41 Iron Gate

41 Iron Gate, at the time of writing this known as 'Jorrocks', is located in Derby, England. The name of this location has changed a few times, and so the address of '41 Iron Gate' is what will be used in this article. The hauntings here mostly include accounts of poltergeist activity, although there are two known figures present. The most well known feature of this location, and the suspected cause of the paranormal activity here is a real skull, found beneath the building, which they have on display behind the bar.

History

41 Iron Gate has also been known as 'Jorrocks', 'Lafferty's', and 'The George'. A couple of sources also cite the names 'The George Inn', 'Mr Jorrock's', 'The Globe', 'The Globe Inn', and 'Globe Vaults'. This is one of those locations where very little is known about it, something clearly indicated by the uncertainty around some of these names mentioned as very few sources discuss them. The date the building was constructed is also uncertain. It seems 'The George', which was a coaching Inn and so could have been called 'The George Inn', came to be in 1693. There is a possibility that a previous Inn existed in this building from 1648; a potential build date aside from 1693. This earlier Inn, if it existed, would have been 'The Globe Inn'.

The George was one of the busiest and most famous Derby inns during the 1600s and 1700s. The London to Nottingham stage coach ran from The George from 1735, and the post office coach ran from The George from 1766. During this time, the location had a wider facade which included the unit which used to be Fould's Music Shop, but is as of the time of writing this article is a tattoo parlour. This wider facade dates back to 1693, and the builder from this time is said to be Alderman Samuel Heathcote. The back yard was used for cock fighting and a balconies extension was built so that patrons could watch the fighting along with similar events.

During 1745, 41 Iron Gate played a part in Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion. It was used by the Duke of Devonshire as a headquarters while commanding the Derbyshire Blues. This was in preparation for the invasion by Bonnie Prince Charlie, who's real name was Charles Edward Stuart. When the Prince arrived in Derby on the 4th of December, he visited 41 Iron Gate, which was still an inn at the time, and demanded billets for his 9000 troops. There is a legend saying that the mayor of Derby was pulled out of this location during Charlie's visit. The event of Charlie's arrival is re-enactment every year on the 4th of December, the anniversary of the prince's arrival.

The only known event which could be described as a tragedy occured in 1784. During this year, the location's sign fell on a horse and chaise that was passing by. Sadly the horse took the force of the sign and died during the event. The sign is smaller than it used to be, and this could be a result of this event. What has been cited as the original inn, another possible indicator that nothing existed here pre-1693, closed during 1853. The side of the building which is currently a tattoo parlour was converted into Fould's Music Shop during 1908.

By 1935, the pub had been reduced to two public rooms, a public bar at the front with a long bar counter, and a smoke room at the back which didn't have any bar service. 41 Iron Gate became a grade II listed building on the 24th of February 1977, and underwent a number of name changes since the 1980s. Word of the location being haunted seems to have begun during 1994 following a skull being unearthed from beneath the pub. A group of men working in the pub discovered the skull, which is believed to be a female skull, and it is currently on display behind the bar. One source has said the skull may date back to 917, and another has said the skull is known as 'George'. It's said that the skull was also found with animal bones and scraps of leather. The skull also seems to have damage from heavy blunt force.

Hauntings

There are two specific spirits said to haunt 41 Iron Gate. One is a victorian lady, and the other is a long haired man. The victorian lady is said to haunt the bar area, and there is speculation that the skull is hers. In terms of why the skull was beneath the building, a source has said it's customary to bury a human skull to ward off evil spirits. The same is said for a pair of shoes and a dead cat. The long haired man wears a blue coat and has been seen walking across the landing and down the stairs at night. He also walks into the bar area, and disappears here. Poltergeist activity has occured since the skull last unearthed. This activity includes glasses sliding off the bar and smashing while people hold them. It's also said that crockery moves from the shelves in the kitchen, but doesn't break. Steel buckers gave been thrown at staff along with beer keg taps. Another bit of activity said to occur is the sound of a human groan in the cellar.

Summary Of Hauntings

1. Victorian lady, possible skull owner - bar area

2. Long haired man, wears blue coat - walks landing, down the stairs, into bar area, at night

3. Glasses slide off bar

4. Glasses smash while held

5. Crockery moves from shelves - kitchen

6. Steel buckers thrown at staff

7. Beer keg taps thrown at staff

8. Human groan heard - cellar

My Thoughts

I honestly don't know what to think about 41 Iron Gate. I'm surprised with how little certain history there is, and I'm surprised with how few hauntings I've been able to find online. It definitely seems to be predominantly poltergeist activity here, and as little has been said on the victorian lady and long haired man I think they will have been picked up by a medium at some point and not actually seen by people. That is purely speculation though. It's also odd that I haven't managed to find many accounts of the poltergeist activity, and that it's fairly generic 'moving glasses' activity. It also seems like the poltergeist mostly interacts with the staff, which is very suspicious. To me, and I could be wrong, but a poltergeist that only the staff experiences seems to be a poltergeist that could have been created by the staff.

This leads to speculation that perhaps, as the name changed a few times since the 1980s, the iteration of the location at the time was at risk of failing financially and so fabricated a haunting to increase tourism. During 2003, the location was known as 'Lafferty's' and was investigated by the Most Haunted team. It can be assumed that it was Lafferty's when the skull was unearthed in the 90s, and perhaps their finances weren't great and this is why it changed to 'Jorrocks'. Again, it's purely speculation, but these events all seem too close together for them to be just coincidence. It would definitely be interesting for people to investigate here, especially with the skull being present. Apparently the skull was taken away by police to examine, so the skull could be real. The result of any investigation here would raise an interesting question of if the spirit remains near to the body after death.

Thank You!

Thank you for reading to the end of this article! I was expecting to find a bit more on this location, but it was still interesting to research regardless. Who knows, maybe the hauntings here were fabricated by the owners, maybe it's a location where the Most Haunted team have exaggerated the activity, or perhaps it is genuinely haunted as described online. If you have investigated this location, it would be great to hear what you found.

A special thank you goes to Damain, Nicolette, Kerry, GD, Chris Willcx, Nicola Jada, The Cornish Ghost Whisperers, Beardo Gets Scared, Starlight Phoenix Paranormal, Paranormal Penny Pinchers, the Australian Paranormal Society, Codegas Codex of Curiousity, Phantom Detectives LLC, and Shadow Walkers Paranormal Investigators for your continued support of The True Paranormal.

If you want to follow The True Paranormal you can do so on Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Tumblr. You can also subscribe to The True Paranormal on YouTube, or directly to this website through the bar on the left which will give you email notifications. That bar also lists all of the links which will take you to The True Paranormal's various social media platforms. If you want to contact me about your own experiences, or about anything at all paranormal, you can email thetrueparanormal1@gmail.com

A Donations Message

At the moment I don't have any ads running on anything, and I intend on the blog always being free for everyone to view because I believe knowledge should never be kept behind a paywall. I do, however, still need an income in order to continue writing articles. If you would like to donate towards The True Paranormal, you can do so via PayPal. If you are interested, my username is Daniel Carr and my paypal email is danielcarr130913@gmail.com. If you donate, I will be sure to thank you across social media and in my articles. Anything donated is much appreciated.

Sources I Have Used

1. Higgypop

2. Discover Derby

3. Derby CAMRA

4. Derby World

5. Travel Darkly

6. Historic England

7. Derby Uncovered

8. Alamy

9. Derbyshire Live

10. Discover Derby: Iron Gate

11. Alamy: Sign