The Galleries of Justice in Nottingham claims to be one of the most haunted locations in Great Britain. Scores of highwayman, murderers and thieves were subjected to public hangings from within its walls. Many modern visitors to the site in Nottingham, now a museum, claim to have witnessed spooky goings-on from flying orbs to strange smells and rattling keys. Now, a couple has stepped forward claiming to have photographic evidence of a supernatural being haunting the former dungeon. Christine Spice visited the old prison and courtrooms with her partner Denyer earlier this month and took snaps of what she describes as "an eerie mass of white, like an evil male figure." The figure is pictured behind a second apparition, which appears to be a small child in some form of period dress, captured on Christine's mobile phone camera. Ms Spice, from Herfordshire, said: "Denyer and I went on one of the museum's guided tours. "We are both very spiritual people, and could sense quite a lot of spiritual presence around the building. "We went to visit the pits and immediately I became very agitated and sensed something really bad and evil. "I told Denyer I thought we should leave as it was affecting me. I could sense the danger and my breathing and heartbeat became faster - I felt very scared. "We could smell a musty, rotting smell and was very uncomfortable. I then became so freaked out that I ran out. "The feeling of evil was so overwhelming. Once outside we looked at the photo and could see a white glow like a huge threatening aura." There has been a court at the Galleries of Justice since at least 1375 and a prison since 1449. It is the only place in Britain where criminals could be tried, convicted, and sentenced. Some executions were even done at the entrance of the building. The Galleries contains the original cells, dungeons, two courtrooms, and several medieval caves, where the photo was taken. Christine said that after she calmed down, they continued looking around and spent some time looking at all the ID photos taken of prisoners displayed on the walls. She said: "It was in this room that someone pulled my hair. I turned around expecting to see my brother but there was no one there," she said. "We could sense spirits all over the building and I would definitely describe the place as being very haunted." Tim Desmond, chief executive at the museum, said: "The staff at the museum are quite used to experiencing the supernatural on the site, not surprising as it was a place of punishment since the Middle Ages. "What is interesting is now that people have camera phones we are receiving actual images of what they pick up. Even if you are a sceptic it is very difficult to refute the unusual sights."
The Galleries of Justice in Nottingham Ghost Photo
The Wem Ghost Photograph Genuine or Fraud?
On November 19, 1995, Wem Town Hall in Shropshire, England burned to the ground. Many spectators gathered to watch the old building, built in 1905, as it was being consumed by the flames.
Tony O'Rahilly, a local resident, was one of those onlookers and took photos of the spectacle with a 200mm telephoto lens from across the street. One of those photos shows what looks like a small, partially transparent girl standing in the doorway. Nether O'Rahilly nor any of the other onlookers or firefighters recalled seeing the girl there.
O'Rahilly submitted the photo to the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena which, in turn, presented it for analysis to Dr. Vernon Harrison, a photographic expert and former president of the Royal Photographic Society. Harrison carefully examined both the print and the original negative, and concluded that it was genuine. "The negative is a straightforward piece of black-and-white work and shows no sign of having been tampered with," Harrison said.
But who is the little girl? Wem, a quiet market town in northern Shropshire, had been ravaged by fire in the past. In 1677, historical records note, a fire destroyed many of the town's old timber houses. A young girl named Jane Churm, the legends say, accidentally set fire to a thatched roof with a candle. Many believed her ghost haunted the area and had been seen on a few other occasions.
Does a Postcard hold the answer to the Wem Ghost Photograph?
One of Shropshire’s most sensational mysteries – the spooky riddle of “The Wem ghost” – may at last have been solved by eagle-eyed Shropshire Star reader Brian Lear.
Brian spotted an eerie similarity between a girl standing in the street in a 1922 photo of Wem and the young girl whose fuzzy image was famously captured amid the flames as Wem Town Hall burned down in 1995.
That photograph taken by local amateur photographer Tony O’Rahilly created international headlines and sparked the legend of “The Wem Ghost”.
There was speculation that the girl was 14-year-old Jane Churm, who accidentally started the disastrous great fire of Wem in 1677 and was reputed to be haunting the town hall.
Paranormal
Wem folk enthusiastically embraced the story which put their town under the spotlight. A sign on the outskirts had a makeshift alteration to read “Ghost Town”, experts in paranormal activity visited, and there was even a scroll and a plaque to mark where the ghost was spotted.
But when Brian, from Shrewsbury, looked at a photo of Wem — a postcard franked in 1922 — in our Pictures From The Past slot the other day, his eye was drawn to a little girl standing in a doorway.
“I was intrigued to find that she bore a striking likeness to the little girl featured as the ‘Wem ghost’,” he said.
“Her dress and headgear appear to be identical.”
So we have blown up detail from that picture to compare with the “Wem ghost”. And, by jove, he’s right!
Look at the pictures and make your own minds up.
Photographer Tony O’Rahilly, who died in 2005, said at the time that he had discovered the ghost image when developing his snaps of the town hall fire.
Some time later the photo was examined by experts from the National Museum of Photography, who concluded it was a fake. But others were certain it was genuine.
Out of This World Investigated the Wem Ghost Photo. Below are the investigation videos:
Part 2 of the Wem Ghost Photo Investigation:
Is the photo genuine or a clever hoax?
