Newsham Park Hospital

Newsham Park Hospital has one of the most complex and tragic histories of any haunted location in Britain. Originally opened in 1874 as the West Derby Union Workhouse and later serving as an orphanage, the complex became a psychiatric hospital in the 1950s before closing in 1997. The building’s multi-layered past includes the suffering of orphaned children, workhouse inmates, and psychiatric patients, creating what paranormal investigators describe as one of the most actively haunted sites in the UK with phenomena spanning different eras.

The range of paranormal activity reported at Newsham Park is extraordinary. Apparitions of children have been seen playing in corridors and stairwells, their laughter echoing through empty rooms before they vanish. Phantom nurses and patients from the psychiatric hospital era are regularly encountered, often appearing confused or distressed. The most disturbing reports involve intense poltergeist activity, including objects being thrown, doors slamming violently, and visitors being physically touched, pushed, or scratched by unseen forces. The sounds of children crying, adult patients screaming, and footsteps running through corridors are frequently reported.

The orphanage sections, psychiatric wards, morgue, and isolation cells are considered the most haunted areas. The building’s chapel is said to be particularly active, with reports of organ music playing by itself and the apparition of a priest conducting services to an invisible congregation. Investigators have captured compelling EVP recordings including children’s voices, patients calling for help, and unexplained whispering. The basement and tunnel systems are regarded as especially dangerous, with multiple witnesses reporting aggressive encounters and the overwhelming sensation of malevolent energy. The location has become a popular destination for ghost hunters, many of whom report it as the most intense paranormal experience of their lives.