Currently owned by Most Haunted's Richard Felix the Gaol has an interesting history. The building was built in 1756 and designed to hold up to 29 prisoners at any given time. The prisoners ranged from poor debtors, petty criminals, murderers and traitors. Between 1730 and 1832 there were around 260 crimes that held the death penalty!
If a prisoner received a death sentence it was usually dealt with by hanging until dead. However, 1752 saw the introduction of the 'Horrid Act of Murder' which the offender was not only hung the body was given to a surgeon to be dissected and anatomised. The fear was if after death if the body wasn't buried whole there would be no resurrection and the soul would not be able rest...
There were attempts to escape the Gaol and its squalid conditions by numerous inmates. One well documented attempt is that of 14th Jan 1778, several prisoners decided to try and escape through the door of the dungeon whilst the court sessions were underway, a time when the gaol would be less guarded. One of the intended escapees decided he couldn't go through with the attempt and confessed all to a Gaoler, Blyth Simpson. Simpson ran to the cell where the men were held and found that they had managed to saw through their leg irons and the bars on the door. They were then subsequently held in a more secure cell!
One successful attempt was achieved by Thomas Shaw, however he was captured soon after. Escapees sentences were to be hung, regardless of their original crime.
Activity
Paranormal activity at this infamous Gaol is a regular occurrence, even Richard Felix has witnessed unexplained goings on. One day he was on the telephone, looked up and saw a grey hazy figure glide down the corridor and disappear. Whilst doing some restoration work, one of the builders was working in the cells when all of a sudden the door closed on its own accord. These doors are very thick and there is some debate as to whether a breeze would be strong enough to close it.
Again in the cells people have felt very sick, experienced involuntary crying episodes and uncomfortable feelings of being watched. Many people that go into the gaol, without knowing the history, have to leave as they get the feeling of their throats being constricted and nausea. Two ladies experienced this one day and as leaving the building they walked past a man, who they mistook for an actor, dressed in a sleeveless leather 'body-warmer' however he promptly disappeared. The same character has been spotted by a member of staff who described him as 'evil'.
BRINGING TWO WORLDS TOGETHER
