It’s Bolton’s most notorious ghostly manor and has attracted both tourists and ghost hunters from across the globe.
Known as the town’s “most haunted” historic building, Smithills Hall has had an array of paranormal sightings and odd experiences over the previous years.
The Grade 1 listed Manor House has since become a must-visit property for both fearless folk, thrill seekers and even television presenter, Keith Lemon.
As I am a sceptic of all things spooky, I knew it would take some convincing to get me on board. But in the spirit of Halloween I went along to see if I would experience any ghostly encounters.
READ MORE: History of Smithills Hall
I met up with Stephen Brown, the chairman of Friends at Smithills Hall who also volunteers as a tour guide around the historic site.
Last year the haunted hall welcomed more than 2,000 tourists.
Smithills has organised two “ghost tours” this autumn. Whilst the October tour has already passed, tickets are still available for the paranormal walk around Smithills for November 16.
The most common sightings at Smithills centre around three ghosts. The first and most common sighting, notes Stephen, is that of a ‘tall, monk-like Rasputin figure” which has been sighted by members of staff hovering around the restaurant and chapel.
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He describes members of staff startled to see a “monk-like” cloaked and bearded figure that would appear to staff members arriving to open up shop and then “disappear again” once they alerted colleagues for help.
The second, most notorious ghost is that of George Marsh, a Bolton farmer who was burned at the stake in April 1555 for being a Protestant during the rein of devoted Catholic Queen, Mary Tudor.
Stephen recounted a tale that a female member of staff, who is now retired, was walking through the Smithills corridor when she saw a “tall, bulky man dressed in black, with long and shiny black hair.” The strange figure, she recalls, was “picking up wheat from the floor” and “turned right, to face away from her”.
Although she only briefly saw the figure, she recalls “him looking out of place, no one else was meant to be on site apart from the museum attendees” and when she returned to the room, it had vanished.
The final spectral figure is that of Lady Byrom, whose family owned the estate from 1723 – 1800. Josie Byron, who is believed to be the ghost, has been seen “floating around the place” by various guests.
Feeling slightly nervous for the tour, I asked Stephen what his personal thoughts on the sightings were.
He said: “Although I’m a sceptic myself, we do get a lot of sightings here at Smithills and I’ll admit, some of the things that people report are inexplicable.”
We walked down a small corridor, which Stephen notes: “Many guests have reported being nudged or pinched in.
“A presence – we call her Tilly – is said to occupy this corridor. Tilly was a maid here during the 1800s. She was about eighteen when she fell unexpectedly pregnant.
At this point, I’ll admit, I did feel a slight chill coming from the corridor. Although I didn’t feel a nudge or a pinch from Tilly, I did feel lightheaded with goosebumps (but this might just be down to me missing breakfast this morning).
We continued the tour in The Great Hall, which Stephen adds, still contains part of the original structure.
Eerily, the Hall contains a sealed up “doom room” which was used by families to hold dead bodies when it was occupied in 1870.
He added: “The room was bought by the Ainsworth family in the 1870s and during this time a women called Lily Isobelle Bourne wanted to stay in the doom room. She didn’t believe it was haunted.
“From her diary entries, we know that Lily came out of the room with lacerations all over her body – it was believed that the family cat, who was recently deceased and was contained in the doom room, had scratched her up.”
We continued into the Lord and Lady’s chamber, which contained an upstairs bedroom. The floors creaked as we went upstairs, not an uncommon occurrence.
Stephen said: “We get many complaints from guests that they hear children running about this room, but there never are any – the floor is just creaking, and we can rarely explain why.”
We then moved on to the Green Room, where George Marsh, Smithills’ most popular ghost, was arrested and subject to interrogation.
Legend has it that the footprint in the floor tiles is George’s as a declaration of his faith.
The next room was the Withdrawing Room, which has not seen many ghostly visitors but did feature very creepy “linen fold woodwork” style intricate carvings of the previous owners.
Perhaps the most opulent room of them all was the chapel building, which Stephen adds: “Visitors have reported seeing a mysterious figure praying in the pews before vanishing.”
Out of all the rooms so far, this one had the most ambiance.
The two of us then headed to the drawing room, which was filled with taxidermy and is commonly reported to have “overturned glasses on the table, despite tourists not being allowed in that area”.
The ladies drawing room, which was once the quarters of the fanciful Mrs Isabella Ainsworth was said to contain inexplainable “hints of ladies perfume” and to this day, members of staff “will often find cushions on the floor that had not been touched by guests.”
The final room, Stephen said, is the one that Lee Francis, known by his stage name, Keith Lemon, visited during the filming of a TV show alongside celebrity psychic Derek Acorah.
He said: “They had set up lights outside the Parterre and had fake branches waving in front of them to appear to have trees waving in the moonlight on the Hall buildings.
“The cameraman who had the only light, on top of his camera, stood in front of them and the director lay on the floor with his laptop attached to the camera. ‘Tell me about Ghosts and Ghoulies’ said Bo Selecta."
“At this point, and before Derek Acorah could answer: the roller blind next to them shot upwards and rolled around itself with much noise. The cameraman dropped his camera and fled the room as the lights went out.
“Everyone rushed past me into the dining room.
“This was my introduction to the world of Derek Acorah.”
Friends of Smithills Hall is a registered charity and is currently recruiting volunteers to promote the preservation and understanding of the Hall and its grounds.
The Smithills ghost tour was spook-tastic, whilst I can’t say I’ve been fully converted into believing the world of the paranormal, for thrill-seekers and history buffs alike the Smithills tour is all in good spirit.
Also don't forget to visit the teashop this Halloween.
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