As a city steeped in ancient history that dates back to Roman times, it’s little wonder that Newcastle is home to countless paranormal tales.
The city’s oldest buildings have stood through everything from wars to plagues, and legend has it that the ghosts of eras gone by still haunt them today.
We asked Steve Watson of GHOSTNorthEast to take us on a tour of the most haunted places the city has to offer.
Steve is a local expert on all things paranormal and specialises in organising “ghost walks” across the region.
Newcastle has so many ghostly goings-on that you can take several ghost tours of different parts of the city.
Steve once rehearsed a walk covering all of Newcastle’s haunted places but had to split the walks by area when this took him almost six hours.
Steve’s top spooky selections in the city centre include the Lit And Phil, the Castle Keep, Newcastle Cathedral, Blackfriars and The Centre For Life.
Steve has declared the Lit And Phil “the most haunted building in Newcastle”. The historical library claims to have sixteen ghosts, including an old librarian who still peruses the bookshelves at night.
The Castle Keep, Newcastle Cathedral, and Blackfriars all date back to the 13th century or earlier, boasting hundreds of years’ worth of history, and folktales passed down through generations.
Each of these ancient buildings is said to be home to a number of ghosts, from a flower girl who climbs the stairs inside the Castle Keep, to the monks who have been seen walking down the alleyway at nearby Amen Corner before disappearing into thin air, and the nun who roams the grounds at Blackfriars.
The modern Centre For Life may seem an unlikely candidate for one of the city’s most haunted spots - but it’s the ground it stands on that gives the science village its ghostly reputation.
The Centre is built on the former site of Newcastle Infirmary, built in 1753, and many bodies were discovered beneath the ground when foundations were being laid for the Centre For Life.
Staff members working in the Centre have reported sightings of light orbs, and apparitions dressed in Victorian clothing.
Watch the video above to see the history behind these buildings, and hear about the ghosts that are said to live inside them.
