The Schooner Hotel
The Schooner Hotel is located within Northumberland, England, and has history which possibly dates back to the 1600s. This Hotel has been called one of the most haunted hotels in the UK, and it's thought that at least sixty spirits reside here. There are many stories linked with this hotel, including that of a family who were brutally murdered within one of the rooms. Some of the spirits thought to reside here are dark shadows which manifest at the ends of beds, children who hide within wardrobes, and a dark figure which has inspired fear in staff members.
History
The Schooner Hotel takes it's name from a sailing ship that was first used by the Dutch during the 1500s and 1600s. This type of ship was a cargo vessel that was capable of both ocean and coastal travel, and was developed in the Americas during the 1700s. The village of Alnmouth, where the Schooner Hotel is located, was a legitimate trading port which was used as a haven for smugglers and vagabonds. John Wesley, who founded the Methodist Church, said Alnmouth was 'a small seaport town famous for it's wickedness'. As for when the Schooner Hotel came to be, it's thought the location was built during the 1600s and used as a coaching inn; however, other sources have dated it to the early 1800s with it then being extended during the late 1800s. It's possible that the 1600s date is referring to a location that existed prior to the current building, which would be the one built during the 1800s.
Alledgedly there was a secret passage used by the smugglers which led from the hotel to the beach. It's also been said that there are many stories of murders, suicides, and massacres which have occured within this building. These stories will be documented later in the article. It's also said that Charles Dickens, Basil Rathbone, Douglas Bader, and King George III have all stayed within this hotel. Apparently, the history of this location is 'well documented'; however this is all to be found on the location's history aside more modern reports and vaguely detailed stories of tragedy. Such tales include baby's being thrown into fires, although I've found no further details on this, and a family were murdered in room 28. I've found one source say it was the De-Vere family, and that the husband killed his wife and two kids, but other sources say it may have been smugglers, and that the family was unknown.
In more modern history, the building gained a grade II listing on the 31st of December 1969; and this ended up getting a recent owner in some trouble. The owner and manager, Mohammad Maten Rohman, removed the original wood sash windows and installed UPVC without getting planning permission. Fire safety issues were then identified during a fire safety audit that occured during the June of 2021. Rohman, who was fifty at the time, admitted to ten breaches of Regulatory Reform Order 2005 and recieved a two year suspended sentence. He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of community order and had to pay £24,124 in costs. The issue date of this was the 16th of June 2021, but I have found a source that mentioned the month of August, so I'm unsure of what happened during the August.
Rohman had to close the bar and kitchen as a result of losing his license, and it's said there was also a rat infestation that led to a 'hygiene emergency prohibition notice' being issued. The Food Standards Agency also gave the location a 0 Star hygiene rating. It seems the location has since undergone a £200,000 refurbishment, and from what I've found it seems the location has turned things around. In total there are thirty-two rooms within the Schooner Hotel, and apparently most of these rooms are haunted.
Haunted Stories
Apparently there have been over 3000 recent reports of paranormal activity within the Schooner Hotel, and it's been called one of the most haunted hotels in the UK. 'The Poltergeist Society' has apparently given the location the title of 'The Most Haunted Hotel In Great Britain' twice. During 1998, the 'British Poltergeist Society' awarded the hotel with 'Haunted Hotel Of The Year'. The location is also listed on a record as having over sixty individual ghosts. I feel it's important to say here that there is a seperate Schooner location called 'The Schooner' which is located in Gateshead, England. The reason I feel it important to mention that location is because while researching hauntings of 'The Schooner Hotel', I did come across details of hauntings from 'The Schooner'. Both locations are relatively close to one another, and so there is a possibility of someone at some point accidentally mixing up these places; and so I wanted to clarify they are both said to be haunted, and they are both different places.
There are three stories relating to the paranormal activity within the Schooner Hotel. The first event is said to have occured within the 1700s. During this time, a fight broke out during the night between some young sailors. The fight went out of the hotel and into the street, but was interuppted by a tall, broad, wraith-like figure that emerged. This figure pulled back their trench coat, withdrew two pistols, and shot two of the sailors in the face. This killed the sailors instantly, and the figure grabbed the collars of the sailors' bodies and dragged them away into the darkness. These sailors were never found. Apparently a tall, broad, skulking, and faceless figure has been seen in the hotel. This figure slowly thuds and creeps along the corridors and is said to drag what appears to be two bloody carcasses behind him.
The second story is about a young girl and a French sailer. The sailor had docked for several days while waiting for cargo, and during this time he and girl fell in love. On the last night before sailing, he surprised the girl with a suite he had arranged in the Schooner Hotel. After the night, the girl woke up to find the sailor had gone, and that his ship had set sail. The girl was heartbroken, and so she went back to her suite and hung herself from the rafters. Her body was found the next morning by the cleaning maids, and it's said that no one knows which room this event occured in. Apprently the spirit of a pale and weeping young lady has been reported, and that she glides through the corridors during the night while looking devastated.
The final story is about a family of four who were brutally massacred in their bedroom: room 28. This is the most detailed account of the massacre, but it's important to say other sources have tweaked certain details. This particular account says a family of four arrived at the hotel during a December evening. Their carriage and horse was taken to the stables and the family were escorted to their room. At around midnight, people began to leave and things became quieter in the hotel. It was then at around 6am that the landlord was woken by the sound of the morning maid. He went to find out why she was making such noise, and found her in the top floor bedroom lying on the floor in the fetal position while crying hysterically.
Looking around the room, the landlord saw a large tankard of milk which the family had requested the previous evening had been thrown over the floor, and the bodies of the family had been mutilated. They were lying in their beds, with their hands clasped together at their waists, as though posed. Their faces were unrecognisable, lacerations covered their naked bodies, and their vital organs lay at their sides. The bed sheets were soaked in blood, and the odd finger and limb could be seen on the bedside tables. Apparently there were also piles of guts and gore sitting in small mounds around the room.
The police were told about the incident, but they never found who did the crime. A local merchant was suspected as he had agreed to a business deal with the dad of the family, and this deal had left the merchant in financial ruin. The merchant had also regularly threatened revenge on the family, but never violence. The merchant was released without charge due to a lack of evidence. Some sources say that the murders were done by smugglers, and others say that the dad killed his family and then himself. One source has said the family was the De-Vere family, but I have found no other sources backing up this claim.
Hauntings
It's been said that room 18 is the most haunted in the hotel, and that this is where a whole family was killed by a gang of smugglers in their sleep. As I've found the same information regarding room 28, I'm going to assume that the source that said 'room 18' simply mistyped and meant 'room 28'. This source went on to say a screaming woman, along with knocking and bangs can be found in this room. Other activity to occur within room 28 includes children's voices, children crying, an overwhelming sense of fear, and a feeling of an unseen presence. It's also said a young girl and a young boy are within this room.
A woman staying in room 28 woke up in the middle of the night to see her daughter chatting to someone. When she asked the daughter who she was talking to, the daughter said the man at the end of the bed and wondered why her mum couldn't see him. Related to this, people have reported seeing dark shadows standing at the end of the bed which have elongated fingers. It's also said this can be accompanied by paralysis and a feeling of dread. However, a few sources have said this occurs within rooms 16 and 17, not room 28. Temperature drops are also said to occur within rooms 16 and 17, and figures are said to stand in the corridor outside these rooms. A hidden door was found that connected these two rooms, and so could explain the similar hauntings of rooms 16 and 17. There is also believed to be a young boy in the corridor outside these rooms, and it's thought this boy is the one who knocks on all the doors down the corridor.
In rooms 28, 29, and 30, it's said that knocks, bangs, whispering, dread, dizziness, and sickness can all occur. More specifically, the guttural whispers occur in these rooms during the early hours of the morning. It's also said that a young cavalier and maid walk hand in hand across room 29, and that they stop and stare at one another before disappearing through a wall that takes them into room 28. People have been woken by the smell of burning within rooms 16 and 17, and room 17 is said to be home to a poltergeist. Room 16 apparently has the spirit of a little girl who has been heard mumbling from within the wardrobe.
Childish laughter has been heard in one of the bathrooms, and a soldier walks the corridors of the second floors. A maid also appears on the stairs and corridor of the first floor. It's unclear if this maid and soldier are the same as the maid and cavalier. Another brief story says a dark figure was sighted as it quickly darted outside of either room 20 or room 22. It banged into the fire doors opposite, and two staff members witnessed it. They ran away when the dark figure turned to them and quickly moved in their direction. The same source that noted it as room 22 also said the figure crawled towards the staff members. People were sent to check the corridors, but no one was found. Only one name has been mentioned in connection to the hauntings, and this is 'Parson Smyth'. Apparently they died in an accident within the cellar. One source has also said there is a ghost of a chicken present, and another has said there is a little boy who rides a tricycle on the landing.
Summary Of Hauntings
1. Faceless figure, tall, broad,skulking, slowly thuds and creeps, drags 2 bodies behind
2. Young lady, pale, weeping, glides thorough corridors, looks devastated, at night
3. Dark figure - room 20 or room 22, corridor outside room 20 or room 22
4. Soldier - second floor corridors
5. Maid - stairs and first floor corridor
6. Screaming woman - room 28
7. Young girl - room 28
8. Young boy - room 28
9. Little girl, mumbles in wardrobe - room 16
10. Poltergeist - room 17
11. Little boy, rides tricycle - landing
12. Dark figure, end of bed - room 16, room 17, maybe room 28
13. Young cavalier - room 29, goes into room 28
14. Maid - room 29, goes into room 28
15. Childish laughter - bathroom
16. Gutteral whispers, early hours of morning - room 28, room 29, room 30
17. Temperature drops - room 16, room 17
18. Smell of burning - room 16, room 17
19. A chicken
20. Parson Smyth, died in cellar accident - cellar
21. Children crying - room 28
22. Children's voices - room 28
23. Overwhelming sense of fear - room 28
24. Feeling of an unseen presence - room 28
25. Young boy, knocks on doors - corridor outside rooms 16 and 17
26. Knocks - rooms 28, 29, 30
27. Bangs - rooms 28, 29, 30
28. Dizziness - rooms 28, 29, 30
29. Sickness - rooms 28, 29, 30
30. Feelings of dread - rooms 28, 29, 30
My Thoughts
This was an odd location because even though I've found the history is 'well documented', it really doesn't seem to be at all. It's also worth mentioning that 'The Paranormal Database' has said it seems the 'Poltergeist Society' never existed, and so anything to do with this society seems like it's for publicity purposes. I agree with this. I think there isn't enough documented history to know for sure what's haunting this location. Even the story about the murders doesn't seem to have any official documentation. As a result, the stories about the location's 'history' seem like stories told to visitors or investigators.
Regarding the individual accounts of hauntings, I think some of it can be explained through rational logic. Seeing the figures at the end of the bed, apparently being accompanied by paralysis and dread, just sounds like someone experienced sleep paralysis. Experiencing that in this location, possibly for the first time, and then hearing from the owners about it being haunted would absolutely lead to ghost stories being created from the event.
The sounds of children could just be a case of thin walls in an old building. The dizziness and sickness could come from bad food, especially if this was reported during the hotel's bad patch. 'Parson Smyth' is a name I feel was likely picked up by a medium, and so I don't trust that at all; especially as I've found no details on the accident they died in. The other spirits seem somewhat connected to the 'vague regarding history, but detailed regarding story' haunted stories which were written earlier in the article; and so with no solid historical foundation, I feel these stories and their hauntings can't be trusted either.
While I don't doubt that there could be, and likely will be, at least one spirit here; I don't think this location is as significant as the accounts of hauntings make it seem. I do feel this is one of those locations where tales of hauntings have come from a money making, wanting to get visitors and publicity, point of view. I could be very wrong with that assumption, but given a trusted source has implied this is the case, then I do believe I could be right.
Thank You!
Thank you for reading this article! It's quite bizarre because I found more details around the hauntings and investigations of 'The Schooner' in Gateshead than I did of 'The Schooner Hotel' in Alnmouth. I would like for the Schooner Hotel to be as haunted as is claimed, especially as sources were making it out that you'd get guaranteed activity given how many spirits are there. It is another one though where it's commonly said sixty individual spirit are present, yet I struggled with finding thirty; and that's including the phenomena the spirits create. The next article will be released on Friday the 4th of October, and will be Beardo Live: Fake vs Real Pt3. The next haunted location article will be released on Monday the 7th of October, and will be about a location in Norfolk.
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Sources I Have Used
9. Mirror
11. Higgypop
13. Haunted Hovel
15. Tammy Tour Guide
17. Hauntd
18. Venues 4 Hire
25. Hexham Courant
27. Spooky Isles
28. Square Meal
29. Really Haunted
32. The Schooner
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