West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in Northern England, taking in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Kirklees, and Calderdale. Its industrial heritage of mills, workhouses, and historic halls has produced a dense concentration of documented ghost stories.
Bolling Hall, Bradford
Bradford's oldest building, dating to the 14th century, with historical significance as a Royalist stronghold during the English Civil War. Its best-known legend concerns the Earl of Newcastle, who reported being visited over several nights by the spirit of a grey lady begging him to "pity poor Bradford," ultimately persuading him to abandon a planned mass execution of the town's residents in favour of executing only ten. The hall is also associated with a menacing figure in a long black coat seen in the Blue Room, and a lady in white reported floating through the air before vanishing into a fireplace.
The Midland Hotel, Bradford
This hotel is said to be haunted by the ghost of Victorian Shakespearean actor Sir Henry Irving, who suffered a fatal stroke there in 1905 following his final performance at Bradford's nearby Theatre Royal. Irving was accompanied at the time by his manager, author Bram Stoker. Sightings of Irving's ghost have been reported both in the hotel lobby and the room he stayed in the night before his death.
Armley Mills, Leeds
A former textile mill, regularly cited among Yorkshire's most haunted locations and a popular venue for organised paranormal investigations.
Temple Newsam, Leeds
This historic house, birthplace of Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, is associated with the reported ghost of Mary Ingram, said to have been robbed by highwaymen as a teenager.
East Riddlesden Hall
Home to the legend of "the Grey Lady," said to be the wife of a former lord of the manor, murdered by her husband and sealed behind a brick wall after he discovered her affair — her apparition is reported in a chamber now named after her.
See also
- Are You Haunted..?, whose team investigated a former textile mill in West Yorkshire
External links
Pages in category "West Yorkshire"
This category contains only the following page.