Spooky Haunted Lifts In The UK
It is the season of the weird and wonderful paranormal, shorter days and longer nights. This Halloween our team has investigated some of the spookiest and scariest lifts in UK Hotels, from the past and present.
It is not all pumpkin spice and all things nice, so as you get ready for your Halloween party or to carve that pumpkin. Just think someone may be about to use two of these lifts this weekend.
The Palace Hotel Lift Merseyside
Located off the beaten track in remote location, it was refurbished as a hydro hotel in 1881, adding a new wing and increasing the bedroom count to 220. Over the years it had a number of developments, due to the loss of a local rail link and cheap foreign holidays its fortunes declined and closed in 1997
The Palace Hotel Was Used in Horror Movies
The building attracted film makers such as Tony Tenser’s Tigon Films, and used in The sorcerers with Boris Karloff, What’s Good For The Goose with Norman Wisdom, The Haunted House of Horror with Frankie Avalon and The Dark starring Dennis Price.
Tenser wanted to buy the building and turn into a film studio. However, the council refused a commercial partnership. In 1969 demolition began and workmen worked on side of the building and resided in the other. This is when things all started to get rather strange.
Workmen reported hearing voices coming from empty rooms, sometimes apparently arguing, and from the corridor on the second floor along with the sound of stiletto heels.
A four ton manually operated lift started to move on its own. Doors slammed shut as the workmen approached and then elevated to the 2nd floor at great speed.
The workmen cut of all the main electric power to the building, however the lift continued moving and doors opening and closing. The emergency hand winding gear was removed, this made no difference. The team of workmen were now scared, they refused to work after dark in the building and moved out to new accommodation.
The lift’s final movement was witnessed by a Mrs. K. Templeton who entered the building hoping to rescue antique mirrors. She testified that, while speaking to the workmen, the lift began to go up but made no noise while doing so. She followed two of the men up to the winding room only to find the lift brake was still on.
To stop all movement the cable was cut to which the lift still did not drop down. They used a sledgehammer to force the lift car down the shaft to the basement below.
The explanation for the lift not dropping is simple. If the cable is cut or becomes slack, the lift controls automatically eject wedges from the car sides, holding it into the shaft walls. But, similarly, if power to the lift is cut off an electromagnetic brake immediately kicks in and holds it in place. And yet, even when the electricity supply to the hotel was cut off, the lift kept on moving unaided.
So, what was behind the moving lift, the voices and even the stilettos?
2, Adelphi Hotel Lift, Liverpool
A hotel has sat on the site of the Adelphi since the early 1800s and so much paranormal activity has been recorded here that it was named the most haunted hotel in England in 2015. Many have told of the apparition of a teenage bell boy in full uniform picking up luggage before vanishing completely. It is thought to be a 15-year-old boy named Raymond Brown who died in 1961 after getting trapped in a baggage lift.
The figure of a woman with long black hair has been seen rummaging guests’ belongings in the early hours of the morning, only to vanish into thin air when approached. Apparently, the lady often likes to stand by the bedside of male visitors while stroking their hair.
Something also haunts the lift, with an unseen spirit that whistles and breathes down the neck of those using it – and has even tapped people on their shoulder.
Guests have reported falling violently ill during their stay, whilst others have reported feeling watched and others have mentioned seeing someone standing by the side of their bed.
Would you use this lift or stay in this hotel?
3.The Savoy, London
Comprising of a magical mix of Edwardian and Art Deco style, the Savoy was built in 1889, featuring the distinctive stainless steel Savoy sign and Lalique fountain to the marbled Edwardian front hall, the hotel truly makes a statement. The legendary American Bar and the gold-fronted lifts (seek out the Red Lift, or “Ascending Room”, which dates from when the hotel first opened). A £220million, three-year restoration completed in 2010 ensured nothing was lost from the original style and atmosphere.
The Savoy is one of the most famous luxury hotels in London, located on the Strand, and has had many reports of ghostly activity going on in the historic hotel. The fifth floor being the most reported. Rumours have it that a mysterious lift, is controlled by the ghost of a young girl who died in the building, and it is said she haunts the hallway near to room 502.
Would you stay on the Fifth Floor?
