ERBY'S location, almost in the centre of the country, has led to
its great importance for almost 2,000 years, and also to its great
prosperity.
Lying where highland meets lowland, at the
lowest crossing point
of the River Trent and its contributory the Derwent, at the start
of the Midlands plain and the end of the barren hills of the
north, it has always been a crossing of the ways. Many people
have passed through Derby on their way elsewhere others have
stayed. Some went on to greater things; others were
dispatched whence they came.
erby was the scene of the last hanging, drawing and
quartering to be carried out in England, the result of
the last rebellion against the Crown to take place in
England. At one time or another there were five prisons
in Derby - and a public house for every 36 people, no
wonder there was a need for so many prisons.
erby also
witnessed the last pressing to death, or the sentence of
penance, which took place at the time of King Charles 11
in 1665. The only peer of the realm to be hanged for murder
was Lawrence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers. For 126 years, the
De Ferrers family were Earls of Derby.
Lawrence Shirley was also the first man in England to be
hanged by the 'new drop' instead of the old system of the
condemned standing on a cart with a noose round his or hers neck.
ary, Queen of Scots, on her way to be executed at
Fotheringhay Castle, slept in Derby; the hopes and
aspirations of Bonnie Prince Charlie foundered here;
Florence Nightingale went on from Derby Railway Station
to world fame.
o wonder then - with Derby's long and illustrious history -
that there are so many souls still lingering here.
I strongly believe that ghosts, spirits and hauntings can play
a very real part in telling the story of an historic city like
Derby. Many of the hauntings and the sightings within the city
have been influenced by the events which have happened here, at
Derby, truly the crossroads of history.
eople say that ghosts do not know that they are dead, and that
in the trauma just before death, the energy expelled or expounded
is for some reason absorbed into the building -the stonework, the
woodwork - and for some reason, at certain times the events
immediately prior to their death can be recalled or replayed,
just as today the button on a video recorder can be switched to
play and, behold, we can watch someone long dead appear on a screen.
uildings, of course, change, and when a ghost is reported to be
'legless' it is often because the floor became higher; if they
are headless, unless, of course, their head is seen tucked under
their arm, it is because the ceiling is now lower than at the
time of their death. Many people have seen ghosts 'walk through
the walls' - are they really going through the wall or was there
a door there? Has it now been bricked up and plastered over and
wall paper put over it? Is the ghost simply going through a door
as it once knew it?
erhaps I am the wrong person to be writing about ghosts,
talking to people about ghosts and leading
ghost walks around the city of Derby.
s a child I was petrified of ghosts
and, to a certain extent, to this day I
still am, although the only experience I can claim was
when I heard the disembodied voice of a young
man dying of his wounds in Bestwood Lodge, Nottingham, in 1976.
When I was four years of age I was locked into garages and
garden sheds by friends and told that the 'Green Ghost' was
going to get me. Many a night, when I was a child, did I
lay awake beneath my bedclothes at night with my fingers
crossed waiting for that sighting, waiting for that demonic
being to enter my bedroom, pull back the bedclothes and reveal
its hideous face. Of course this never happened.
s a child I would not go upstairs alone, nor would I stay in any
building alone, and I would certainly not walk past a graveyard alone. This
fear is, again to a certain extent, still with me today.
Like so many people, of course, when someone is with me
I am not afraid, but when left alone in the dark, with my innermost
thoughts, those ghostly memories from my childhood come flooding
back.
Richard Felix
ould you like to share any supernatural or
unexplained occurrences with us?If so please let us know
his page is an introduction to a whole new section being prepared
for The City of Derby site. Look out for stories and pictures
covering all the ghosts and ghostly happenings of our city.
ould you like to share any supernatural or
unexplained occurrences with us?If so please let us know
Old Tudor Hall, St Peter's Churchyard, Derby DE1 1NN
Tel +44 1332 299321
Swann Internet Services.
The information on this page is supplied courtesy of Wayne Anthony (author) and Richard Felix (local historian).
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