Hall i' th' Wood

Hall i’ th’ Wood is a remarkable timber-framed manor house dating from the early 16th century, its name derived from its original setting in a wooded area on the outskirts of Bolton. The building represents several periods of construction, from medieval stone to Tudor black-and-white timber framing. During the 18th century, the hall was divided into tenements and housed working-class families, including Samuel Crompton, who invented the spinning mule here in 1779—a device that revolutionized textile manufacturing. This connection to the weaving industry may explain one of the hall’s most persistent supernatural phenomena: the phantom weaver.

Visitors and caretakers at Hall i’ th’ Wood frequently report hearing the distinctive rhythmic clacking sound of a hand loom in operation, echoing through empty rooms, particularly in the areas where Samuel Crompton worked on his invention. The sounds are most often heard in the evening and at night, sometimes accompanied by the creak of a treadle and the whoosh of a shuttle passing through the warp. When investigators go to find the source, the sounds stop abruptly, and the rooms are empty. Some witnesses have seen fleeting shadows moving in a repetitive motion, as if working at an invisible loom, and a few claim to have glimpsed a figure in 18th-century working clothes bent over their craft before fading away.

The hall experiences other paranormal activity beyond the phantom weaver. The Tudor section of the building is haunted by a woman in period dress, seen gliding through corridors and appearing at windows. Staff report objects moving on their own, doors that won’t stay closed, and sudden cold spots in specific rooms. The old stone section, the oldest part of the building, has an oppressive atmosphere, with some visitors reporting feelings of being watched or followed. Footsteps echo on wooden floors and staircases when the building is empty, and some have heard voices in conversation though the words are indistinct. The gardens are not exempt from activity—a male figure in Elizabethan clothing has been seen walking the grounds before vanishing. Hall i’ th’ Wood’s ghosts seem to represent different eras of its existence, from medieval manor to industrial workshop, creating a layered haunting that reflects the building’s diverse history.