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Niddry Street Vaults - Edinburgh, Scotland,

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Niddry Street Vaults in Edinburgh are World renowned for their intense paranormal activity. The famous Edinburgh Vaults are a favourite for ghost hunt veterans due to the phenomenal activity reported here on ghost hunts in the past. Niddry Street vaults sit beneath the city and are believed to have been a hunting ground for the infamous serial killers Burke & Hare. The torment of its inhabitants can still be sensed and an overnight ghost hunt may just give you the opportunity to connect with its residents from the past. Are you brave enough?

Ghosts of Niddry Street Vaults


Niddry Street is considered one of the most active locations in the UK, with an unprecedented number of paranormal events being reported. A man by the name of The Watcher has been sighted and people have reported hearing children crying, hushed voices, whimpering and shuffling footsteps around the group. People have reported being grabbed and there is a spirit there which appears to wish ill intent towards the women in the group. Perhaps this is the Cobbler who has been seen watching from the corner of the Vaults.

History of Niddry Street Vaults


Niddry Street Vaults are one of 3 Vaults beneath Edinburgh; St. Marys and Blair Street being the other two. Living conditions were below ground were appalling, with cramped, damp rooms. Add to this the lack of any sunlight, running water and sanitation and the fact that many rooms housed more than 10 people it is easy to see why mortality rates were alarmingly high. Crimes including robbery and murder began to plague the lawless slums and it is even reported that the infamous body snatchers Burke and Hare used the Vaults as a place to find victims who would not be missed. It is not known for sure when the vaults were finally closed as there are virtually no written records of the Vault\'s time as housing, but some believe it was as late as 1875 when tons of rubble were dumped into them, finally making them inaccessible.

Additional History of Niddry Street Vaults


The vault rooms, used as storage space and workshops for the South Bridge businesses, operated as intended for a relatively short space of time. Construction of the bridge had been rushed and the surface was never sealed against water.

The vaults began to flood. Abandonment of the vaults began as early as 1795. With the vaults being gradually abandoned by the businesses on the bridge, the empty rooms were adopted and adapted by new users. As the industrial revolution took hold of Britain, the Cowgate area had developed into Edinburgh\'s slum. Slum dwellers took over the vaults and they became a renowned red light district with countless brothels and pubs operating within the abandoned complex. The vaults also served as additional slum housing for the citys poor. Living conditions were appalling.

The rooms were cramped, dark and damp. There was no sunlight, poorly circulated air, no running water, and no sanitation. Many rooms housed families of more than ten people. Crimes, including robbery and murder, soon plagued the Vaults. Burke and Hare, the infamous serial killers who sold corpses to medical schools, are said to have hunted for victims in the Edinburgh Vaults.

The vaults were rediscovered by former Scottish rugby internationalist, Norrie Rowan, after he found a tunnel leading to them in the 1980s. From this tunnel he helped Romanian rugby player Cristian Raducanu escape the Romanian secret police and seek political asylum weeks before the Romanian uprising of 1989.

The vaults were excavated by Norrie Rowan and his son Norman Rowan in the 1990s. Hundreds of tonnes of rubble were removed by hand and several interesting artifacts were discovered including thousands of oyster shells, which were part of the staple diet of the Edinburgh working class.

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