EXCLUSIVE: 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, project manager for 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 that his deputy, Vic Dobson, had experienced the same thing while working alone — and was equally spooked. 😨
Andy pointed out: “I have never previously believed in ghosts… but Vic and I definitely felt that there was another presence in the building.”
Vic agreed: “It was, without a doubt in my mind, foot fall going across the floor at a time of day when I was the only builder on site.”
With both men convinced that something otherworldly may have been disturbed during the reconfiguration of the accommodation block, ghost hunters — from the curious to the scientifically equipped — will be eager to explore 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. The extensive Victorian Workhouse complex, which had its own mortuary for impoverished inmates who died there, already has four named ghosts: Nora, Bernhard, Robert and Stan. 🕯️
Director of Ripon Museums, Alexa Vernon, 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.”
Respecting the dead 🌿
“Sadly, some spent their final days on this earth as workhouse inmates,” Alexa added. “In our new exhibit Inspiration for a fairer future, which will be unveiled this summer, we hope visitors will 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 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 — with its own ghost stories — and the Courthouse Museum will remain open. 👮♂️⚖️
Ripon BID Manager, Lilla Bathurst, said:
“The trio of tremendous museums provide a unique visitor experience… There is no other place of comparable size in the north of England that can offer such a rich tapestry of history and heritage.”
All photographs taken by Tim Flanagan of the Rejoicing in Ripon Blog for Ripon BID.
Site manager Andy Dewhurst pictured in the room beneath the dormitory where he heard the sound of footfall above.
Vic Dobson was the first to hear the unexplained footfall while on his own in the Workhouse accommodation block.
The complex includes a mortuary where the bodies of inmates who died were prepared for burial.
The Workhouse Museum already has four named ghosts.
The Prison & Police Museum has its own ghost stories to tell.
