Galleries Caves and Cells - Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
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Ghost hunt at The Galleries of Justice and The haunted City of Caves in Nottingham.
Known as The Shire Hall, this independent museum situated on High Pavement in the Lace Market in Nottingham is a truly important building. The Galleries of Justice is a large building and houses what was once the old Gaol, the Police Station and a Victorian Courtroom. The Courtrooms themselves date back to the 14th Century and the Gaol itself to 1449. The building was also used as a police station from 1905 to 1985, the courts closed in 1986. It is a site of historical importance and is the only place where an individual could be arrested, sentenced and executed.
The Nottingham City of Caves (ALSO KNOWN AS TIGGUO COBAUC) which lie under the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre in Nottingham is a vast area dating back to medieval times. Beneath the houses, shops and offices of Nottingham lie hundreds of caves. Few people in Nottingham are aware of this labyrinth, which exists underneath the city streets, and fewer still have visited them. Nottingham has more man-made caves than anywhere else in Britain. People have worked and lived in them for over 1,000 years.
Ghosts of The Galleries of Justice and City of Caves
Venture into the subterranean world of the City of Caves beneath the streets of Nottingham, then descend into the hopelessness from the Courts of the Galleries of Justice and walk in the footsteps of those condemned to death or imprisonment, investigating each layer of this barbaric prison. Each of these mysterious locations has a long history of misery and torment and all are renowned for being extremely haunted.
The eerie silence of the dark cells was recently broken during a ghost hunt by the piercing squeak of what sounded like a cell door being opened and closed. Deep within the bowels of the Galleries of Justice, Poltergeist activity is not uncommon and on more than one occasion we have had to end our Vigils in the Cave beneath due to the intensity of the activity experienced there.
This is an unbelievable opportunity to carry out an investigation in two of Nottingham's most haunted locations. There is so much paranormal activity recorded at each location that it will be really difficult to decide which is the most haunted. However, you will be able to spend a significant time in both locations working out for yourselves what is going on and carrying out your own ghost hunting techniques.
For those of you investigating the paranormal for the first time you will be able to work closely with our Team throughout the night in your attempts to become a real ghost hunter.
History of The Galleries of Justice and City of Caves
A sinister and harrowing night awaits as you travel back in history to a time where life was harsh, cruel and at times barbaric. The history of the Galleries, Caves and Police Station are all interlinked.
The Galleries is perhaps a product of locations such as the subterranean caves where people lived and worked in terrible conditions. Their attempts at breaking the law would take them to The Galleries of Justice where even the most innocuous crime was harshly punished.
The caves were home to the tanning industry which of course meant that conditions were damp and squalid. The Galleries of Justice is unique in that it was the only location in Britain where you could be tried, sentenced and punished under one roof. The evidence of this is there when you go through the location.
Nottingham sits upon a soft sandstone ridge which can easily be dug with simple hand tools to create artificial cave dwellings. Indeed Nottingham was once known as Tigguo Cobauc meaning Place of Caves and was referred to as such by the Bishop of Sherborne Asser in The Life of King Alfred (893AD).
The caves here are some of the oldest remaining in the city, with pottery finds dating them to 1270-1300, and were inhabited from at least the 17th century until 1845 when the St. Mary's Inclosure Act banned the renting of cellars and caves as homes for the poor. None of the caves are natural, they were all cut into the sandstone for use as houses, cellars and place of work by the inhabitants of the city.
The Galleries of Justice are housed in a Shire Hall, which stands in the Lace Market area of Nottingham. The earliest confirmed use of the site for official purposes was by the Normans, who appointed sheriffs to keep the peace and collect taxes; hence the site was also referred to as the Sheriff's Hall, the County Hall or the Kings Hall. The first written record of the site being used as a law court dates from 1375.
The first written reference to its use as a prison is in 1449. Nottingham sits upon a soft sandstone ridge which can easily be dug with simple hand tools to create artificial cave dwellings. Indeed Nottingham was once known as Tigguo Cobauc meaning Place of Caves and was referred to as such by the Bishop of Sherborne Asser in The Life of King Alfred (893AD).
