20 Most Haunted Places In Yorkshire

Yorkshire and the Humber is easily one of the most paranormally active regions in the UK and its haunted locations and ghost stories are world famous. There are few who don't know about the famous poltergeist house in Pontefract, known around the world as the "black monk house".

The region's important role in the rise of industry giving rise to many "dark satanic mills". With so much blood, sweat and tears in Yorkshire over the years, it's no surprise that the region has some of the most haunted places in the country.

This 17th century manor house, perched on a small plateau overlooking a bend in the River Aire, is said to be one of the most haunted properties in the area and even featured in series eight of the long-running ghost hunting show 'Most Haunted'. The hall's most common spook is that of a Grey Lady, who has been seen in one part of the hall so often that a bedroom has been named after her.

Temple Newsam is believed to be home to several ghosts. The Tudor-Jacobean house, which is now a museum, is said to be haunted by a Blue Lady. It's thought she is the spirit of Lady Mary Ingram, the granddaughter of Sir Arthur Ingram, a former owner of the property. Another of the estate's spooks is the ghost of Phoebe Gray, a maid who once served at the house until she was murdered by a servant called William Collinson, his spirit is also said to haunt the building.

When Temple Works was built in 1840 it held the record of being the biggest single room in the world, but it's also famous for its ghosts. There is said to be a phantom cat that haunts the undercroft, as well as the spirit of a former worker from the building's time as a factory, they are seen roaming around the old canteen building.

Now nothing more than ruins, the abbey dates back to the 12th century both the ground of the abbey and the museum which sits within the grounds is said to be haunted. The abbey's most famous ghost is that of a spirit called Mary, who's said to have witnessed her husband taking his own life.

The Abbey House museum feature a mock-up of a Victorian street, lined with shops from that era. The creepy shopfronts created plenty of dark corners for spooks to hide in. The museum is said to be haunted by the former abbott of the abbey. Visitors have reported seeing dark shadows and hearing disembodied voices, screams and footsteps. Some have even reported being grabbed by unseen hands.

While parts of the hospital are still in use, with 32 beds, much of the building is now abandoned but the original operating theatre tables still exist in the creepy basement. In its early days news of patients' conditions and even deaths were posted on the perimeter fence around the hospital as a way of keeping families informed.

The paranormal activity experienced here ranged from disembodied cries, voices, and screams, through to full ghostly apparitions. Many staff and patients have reported doors opened and closing on their own and heard footsteps on the upper floors.

A bus museum is far from the stereotypical haunted location, but the museum in Keighley has its fair share of ghost stories. The museum is packed full of old buses from every era, each one has its own history and story. The depot was formerly a foundry and it too has a very grim past with stories of suicide and accidental death.

One part of the museum which is said to be haunted is the spiral staircase which leads to the upper floor. People have reported hearing whispers and growls here and some have even said they've been pushed by an unknown force. The spook which haunts this particular location is thought to be the spirit of a night watchman who took is own life by throwing himself into a huge vat of molten metal.

Up on the second floor is an area where two old rusting furnaces stand. It's in one of these furnaces that a security guard is said to have fallen in and was killed by the intense heat. All that was found of the man were his legs and many believe his ghost wanders the building.

The Golden Fleece is said to be York's most haunted pub, and is said to be home to fifteen spirits including that of Lady Alice Peckett, the wife of a former mayor of York and also the owner of the inn.

Guests have reported seeing her walking around the building. She's said to move and can often be heard walking on the staircases in the dead of night.

Other ghosts in the property in a Canadian airman who fell to his death from one of the upper windows during World War II, a spirit known as One Eyed Jack, the ghost of a grumpy old man, and a young Victorian boy who was said to have been trampled to death by horses.

The Eden Camp Modern History Theme Museum is located on the former camp, which consists of 33 huts, part of a prison camp that was constructed in 1942 to house Italian prisoners. From 1944 the Italian prisoners were moved on and made way for the increasing numbers of captured and surrendering Germans who were held at the camp over the next four years.

After the last of the German prisoners were sent back to their defeated homeland, Eden Camp was used as an agricultural holiday camp and by the 1950s was being used as a storage facility, before becoming abandoned. In the mid-80s local business man, Stan Johnson, bought the derelict and overgrown site and went about turning it into a modern history theme museum, charting every aspect of WWII with each hut having a different theme from the rise of Hitler and the Germany Nazi party to its eventual destruction.

The museum stands as a monument to an emotive past and with so many people visiting, it wasn't long before tales of strange occurrences were being witnessed. Dark shadows slowly moving from hut to hut, disembodied voices in the dead of night and objects moving on their own accord have all been reported.

There's been a workhouse on the site in the North Yorkshire city of Ripon since 1776, the current building was erected in 1854.

The workhouse was the last resort for many of the poor in the area, they were forced to come to the workhouse and complete daily tasks in exchange for food and shelter. Today a museum is located in the former male vagrants section and receiving ward where there are 14 cells where these unfortunates were locked in for the night.

The oppressive and depressing atmosphere of the Victorian workhouse has been carefully maintained in order to give visitors a sense of what life there would have been like. So it's no wonder that staff and visitors to the museum have reported seeing dark shadows of inmates going about their daily chores, heard the sounds of children crying in the dark and even had things thrown at them by mischievous poltergeists.

A 19th century performance venue that was refurbished and re-opened in 2011 and is said to be a hotbed of paranormal activity, including unexplained knocks and bangs, poltergeist activity and there's even stories that the building's paintings which adorn the walls have become warped.

Customers have experienced everything from the sounded of a piano being played by unseen hands to disembodied legs walking up stairs, and even the full apparition of a gentleman wearing First World War attire.

Other spooked in the theatre include a man in a bowler hat and the spirit of a red haired woman, who's seen wandering the building during performances. It's said that if she's seen it means the show will be successful.

Bolling Hall is one of the oldest buildings in Bradford. It currently houses a museum, but dating back to the 14th century, it had historical significance during the English Civil War as a Royalist stronghold. It is also said to be very paranormally active, with allegedly over twenty resident spooks.

In fact, the ghostly sightings date back to the Civil War when the Earl of Newcastle witnessed what he described as the spirit of a woman tugging on his bed sheets during the night. He claims that the woman told him to "pity poor Bradford", which convinced him to abort his plan to execute all of the town's residents, instead just ten were killed.

Other apparitions spotted in the property include the menacing ghost of a man in a long black coat who has been seen several times in the Blue Room. There's also said to be a lady in white, who has been seen floating effortlessly through the air before vanishing into the fireplace.

The hall is also said to be plagued by strange noises, like banging doors, unexplained footsteps and disembodied voices coming from otherwise empty rooms. Visitors have reported feeling as if they're been watched and a general sense of unease throughout the property.

Now a museum, the Grade II listed building stands on the site of a workhouse, which once housed the poor and those who could not support themselves in the community. Over the years the inmate population grew and the building was extended to accommodate them, this included a new infirmary wing to provide free health care for the sick and injured.

In 1915 the building was offered up to the War Department as part of the war effort. The main building became the East Leeds war hospital, and even played host to King George V who came to visit injured soldiers.

With so much misery and death associated with this building, it's no surprise that there are so many claims that it is haunted. With reports of poltergeist activity, a phantom doctor that's seen wandering around wearing a white coat, ghostly patients, and even dark entity.

During its time as a hospital, the amount of lives lost here would have been in their hundreds. Before 1925 the hospital staff would have been hindered by basic equipment and no electricity.

Staff and visitors have also reported hearing moaning and guttural cries in the dead of night, could these be the ghostly cries of suffering patients?

Originally opened as the Thorne Poor Law Union in 1830s and housing up to 150 men, women and children at its peak. With over a 100 year history of misery and incarceration, and with a former on-site morgue and unmarked graves scattered around the grounds, this is a classic haunted location.

Parts of the building have been demolished, the remaining parts have been converted to other uses and are now a popular destination for paranormal teams. There have been reports of doors and windows opening on their own. Unexplained sounds have been heard throughout the building, including reports from visitors of moaning, whispers, children laughing, and what sounded and felt like something blowing in people's ears.

There has even been multiple apparitions spotted in the building, including the ghostly image of a young girl, a well-dressed woman, and a man - sometimes described as old and always described as terrifying, who has been blamed for moving objects in the upstairs rooms.

The dilapidated house at 39 De Grey Street is a former family home, which now lies empty. A home that's fallen victim to poltergeist activity, occupied by tormented child spirits. The property's owner Andy Yates, who moved out of the house ten years ago, said, "before I moved into this house, I was the biggest skeptic you could find," but he says that the things he's seen at the now derelict house are "completely impossible to debunk."

Paranormal activity is said to include objects like knives moving around of their own accord and a full apparition of a girl. The ghosts of three children have been seen, but the house is said to have between 15 and 20 child spirits. There's even been reports of violent attacks in the form of scratching and even a scarf around someone's neck being tightened.

The Treasurer's House is a Grade I listed house, located directly to the North of York Minster, and was the location for an episode of the Discovery Channel series 'Ghosthunters'.

The house has several resident spooks, including the ghost of George Aislaby who owned the property in the 17th century, and a group of Roman soldiers who have been sighted in the cellar.

Armley Mills is said to house Victorian ghosts and poltergeist activity, as well as disembodied voice and dark shadows. One of the building's resident spooks is a tall Victorian gentlemen who's been seen many times wearing a top hat and using a cane. He's said to walk the floors of the mill in the dead of night.

In a part of the mill which is now known as the cinema room, two spirits are said to roam. One is an original ghost of Armley, whereas the other has come with the fixtures and fittings of the cinema. One of the apparitions is said to be sinister. People have reported seeing seats move all on their own.

As the mill's workforce was made up of children as young as six, there were many accidents and deaths amongst the machinery were common in the mill's heyday. As a result, the ghosts of children have been witnessed around the old machinery.

The Fleece Inn in Elland was built in the early 1600s and is known for its grim legends, with rumours of secret tunnels, deaths and even murders.

The reports range from poltergeist activity like the smashing of glasses, right through to full apparitions, including that of a girl who's been spotted throughout the pub and looking out one of the bedroom windows.

Other paranormal activity includes dark shadows which are seen moving through rooms on a regular basis and a negative entity which does all it can to get people out of the pub.

Over the years there has been many stories of strange occurrences at this majestic building, which was once the home of Sir John de Hoderode, who was the steward at Pontefract Castle. There have been reports of dark shadows have seen wandering the empty corridors, the apparitions of a faceless man and hunched over monk have been witnessed, and the ghost of a servant girl burnt alive after being pushed into a fireplace by an unknown assailant is eager to make her presence known.

The hall's main staircase is said to be haunted by the clear sound of disembodied footsteps and the ghost of a tall man, known locally as Dr Bell, who is often seen walking up and down the stairs. The dark and gloomy attic once would have been home to the many servants that served this great house. Although those glory days are gone, their ghosts are still seen roaming throughout the floor in the dead of night.

Wentworth Woodhouse near Rotherham stands in 250 acres of parkland and was once the home of the first Earl of Strafford. For decades there have been reports of a ghostly monk, the figure of an unknown man who stands deadly still, as well as hearing footsteps, children laughing, doors slamming, and visitors being grabbed by unseen hands.

The house's stables were the location of an episode of the long-running ghost hunting show 'Most Haunted' in 2017 when the team caught what appeared to be a ghostly figure on camera. The show's host Yvette Fielding described it as the show's "most groundbreaking footage" to date.

Reports of poltergeist activity at 30 East Drive, a typical three-bedroom, semi-detached house on the Chequerfield Estate in Pontefract, started after the Pritchard family moved in to the house in 1966.

The first creepy occurrence was when the family noticed a cascade of chalk-like dust falling from just below the ceiling. This was follow by pools of water that spontaneously appeared in the kitchen, all attempts to dry them up failed.

The family also experienced lights turning themselves on and off, green foam was said to have oozed out of the taps, cupboards shook violently, doors banged, photographs were slashed by sharp blades, and countless object were witnessed levitating or being thrown.

On one occasion a large grandfather clock on the landing toppled over and tumbled down the stairs and smash. And most terrifyingly, the youngest member of the family, Dianne was dragged up the stairs by an invisible force, after the event, red hand marks were clearly visible on her neck.

The house is now a popular venue for ghost hunters and paranormal researchers who visit the property still log countless paranormal occurrences to this day.