Derby Gaol Paranormal Investigation

Delve into the history of Derby Gaol (Jail) and there is little wonder as to why this location has claimed the crown for the most haunted building in Derby! 

The Gaol that exists today was constructed from many of the original materials used from the original Derby Gaol that was constructed after an act of parliament in the early 1500’s to house local criminals –  from mere petty crime to brutal murders. The original jail was eventually decommissioned and the new Derby Jail built in 1756 after the old site was sanctioned as unclean and of poor living conditions. However the new gaol was hardly 5 star by comparison! Built to house up to 23 inmates, it soon became a place of overcrowding and poor sanitation, Gaol fever ran rife throughout and death was a common occurance inside the gaol walls. It wasn’t until 1787 that it was deemed unacceptable and a law was enforced that all Gaol cells should be lime-washed and cleaned once a year!

The site of the current gaol was stragically placed in the “execution quarter” of Derby. It was perfectly normal for prisoners to meet their fate at the Gallows. In 1752, close to the time that Derby Gaol was opened, the law had introduced it’s most gruesome form of punishment and it was not unusual for Murderers to have been sentenced to death by being “hung, drawn and quartered”, an execution whereby the general public could not only witness the hanging, but witness the dissection of the corpse. These were brutal times and Derby Gaol would have been a very harrowing place to be!

With such a vile past, it is no wonder that there appears to be more than meets the eye to this Derby building. Many visitors have left visiting the cells with a real feeling of sickness, others with discomfort to the throat. Is this the meddling of former inmates? Other visitors have sensed dark figures in the gaol with some claims of seeing hanging bodies from the ceilings. The owner, Richard Felix, who applies mass logic to the paranormal field, has had a few encounters that have left him more than a little shaken.