Burton old gaol

BURTON OLD GAOL (THE OLD ROYAL OAK)

The Royal Oak was the towns prison and eventually reverted to a public house in the 1830s

In the cellar of the pub is believed where the minor convicts where kept and taken out through the doors at the front of the building put in the stocks and the rotten vegetables of the market stall thrown at them.

The building at the time of the lock up was a lot smaller than it is now with parts of the building being extended over the years originally there was an alleyway down the side of the pub that is now incorporated in the building. At the end of this alley way a building 4 ft by 9ft was situated with no windows. This was where the worst of the criminals of that time would have been situated in complete darkness shackled with there hands and arms above there heads, with only a breath pipe to give them air as they awaited there fait. The actual roof bracket and breath pipe are still there as is the hinges for the original doors.

No wonder then that the oak has been notorious for psychic activity in the town the first documented stories though of the ghost of the oak was in the 1970s when a new landlord moved into the pub with his family. As soon as he moved in he noted a strange atmosphere around the place and heard large bangs and unexplained noises from the empty rooms. Lights that where defiantly switched off where found to be on at 3am by passing policemen.

Soon after the landlord had moved in he asked some friends to stay over and they stayed in the living room due to the pub being busy. The next morning the landlord was in for a surprise he found his guests who had planed to stay for quiet a while packed up at breakfast time ready to leave who politely made there excuses and left stating that they would never be back. They later explained when off the premises that they had been awake all night with something keeping them awake and continually giving them the feeling of being watched. The landlord had relatives visit but they also left unexpectedly finding it hard to settle and hearing large bangs and having feelings of great unease.

A couple of years ago a gentleman stayed in a room upstairs but the feeling of unease was the same but this time to be proved right. As he was drifting of to sleep it was to be rudely awakened as glasses and various other items where thrown across the room the gentlemen didn’t wait to say goodbye to the landlord he fled quickly into the night. Noises from what is called the common room have carried on in the pub with load unexplained bangs taking place in this area. The events around other parts of the pub have taken place gas taps for the beer have been left on over night and in the morning have all been switched off, although the pub was locked and empty. The ghost has played more dangerous games though with other types of taps over the years. When food has been cooked on the stove in the kitchen they have left the kitchen area empty to only find that the gas taps had been turned right up incinerating the food and nearly causing a fire. Staff have felt the temperature drop suddenly and something tugging at there clothes not only have there clothes been touched but several of the staff have felt a strange trickling feeling down there leg like the feeling of a icy finger touching them .As well as this the spirit has been having a smashing time recently exploding glasses behind the bar when staff have gone to get them. When the pub was for sale a potential manager was asked to look round. There was only he and the reprehensive of the brewery in the building before going upstairs he noted that the hatch behind the bar was cemented down, on his return it had been pulled right up. He also had trouble-finding caretakers for the building as various individuals refused to stay there after their first night. One Caretaker who has vowed never to come back in the building after what he saw in the prison cell. Late at night as he was closing up he felt something staring at him from the area of this cell when he turned round it was to see a very dark intense figure standing in the cell area he ran upstairs and swore he would never work in the pub again and he never has.
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One ghost of the oak that is known is across the river in the village of Stapenhill a supposed witch lived called Alice Goderidge.The story starts when a thirteen year old boy returned from hunting and had visual hallucinations the doctor was called and he pronounced the boys bewitched and because Alice was slightly
Eccentric she was accused of witchcraft

She was sent for trial and found guilty and sent to derby jail to await her death sentence

Alice was questioned in Burton gaol. Alice was systematically tortured at one point her feet being put in front of the fire and her soles burnt by her two tortures to extract a statement that she was a witch. After being tortured she had to recite religious text without stumbling on a word, which would have been a confession of her guilt. Alice in between times would have likely been in the cell 4 by 9 in between her recitals and torture. Alice’s end is not clear cut one version of events is that Alice died in but another version is that Alice disappeared did she never return from Burton gaol and after being falsely accused, manipulated, tortured was she by today’s standards murdered there and is she the interactive restless spirit who frequents the oak.

The second ghost matches the description of the temporary manager as he is mainly seen as a dark figure in the condemned cell. He is the jailer of this establishment of course are own Mr. Richard Roe. The third ghost is of a mysterious teenage wraith that resides in the cellar area of the pub only scared for some reason to venture out of the cellar

Burton gaoler Richard roe who was the towns jailer and one man law enforcement officer, holding the positions of both the police constable and town jailor. He was 6ft 2” tall and was a big man with a big personality to match. He was the landlord also of the wheat sheaf pub, which stood on the corner of high street and Station Street. His prisoners were tied on an iron ring in the middle of the public bar and where dragged down here in chains when he thought it was time to do so on their way to the Burton lock up which is inside the Olde Royal Oak.

These are not the only spirits that frequent the former Burton jail there are spirits of a Victorian little girl and gentleman a grouping of Jesuit priest and a highwayman and a black dog a lady of the night who by all accounts met a grizzly end.

A film location for Burton ghost walks,Richard Felix and on the review for filming for MOST HAUNTED it is a must for all ghost hunters

There are 3 separate areas for vigils and inmvestigation the cellar, main pub and the large common room which are reported to be the most paranormally active areas of the building.

If you are a paranormal team or company who wish to rent the gaol overnight or a group of the public who wish to join one of our paranormal teams for an overnight investigation please contact us on the number below