Has Another Spirit Been Awakened At Ripon’s Workhouse Museum?

Has the spirit of a former inmate been awakened in the dormitory at Ripon’s Workhouse Museum?

The Victorian building on Allhallowgate is currently being renovated as part of a £3.3 million scheme made possible with a £2.5 million award from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Andy Dewhurst, who is project manager on site for main contractor Dobson Construction Ltd, believes the works may have disturbed someone or something that cannot be logically explained.

He told Tim Flanagan of the Rejoicing in Ripon blog: “I was on site at 7.15 one morning before any fellow workers were due to arrive and while I was in the accommodation block, I could hear the sound of foot fall in the room above, which, in Victorian times, would have been the area where the men’s dormitory was located.

“When I went upstairs to check who else had arrived, there was nobody to be found.”

Andy added: “Prior to this incident, the same thing happened to my deputy Vic Dobson while he was working here alone and he got spooked when, like me, he heard the same foot fall across the upper floor.”

Andy pointed out: “I have never previously believed in ghosts, having worked on the renovation of numerous old buildings across the country, but Vic and I definitely felt that there was another presence in the building.”

Vic added: “I’ve been involved in the refurbishment of a lot of old buildings, and this was not the sound that you sometimes get from settlement.

“It was, without a doubt in my mind, foot fall that I could hear going across the floor at a time of day when I was the only builder on site.”
With the experiences of Andy and Vic suggesting that a being, no longer of this world, may have been disturbed during the reconfiguration of the accommodation block, ghost hunters, ranging from the curious seeking stories of the supernatural, to paranormal investigators with their scientific paraphernalia, will be able find out more when the refurbished building opens this summer.

A haunted city

The ancient city of Ripon whose roots go back to the seventh century, is high on the list of haunted places in the UK and the extensive Victorian Workhouse complex, which had its own mortuary for the impoverished people who perished during their stay, already has four named ghosts – Nora, Bernhard, Robert and Stan.

Director of Ripon Museums Alexa Vernon, who has charge of the Workhouse, Prison & Police and Courthouse Museums, said: “All three of our heritage attractions help to tell the real-life stories of the unfortunate people – from children to the elderly – who fell on hard times and found themselves at the mercy of a severe Victorian regime in which destitution, crime and punishment went hand in hand.

Respecting the dead

“Sadly, some spent their final days on this earth as workhouse inmates and in our new exhibit titled Inspiration for a fairer future, which will be unveiled this summer, we hope that visitors of all ages, will take time to reflect on what life was like for these destitute people and show the same respect for them in death as should have been afforded to them in life.”

Temporary closure of the Workhouse Museum

With the final elements of the refurbishment programme nearing completion, the Workhouse Museum will close temporarily from Sunday (June 14th) and reopen on July 20th in time for the school holidays.

The Prison & Police Museum, which has many of its own ghost stories to tell and the Courthouse Museum, where life and death decisions were made, will remain open.

The Manager of Ripon BID, Lilla Bathurst, said: “The trio of tremendous museums provide a unique visitor experience and the fact that they enjoy the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, underlines their importance.

“There is no other place of comparable size in the north of England that can offer, through our magnificent medieval cathedral, Market Square with 18th century obelisk and museums of Victorian vintage, a location so rich in history and heritage.”