The Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds sits in the old Union Workhouse building designed to house nearly 800 of the poorest people, who worked their short lives in harsh and terrible conditions. An overnight ghost hunt at The Thackray Medical Museum will no doubt reveal some of the many spirits that still reside here, in its many dark corridors and rooms. It once housed the skeleton of the infamous Yorkshire witch, and ghost hunts here are certainly not for the faint hearted. Join Haunted Happenings for a ghost hunt you will not soon forget.
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Housed in one of the most impressive Victorian buildings in Leeds, the Thackray Medical Museum is truly unique and is the only museum of its kind in the North of England. The Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a museum of the history of medicine adjacent to Leeds St James's Hospital.
There are said to be many ghosts that haunt this former mental hospital and workhouse and with such a terrifying history it is not surprising. The building itself is vast and has many investigation areas including a pitch black 'theatre' room and an authentic Victorian Street Scene with winding pathways and its many exhibits include the Yorkshire Witch who was tried and executed for witchcraft during the early 19th century.
The level of activity has been astonishing with Poltergeist activity predominantly occurring on nearly every event that Haunted Happenings has undertaken. Downstairs has seen an old coin appear from an empty part of the building which was heard rolling across the floor, ghostly figures have been seen walking the corridors and people have been grabbed and touched by unseen hands in many different areas of the location.
On our preliminary investigation, our team experienced massive temperature drops, heard whimpering noises, saw shadows moving and even had a figure walk straight past one of our team - this was in broad daylight. There is no doubt that a night locked inside this building, surrounded by so much history is going to be a terrifying experience.
The building is a Grade II listed building formerly known as the Leeds Union Workhouse and was built in 1858 to accommodate 784 paupers. By the end of the 19th century, the buildings had become largely used for medical care of the poor, rather than workhouse and training. During the First World War it was called the East Leeds War Hospital, caring for armed services personnel.
By day Thackray Medical Museum is a reincarnation of life in Victorian Leeds where visitors walk through a reproduction of slum streets complete with authentic sights, sounds and smells and are invited to follow the lives, ailments and treatments of eight Victorian characters, making the choices that determine their survival amongst the rats, fleas and bedbugs. Pain, Pus and Blood describes surgery before anaesthesia, and how pain relief progressed and having a Baby focuses on developments in safety for childbirth. The museum also houses the skeleton of the "Yorkshire Witch", who was executed for fraud and murder in 1809.
The building is a Grade II listed building, the former Leeds Union Workhouse, built in 1858 to accommodate 784 paupers. By the end of the 19th century, the buildings had become largely used for medical care of the poor, rather than workhouse and training. During the First World War it was called the East Leeds War Hospital, caring for armed services personnel.
Highlights include Leeds 1842: Life in Victorian Leeds: visitors walk through a reproduction of slum streets complete with authentic sights, sounds and smells and are invited to follow the lives, ailments and treatments of eight Victorian characters, making the choices that determine their survival amongst the rats, fleas and bedbugs. Pain, Pus and Blood describes surgery before anaesthesia, and how pain relief progressed and Having a Baby focuses on developments in safety for childbirth.
Hannah Dyson's Ordeal is a video reconstruction of 1842 surgery, before anaesthetics were in use: visitors watch as a surgeon, his assistant and a group of trainee doctors prepare for Hannah Dysons operation - the amputation of her leg after it was crushed in a mill accident. (The actual operation is not seen in the reconstruction.)
The Life Zone is an interactive children's gallery, looking at how the human body works, with a smaller room for the under-fives. There is a temporary exhibition gallery. The museum also houses the skeleton of Mary Bateman, the "Yorkshire Witch", who was executed for fraud and murder in 1809.
