Mains Hall is an old Manor House that is steeped in history, myth and local legend. Some of these myths and legends are linked with the belief that this ancient Hall plays host to some 'other worldly' guests, who share this space along with the living...
The Ghosts Of Mains Hall
‘Lily’
We have many ghosts here in the old Hall, some seen regularly both by ourselves and others. We have sightings of a lady at the top of the grand staircase; she looks soulfully towards one area of the wall. This lady, whom we now call ‘Lily’, is seen not only on the grand stairs and in the Tudor Room, but often she ventures into our bedroom. Several psychics have picked up on her melancholy and said she is looking out for her love, who appears to have deserted her. Whilst renovating the old Hall recently we found, behind ‘modern’ plasterboard, an old original window in exactly the location she seems to be looking out...!
Monks and Priests
There are several priest hides here within Mains Hall and when the old Elizabethan banqueting wing on the west side was demolished in the late 1800s, priest hides were discovered there too beside the huge open fireplace. Cardinal Allen (having family links with the Heskeths of Maynes - his sister married a Hesketh) hid here on many occasion to escape the Protestant authorities, as have many other priests who were always made welcome here. There are local legends and ghost stories dating back over 50 years, of wandering monks and priest-like figures in robes, seen in the house, The Great Hall and in the grounds. During the 13th and 14th centuries, before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the hall had possible links with Cockersand Abbey. Some say lay brothers, tenant farmers at the time, died of the plague here and are reputedly buried beneath ancient trees at the back of the Hall. Who are these phantom cloaked and hooded figures? Is this the long dead Cardinal back to haunt his favourite hiding place, the lost souls of the tenant lay brothers...or the family priest who was in residence here during those dangerous times?
Cavaliers and Roundheads
Cavaliers are seen regularly in the 'winter snug' (used to be the old bar of the hotel), in fact the best recorded sighting was when at least 12 people who were staying in the then hotel, all saw the ghostly figure of a Cavalier in one corner of the room. Orbs [ however contentious an issue !] are frequently recorded in the same area of this room, although no-one has yet managed to photograph a full shape. Talking of ‘shapes’ – blurred forms are seen on the stairs where, local legend tells us that swordfights took place and one unfortunate apparently lost his life. History tells us that local marauders, during the Jacobite rebellion sought food and shelter here from the lady of the house, whilst her husband made himself scarce. A tradesman who was working here once refused to continue his work on this part of the house as he said..’ I can’t stay here, it’s too ‘busy’ on these stairs, I can both see and feel spirits everywhere here !’ He left - unable to continue his contract work, obviously rattled by what he had seen or felt.
Lords and Ladies of The Past
Several strong male presences have been felt in various parts of the house.
Some say there is a definite negative male presence in the Tudor Room as well as someone who is often described as a true ‘Lady’ – a lady who is expecting Royalty [Prinny ?] One visiting psychic told me that one man did not approve of the building works we had done and he had made his feelings known to several people, including a housekeeper who worked here during its time as a hotel. She was physically punched or pushed most hard in her stomach one day whilst cleaning and she regularly complained of having her Hoover switched off and then on again.
Another psychic saw a hanged man in this room, is this how the housekeeper got ‘punched’ in the stomach...as his dangling legs caught her...? Various other men and women are recorded in this room, one of the most active over the years, including a gentleman in riding gear who holds a riding crop at his side threateningly, a lady who gazes out of the shuttered windows towards the river, and again, hooded figures who seem to linger by the old back stairways, where once another priest hide was located. We have had sightings of what people describe as a ‘nanny’ figure in the Victorian extension of the building, and little did they know that that end of the Hall did once house a well-to-do- families’ nanny who took care of the children of the house.
Children
Children feature strongly around the Hall and people often say they see children in various parts of the house or hear them laughing and singing nursery rhymes. It is believed that these may well be the children of the Hesketh family - some of whom it is recorded, sadly, lost their lives at a tender age due to illness or disease, as was often the case during those ancient times. Guests independent of each other over the years have reported to reception staff the fact that they were woken in the early hours by a child sitting on the end of their bed. One gentleman, an ex CID Inspector said he would never come back here again ! Two young brothers and a sister from the same family are often seen in one particular area of the house.
They are described as wearing ‘old fashioned’ clothing, perhaps from the Victorian period. Another story refers to a time closer to our own, where a lady who used to live here saw a lone child in the same room, often thought to house the old nursery, and was subsequently told by a previous owner that a child had died in this room. Are these young spectral guests playing together in this area of the house - strangely comforted by each other, despite their apparent time differences?
Other Worldly Romantic Assignations
Or put another way – what is sometimes known as an incubus haunting. We have had two incidents of a man getting into bed with women in what used to be Room 9 (- some gals get all the luck !!) – this first reported by a lady guest some several decades ago and then more recently in the last 5 years by another business lady who was staying in the hotel. A close friend of mine who stays with me when passing through from the South up to Scotland, always says she likes that room and says that often, she hears someone shuffling outside the door and on saying 'come in' or 'hello', she gets up and finds that there is no-one there at all.
Poltergeists, Ley Lines and Tunnels
Poltergeist activity is often simply ghostly pranks. There are too many to describe fully here, but briefly they comprise of opening and closing of doors, being locked in some rooms in the house, objects being moved around from one area to another (anything...from your towels, a hairbrush, to keys, to my shoes being ‘lost’ for days then re-appearing in the strangest place).
Someone sits on the bed and leaves a mark where they have been, door latches often rattle loudly, someone whispers in your ear just as you are falling asleep - this has happened to me personally and it always makes me jump out of my skin!
We have innumerable technical problems here at the Hall (we are apparently on crossed ley lines - no wonder) these include: TV sets working, then not working, TV channels changing on their own, computers and telephone system going down, cutting you off when talking on the phone etc. (we still use the ex hotel switchboard system which has been recently upgraded and should be working perfectly...but doesn't!) electrical problems such as plug sockets not working, then they do, light bulbs going out then on again ( again, we have been recently rewired 2 yrs ago, so cannot blame faulty or old electrical systems), sound systems not working properly....the list goes on.
We have had 2 recent incidents where someone was recording something professionally, once for a local radio station, and once during a charity ghost hunt we had here. On both occasions equipment 'went down', did not work and / or any recordings did not ‘appear’ on the tape! Frequently, on past ghost hunt nights we have held here, people report their batteries draining, cameras malfunctioning and so on. We have several very interesting and unusual photographs which we cannot explain, some of these are featured in our gallery of photos.
We have been told that local legend dictates that there is an underground tunnel beneath us leading down towards the ancient dovecote and beyond, towards the river bank, where, during ancient times, most travellers crossed over towards Cockersand Abbey using Aldwather Ford, now known as the Shard.
There is (was) also a well on the site just near the front door to the Hall, but sadly we had to fill it in when we built the new Great Hall, but with these geological combinations of water, ley lines and tunnels – it may be no surprise that we have so much apparent paranormal activity in this ancient old Hall?
If you have seen a ghost here at Mains Hall and wish to share your story, please contact me anytime on adele@mainshall.co.uk
Adele Yeomans [Proprietor]
Click here to read one ghost hunter’s experience at Mains Hall and to find out more about the ghosts of Mains Hall and other ‘spooky’ Lancashire stories - go to the BBC Lancashire website.