the 14th Century, Queen isabella, wife of King Edward II, held her illicit meetings with her lover Sir Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, here, right under the King's nose. the lovers raised an army against the king and murdered him, it's rumoured, by ramming a poker up his bottom.
Edwards II's son, Edward III had Mortimer hung, drawn and quartered, and Mortimer's presence still hangs around the entrance to Mortimer's hole, searching for his lost love Isabella.
The caves closed due to the number of sightings and tortured cries that have been heard coming from inside, but you can have a peek at the entrance.

Law Unto Itself
Recently voted the most haunted site in Britain, Nottingham's old law courts, the Galleries of Justice, are not for the faint hearted.
During the early 1990's, some people on a tour spotted a group of men in costume wandering down the stairs. Curious to find out what they were doing, they followed the men who were dressed as soldiers from the Civil War. When they reached the landing of the hanging corridor, the men took a sharp right, and instead of making their way to the exercise yard walked straight through a wall!
But the scariest part of the Galleries is the 'Night Cell'. In 1997, a woman visiting the attraction started to smell something like someone who hadn't washed. She then felt a strong hand grip her shoulder from behind. She turned around, but to her surprise so-one was there.

Phantom Friar
Newstead abbey, the home of the 19th century poet Lord Byron, has its fair share of ghosts. the abbey was once a priory, and even in Byron's day, the ghost of the Black Friar was considered to be a bad omen. Byron describes seeing the apparition on more than one occasion, claiming that the ghostly figure had glaring red eyes. But he's been very helpful to some people!
in the 1930's, the wife of the houses owner went into labour early. When the doctor arrived from nottingham some time later, he remarked that if it hadn't been for a kindly frier who had pointed the way, he'd have taken much longer to get there. the friar was shrouded in black, and when the doctor looked back the figure vanished into thin air. Byron himself has also been spotted lately here too.

On Manoeuvres
Over the yeras various staff at Ye olde Salutation Inn have reported hearing glasses clinking, and smashing for no apparent reason.
In 1998, a young woman on a ghost walk had a very strange experience at the pub. the previous night she'd had a dream in which she'd seen the ghost of a soldier step out of the wall of the cellar of the inn. The ghost had a malicious face, and on seeing her, made a beeline for her - and walked straight through her.
The following day on the ghost walk, the guide took the group down to the cellar and began to tell the tale of a dark spirit dressed as a soldier who would appear out of nowhere. the spirit would single out a victim and walk stright through him or her, just to give them a nasty shock. Needless to say the woman beat a hasty retreat from the pub.

Royal Haunts
bestwood Lodge was originally a love nest for King Charles II and his orange seller love Nell Gwyn, but is now a Best Western Hotel. Staff have reported hearing voices in the cellar, where bodies were reputedly found. And visitors regularly report a smell of oranges.

A Bad Trip
The quaint Trip To Jerusalem Inn is built into the rock beneath Nottingham Castle. Its name comes from the crusades - the Knoghts would stop for an ale on their way to the Holy land.
Landlords have said that after closing, the sounds of laughter can be heard as if the spirits of the crusaders have made their way back.
Then theres the sad tale of a young prostitute who lodged at the inn. She got involved with a visiting sea captain but didn't tell him of her true occupation. After the affair ended she found out she was pregnant. When the captain returned, he was horrified to learn of the true nature of the girl and ordered his sailors to 'deal with her'. The girl and baby hid in the cellar, but on hearing the men enter, the girl hid the baby in a hole in the wall, covered with a tapestry. No-one knows what happened to the girl, but a few weeks later the landlord was in the cellar when he thought he heard crying. he pulled back the tapestry and found the dead child.
In 2006, a story teller was telling this tale in the pub. The landlady's face went pale as she told how she and her staff had heard a baby's crying coming from the cellar on several occasions.

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