Crook Hall and Gardens
That time of year is here again. The nights are drawing in and at Crook Hall in Durham City, my team and I are preparing for one of our most popular events – Halloween at Crook Hall.
Crook Hall is notorious for its paranormal activity. Ghostly sightings and strange experiences have been well documented for hundreds of years. One of the earliest stories was when a banquet had been set up in the Medieval Hall and when the Lord and Lady of the Manor led their guests in, the entire Hall had reputedly been ransacked by a poltergeist, as no one else had been allowed in to the Hall.
In the 19th century when there was a coalmine up near the railway line, the young miners relied on their mothers to escort them past ghostly Crook Hall – even tough miners can get spooked! And I’m not surprised, as the previous owner told me that she had actually seen the White Lady who haunts the older parts of the Hall.
Many visitors have also had strange experiences at Crook Hall – including one who saw children playing on the gallery an hour after the last child had left the premises. Another visitor rang from the coach he was travelling home on to report that he had seen an old man in bedclothes asleep in a chair before he left. Other people on his coach had also seen the man. I knew it wasn’t my husband Keith, who sometimes falls asleep in a chair but never wears a nightcap and gown!
Halloween at Crook Hall
This Halloween is expected to be just as spooky as previous ones, as the Grade 1 listed Hall and Gardens are taken over by the Witches of Crook Hall for the Halloween weekend. The Hall has been given a creepy makeover, making it a fitting place for ghosts, ghouls and witches to congregate for a weekend of all things scary.
Maggie Bell – Crook Hall
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