Derby Gaol

Derby Gaol is also known as Friar Gate Gaol, and is located under numbers 50 and 51 Friargate, Derby. This particular gaol is one of five to have existed within Derby. The other gaols were the Guildhall Gaol, the Willow Road Gaol, the Cornmarket Gaol, and the Vernon Street Gaol. Friar Gate Gaol is the only location which remains to exist to this day, although it has not been used as a gaol since 1828, although one source does state that it was in use until 1846. Over the years it was operational, many executions have occured in this location, and as a result it has been called one of the most haunted locations in Great Britain. Visitors, the staff, and even the owner of the location have all reported to experience strange occurrences within the gaol, with some even seeing apparitions. This post will explore the history of the gaol, along with its hauntings, and it will even go into detail regarding those who were executed here and why.

History

Friar Gate Gaol was designed by William and David Hiorne, and opened in 1756. The gaol consisted of seven cells which were 7ft by 7ft, four inches wide, and 8ft three inches high. There were also four rooms for female prisoners which were 12ft by 12ft wide and 9ft high. The gaol was originally built to house up to twenty three inmates, but this number does vary with some sources saying it was built to house up to twenty nine inmates. Regardless, overcrowding was incredibly common in the gaol with a report from 1819 showing the seven cells contained a total of sixty nine prisoners.

The prisoners held here would not stay for long as the gaol was not a prison. No one who stayed here did so as punishment for a crime they had been convicted of. The function of the gaol was as a temporary location for the accused to stay while they awaited judgement, or for the condemned to stay while they awaited execution. There were numerous deaths which occured both inside and outside of the gaol. There was no seperate space for the sick or injured, so the crowded space led to gaol fever being rife. Also, there are a few reports of the condemned committing suicide within their cell before their execution could occur.

Everyone could communicate freely in the gaol, which I imagine would have caused issues when it came to the accomplices who were held to give evidence. The debtors and offenders were all kept to the back of the prison, and all prisoners were allowed to work provided the gaoler give their approval. Given the profit the gaoler made from those being held in the gaol, I doubt they'd ever deny the captives the opportunity to make money. The gaoler would make profit by selling ale to the prisoners. An example of this, and the money they would make, comes from the example of gaoler Blyth Simpson who worked in the gaol during 1782. When the law changed in 1784 to make gaolers selling alcohol within gaols illegal, Blyth's salary increased from £60 a year to £120 a year in order to make up for any profit lost from sales.

Due to the nature of the gaol, some escapes did occur. One example of this is during 1786, a prisoner called McKew managed to escape being transported elsewhere due to being able to lock a deputy warden in an exercise yard. Not everyone escaped though, as shown by the executions which did occur at the gaol. Over fifty executions occurred between 1756 and 1825. Between 1770 and 1830, it was possible for anyone to be hanged in England for a number of minor crimes. This was all done under what is known as 'The Bloody Code'. This code made it possible to be hanged for something as simple as stealing cheese.

The conditions of the gaol were do poor that, during 1774, an advert was put out looking for people willing to make a bath and two rooms for prisoners at the gaol. This led to the walls being whitewashed once a year and to a surgeon being employed. The surgeon lived in number 44 and could whatever he wanted to the hanged prisoners of the gaol. This all occured in what is known as the 'murder room', and this room, where prisoners were dissected, is located where the former police museum used to be.

The conditions of the gaol are what led to it being replaced by the Vernon Street Gaol in the 1820's. In 1817, Judge Baron Garrow told the Grand Jury that a fine would be placed on the county of Derby if the gaol was not improved. An architect's report even said the Friar Gate Gaol was 'insufficient' and 'insecure'. Instead of improving the Friar Gate Gaol, the Vernon Street Gaol was built. Today, only the entry facade of the Vernon Street Gaol exists. After the Friar Gate Gaol closed, it became the Howard Hotel, and even a nightclub. Since 1997, the Friar Gate Gaol has been owned by historian and paranormal investigator Richard Felix, who has appeared as a historian on the programme 'Most Haunted' in its earlier seasons.

Execution List

As I mentioned earlier, many executions occured around this location. It's important to say the names I've placed 'high treason' beside are the Pentrich Martyrs who tried leading a revolution against the Conservative government at the time. I've attempted to list the names, ages, crime, and punishment for all executions I could find. They are as follows:

1. James Tomlinson, 27, housebreaking, hanged, 10/04/1812

2. Percival Cook, 26, housebreaking, hanged, 10/04/1812

3. Paul Mason, 34, burglary, hanged, 09/04/1813

4. Richard Hibbert, 24, burglary, hanged, 09/04/1813

5. Peter Henshaw, 40, burglary, hanged, 09/04/1813

6. Anthony Lingard, 21, murder, hanged + gibbeted, 28/03/1815

7. Joseph Wheeldon, 27, murder, executed + dissected, 09/08/1816

8. John Brown, 38, arson, hanged, 15/08/1817

9. Thomas Jackson, 20, arson, hanged, 15/08/1817

10. George Boothe, 21, arson, hanged, 15/08/1817

11. John King, 24, arson, hanged, 15/08/1817

12. Jeremiah Brandreth, 27, high treason, hanged + beheaded, 07/11/1817

13. Isaac Ludlam, 52, high treason, hanged + beheaded, 07/11/1817

14. George Weightman, 48, high treason, hanged + beheaded, 07/11/1817

15. William Turner, 46, high treason, hanged + beheaded, 07/11/1817

16. Thomas Hopkinson, 20, highway robbery, hanged, 02/04/1819

17. Hannah Bocking, 16, poisoning, hanged + dissected, 22/03/1819

18. Hannah Halley, murder, last woman hanged in Derby + last dissected, 25/03/1822

19. George Batty, 40, rape, last person hanged at Friar Gate Gaol, 08/04/1825

Hauntings

The Friar Gate Gaol boasts lots of activity. When Richard Felix began renovating the location, he ensured to keep the original cell doors. Only two cells exist today, the debtors cell and the condemned cell, but on the doors of these cells are apotropic marks, also known as witch marks. These marks are used to ward off evil spirits, which implies that even those kept in the cells at the time thought the location to be haunted by some form of evil paranormal entity. These marks on the doors appear as two V's close together which stand for the virgin Mary.

Richard Felix himself has said he has seen an apparition within the gaol during 1999. He has said that while standing in the kitchen, he has seen a gray haze, in the form of a person, glide through a corridor and vanish. He, and the staff, have also said sightings and incidents occur from around October to December, and then die down until June or July. Richard has also claimed the gaol to be one of the most haunted locations in Derby, and for Derby to be the most haunted city in Great Britain.

There are a fair few small accounts of hauntings, so I will list them below:

1. A man has seen two dead bodies hanging from a beam in a cell

2. The condemned cell causes discomfort - neck restriction + suffocation

3. Two women left in tears, holding their throats, unable to breath - felt something around their neck - also saw a bald apparition standing by a door while on the way out - it was wearing a sleeveless leather body warmer type outfit - thought he was an actor, one woman described him as 'evil' and 'a murderer'

4. A contractor called Chris has seen a bald apparition wearing a leather body warmer - saw him at night, describes him as wearing fancy dress, and saw him walk through a cigarette machine and disappear through a wall

5. Footsteps have been heard through the gaol and number 44

6. Doors open and close

7. People are touched

8. A smell of flowers occurs in the debtors room

9. Shadow figures seen inside and outside

10. A hangman is said to haunt the gaol

11. The sound of chains rattling

12. Voices

13. Knocks

14. Clicking

15. Dragging

16. Scraping

17. The sound of large bolts sliding across doors

18. The sound of turning over on a straw bed in the debtors cell

19. A chain has been captured moving

20. A display dummy has been rocked and thrown to the floor

21. A whiskey glass has solid across a table before smashing on the floor

22. People are overcome with emotions in the debtors cell, particularly loss and sadness

23. People feel like they are going to be sick

24. The face of a dead person has been seen appearing over the face of a guest while sitting in what was the prisoners day room

25. A crucifix has been caught moving in the condemned cell

Additional Information

It's thought that the debtors cell is the most haunted area of the gaol with many experiences having happened in there. One particular ghost, and the only named one I could find, is George. George is thought to reside within that cell, and likes touching female visitors. Women have said that it feels cold in that room and that they've felt rough hands touch them in there. I'm assuming, through this information, that 'George' will be thought to be the spirit of 'George Batty' who was the final person hanged at the gaol, and was hanged for rape.

My Thoughts

I think there's definitely something here. There's too much history for nothing to be there. I also would be very interested to learn what existed in this spot before the gaol given it seems the inmates thought there was some form of evil supernatural presence, even during their time. I would think that likely to be down to the harsh, and assumingly chaotic, conditions they will have faced. A location like that, one which will be undoubtedly dark and loud and not at all maintained, a place where sickness and death are rife, it will undoubtedly lead those staying there to believe an evil presence was with them.

As for the modern hauntings, the one concern I have is that it is owned by Richard Felix, and then investigated by the Most Haunted team shortly after. He bought the location in 1997, and became a member of the Most Haunted team in 2002. The team investigated the gaol in 2002, and as a result it put Derby, and the gaol, on the paranormal map. He is no longer part of the team though, and from hearing what he says about the paranormal, I feel he has quite different views on it from the Most Haunted team. Now, stuff could have been faked in order to boost the gaols popularity, after all a member of the team did have a personal stake in the investigation. However, I think even if something such as the crucifix moving was faked, there is far more to the location than just this one event.

I find the claims of vivid apparitions very interesting. As discussed in previous posts, I do think that if an apparition was to occur, then it would be so vivid that no one would think twice about it. This is exactly what's happened with the bald apparition, and you could even argue it with the hanging apparitions. Either way it implies, for this to have been reported a number of times, that the spirits in this location do have lots of energy to be able to create these high energy events. The quantity and extremity of the claims seem unusually high, so I think some will have been created for tourism, some will have been created through imagination, but even then the ones that remain are very interesting. As a result, I'm going to mark this location as a 'location of interest' due to how it could feed into theories going forwards.

Thank you for reading to the end of this post! I want to give a special thank you to Damain and everyone who follows and supports The True Paranormal! If you want to follow the blog, you can do so by subscribing for free on this website, or you can follow the blog on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Tumblr, or Instagram. You can also contact thetrueparanormal1@gmail.com if you have any questions about anything.

Sources I have used:

1. Derby Uncovered

2. ISSUU

3. Ghost Hunt East Anglia

4. BBC

5. Visit Derby

6. Richard Felix

7. Discover Derby

8. The Little House Of Horrors

9. Ghost Tour Bookings

10. Prison History

11. Capital Punishment