Alton Towers is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the UK that's guaranteed to be a fun day out for the whole family.
Pre covid over 2.5 million visitors would flock to the theme park each year on average, but many people will be unaware of some of the spooky sightings there.
The site has a rich history dating all the way back to the 8th century when a fort was built for Ceolred, the young King of Mercia, who ruled for seven years before going insane.
It was believed that both he and the ground of Alton Towers were cursed, reports StokeLive.
The Earls of Shrewsbury later occupied the castle from 1412 when the Lady Ankarat de Verdun married Sir John Talbot and the title remained in the same family until the 1920s.
It was the 15th Earl, Charles Talbot, who renovated the building after becoming the owner in 1801.
In 1827, Charles Talbot died, and his nephew John Talbot became the 16th Earl of Shrewsbury and voted to complete the building of the house and gardens started by Charles.
John Talbot is widely believed to be the Earl who was cursed by a witch in the legend of the Chained Oak.
Legend has it that the Earl was travelling through the woods in the late 1840s when he was approached by an old beggar woman who asked for money.
When he refused the woman cursed him and his family and said every time a branch fell from the old oak tree, a member of the family would die.
That night following a storm, a branch fell from the tree and a family member died, so the Earl ordered his men to chain up the branches of the tree - and it remains like this today.
It is not known how true the legend is, but guests can learn all about the tale at the park on the Hex: Legend of the Towers attraction.
It wasn't until April 1860 when members of the public could visit the gardens for the first time and decades later in 1918 Charles decided to sell off much of the estate after separating from his wife.
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In 1924, the remaining part of the estate and house was sold to a group of local businessmen who formed Alton Towers Limited but it wasn't until April 1980 that Alton Towers opened its doors as a theme park.
Sightings of spirits at the theme park include ghost soldiers and a large black dog.
Those waiting for the Hex ride have also claimed to have seen ghost children playing, as well as being hit with small stones.
In 2016 a woman named Sharon Kearns, 46, visited the theme park for a ghost walk joined by mediums and TV show Most Haunted's Brian Shepherd.
And the group were shocked when they spotted what they believe is an eerie figure in one of Sharon's photos from the evening.
People speculated that this image could be a sighting of the woman who cursed the theme park hundreds of years ago as there have been numerous ghost sightings in the theme park grounds.
Writing in a blog for London Launch, Will Broome and his family who lived at Alton Towers for 90 years shared a number of stories about their haunted home.
He wrote: "During the 1960s and 1970's my otherwise sane and somewhat sceptical family witnessed regular paranormal activity in the shop.
"The poltergeist, which they believed to be a woman, as staff claimed to have seen her, became so active that my family went to great lengths to investigate."
The family sealed doors and windows and even began sleeping in the Towers themselves to try and catch a glimpse of her.
They even hired specialist paranormal investigators from London but they never officially solved the mystery.
The blog continues: "It all started fairly gently, with granny noticing a line of ducks which she could have sworn were facing one way when she priced up the night before but were then facing the other. She brushed it off but then it happened again and again - and then it got scary.
"One morning a few weeks later, she unlocked the huge front doors and was faced with hundreds of those little green soldiers (which had all been packed away and sealed in boxes behind the toy department) scattered across the stone floor.
"All the soldiers who were brandishing weapons were lying on their front or on their backs, presumably 'dead' whilst every single one of the others (all those without weapons) were still standing."
The woman claimed they were all strategically placed to stage this bizarre war scene as though the ghoul had been playing with them.
Mr Broome added: "Alton Towers is an amusement park by day but a ghostly playground by night. Poltergeists, twisted jewellery, flying books and the Chained Oak."
