Leeds Beckett's Haunted History

The oldest and most haunted building on the campus is The Grange.

The Grange was originally a monastic farm that belonged to Kirkstall Abbey. It was then rebuilt in 1626 by Benjamin Wade.

The present building was designed by Palladian architect James Paine.

In the nineteenth-century the Beckett family renamed the estate Kirkstall Grange and remodelled parts of the mansion.

A permanent base for the city of Leeds Training College was established in the grounds of Kirkstall Grange, which was sold to Leeds Education Authority.

The ghosts of The Grange

The Butler:

It's alleged that at some point in The Grange's history a butler took his own life. The butler was said to be in love with the daughter of the house. A victim of unrequited love, he is said to have walked to the top floor and with a broken heart leapt to his death - plummeting down three stories onto the stone ground at the bottom of the spiral staircase.

The Char Lady:

Cleaner Denise Shanks says that whenever she is working in The Grange she feels like she's being watched - often early in the morning when no-one else is about. She's been told that whilst there, she is followed around by a Char Lady who is checking to make sure she does her job properly.

The cigar smoking ghost:

Resident ghost expert Ian Crossland tells of how on walking up a back staircase, he walked through a fog of unexplained smoke.

The perfume wearing ghost:

Cleaner Denise reports that outside the ladies toilet on the first floor, she often smells a very old fashioned perfume - similar to parma violets. This usually happens first thing in the morning when the smell suddenly appears before disappearing as quickly.

The mysterious figure in black:

A security guard says that when he was opening up The Grange one morning, he walked past a mysterious man dressed all in black or grey. The security guard said 'Good morning' but the man in dark clothing kept his head down and walked on towards the entrance doors which were locked. On checking the man had vanished into thin air!

The strange figure in the window:

In just the last few days, a strange figure has been seen in a room as a staff member drove away from work. He had closed the room leaving a couple of blinds open, but on getting into a car he looked towards the window and saw quite clearly a shadowy figure in the middle of the room looking out of the window. He couldn't tell if it was a man or women but could make out the face. There's no explanation as to who this person was because nobody should have been in that room.

James Graham Building

World War 1 broke out in 1914 and the James Graham building, which now houses the library and lecture theatres, became a war hospital where more than 50,000 sick and injured soldiers were treated.

A lot of the soldiers brought to the hospital were suffering from severe leg and arm injuries and needed amputations.

Rumours are that behind what is now the James Graham Building, there were piles of amputated limbs, making it quite a gruesome place to be.

With all the sickness, death and suffering, it's not surprising that the building is alleged to be haunted with many staff members seeing and hearing unusual things.

One security guard, whilst locking up for the evening, told of how all the doors along the length of the corridor he was in suddenly opened and closed one after the other - totally unexplained!

The Ghost Hunt

Just one week ago on a dark autumn night, Ian Crossland led a team of journalists, staff and students around what's reported to be the most haunted building on the Headingley Campus - The Grange.

The team started off in the Panel Room, where ghostly goings on have been reported many times in the past. They then split into two groups and went their separate ways around the building.

People reported feeling uneasy in certain rooms but it was back in the Panel Room that things started to happen.

First of all after Ian asked any spirit to copy him and knocked twice on the table, members of the team heard a dull thud, like a heavy footstep, from the room above which was definitely empty. Two further knocks where then heard in the room behind the large table where everyone was gathered.

Michael Craven, a paranormal investigator, reported back that several interesting noises were picked up on his recording equipment and his electromagnetic device was definitely picking up activity.

Those who attended the ghost hunt were left wondering if they had actually been visited by ghosts that night or whether there was a more logical explanation for the strange noises and activity.