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Not only did the Newsham Park Hospital have its own sanitorium and mortuary, but the building was also once an orphanage that housed hundreds of parentless children. The matrons were said to be very strict and inflicted severe punishments on the orphans. Such an establishment is bound to be steeped in spooky stories and terrifying tales!
If you’re brave enough, you can embark on a ghost hunt in Liverpool and visit the former hospital. You’ll find that many of the wards are still filled with medical equipment and there are even flyers on the noticeboards from the 1990s.
In this article, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the haunting history of Newsham Park Hospital in Liverpool. You’ll learn about the Seamen’s Orphanage, the hospital’s sanitorium, and the many ghosts that still haunt this derelict building.
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The Seamen’s Orphanage
The Seamen’s Orphanage was opened in 1874, with the institution’s founders mostly being made up of leading ship owners who were concerned about the orphaned seamen’s children in Britain. They also founded the Liverpool Seamen’s Orphan Institution, which is still operational to this day.
The Seamen’s Orphanage was created to help house the hundreds of children who were left fatherless in the wake of the First World War. Many of their fathers were deceased Merseyside men who died at sea. By 1918, the orphanage housed close to one thousand orphans.
There was both a boys’ school and a girls’ school, and the resident children were provided with scholastic and religious instruction. Queen Victoria visited in 1886 and was followed by a long list of other royals. The institution received further funding in 1921 when it was granted a Royal Charter of Incorporation.
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Towards the end of the Second World War, the orphanage and its institutional school began experiencing financial difficulties. There were a few reasons for this, including:
- The average annual cost was too high for voluntary donations to maintain.
- Monetary grants had begun to dwindle.
- The country’s social service schemes progressed and surviving parents no longer wanted to place their children in orphanages.
- New laws prohibited children under 11 years old from being educated in the same school as older children.
Most of the remaining orphans were transferred to the Royal Merchant Navy School upon the orphanage’s closure.
Newsham Park Hospital and its Psychiatric Department
In 1951, the Ministry of Health bought Newsham Park and converted it into a hospital with its own psychiatric department and accepted patients with severe mental problems. There were plenty of extremely troubled infirms with intense backstories, which is typical for such an institution.
The hospital officially stopped taking any new patients in 1988 and any remaining patients were eventually transferred to other facilities. However, when the Rainhill Lunatic Asylum closed in 1992, most of the inmates were transferred to Newsham Park which took up 90% of the available space. In 1997, the hospital was vacated and the building has been abandoned since.
Traumatised Hospital Staff
Over the years, Newsham Park Hospital employed hundreds of staff, including doctors, nurses, and cleaners. All records of patients and staff have been closed, so it’s challenging to distinguish fact from local legend but it’s safe to say that there was definitely something creepy going on in the hospital and its asylum.
Many of the former staff members at Newsham Park Hospital have come forward with stories of strange noises and creepy apparitions during their time at the hospital. John Gray, a former switchboard operator, said, “You could feel the evil when you walked in, it was in the atmosphere. When I was made redundant I could not have got out of there quick enough.”
The Many Ghosts of Newsham Park Hospital
Orphaned children
Many orphans died from illness and even mistreatment during their time in the orphanage and the soft cries of children can often be heard as you wander through the wards and up the stone staircases. Thousands of children were cremated onsite and their ashes were thrown into the mortuary’s pit.
There is a row of ‘naughty cupboards’ on one of the upper floors, where misbehaving orphans were once locked in as a form of punishment. This area is believed to be haunted by a young boy who died in a locked cupboard one night.
The head matron of the orphanage
Many visitors have reported seeing the ghost of a woman wearing a dress from the Victorian era. Her eerie figure is said to walk from room to room with an air of authority. This woman is thought to be the former head matron of the orphanage, who was apparently very cruel and often came up with nasty punishments for the children.
Psychiatric patients
The ghosts of psychiatric patients have been seen walking around the former asylum, lost and confused. Many of these patients ended up dying under suspicious circumstances and there were also plenty of patients who tried to take their own lives.
A former hospital employee recounts his encounter with one of these apparitions, “I remember going down into the basement one night to get a blanket to keep myself warm. As I walked in I saw a man, in a white coat with no head walk past and straight through the wall. I flew out of the room, it was terrifying.”
Newsham Park Hospital Today
When Newsham Park was vacated in 1997, it was sold to a property developer with plans to turn it into a block of flats. However, Newsham Park is a Grade II listed building so the plans to have the former hospital developed into a residential property didn’t work out. Local regeneration campaigners defeated the plan and the property was put on sale once more.
The building is currently owned by property developer Anglefarm Limited, who are slowly investing in restorations to turn Newsham Park into an events venue with kitchen facilities and a restaurant.
FAQs
How do I visit Newsham Park Hospital in Liverpool?
Since the hospital is still undergoing repairs, you can only visit the hospital by participating in a ghost tour. These ghost tours typically take place at night and provide you with the opportunity to explore the abandoned building alongside like-minded paranormal enthusiasts.
If you want to detect the presence of spirits during your time at Newsham Park Hospital, you may want to invest in devices like EDI meters, motion detectors, and other forms of ghost-hunting equipment. These specialised tools can really enhance your overall experience.
Is there any proof that the abandoned hospital is haunted?
While it is very difficult to provide hard evidence that Newsham Park Hospital is haunted, plenty of ghost hunters (including Nick Groff from Paranormal Lockdown) have visited the premises and reported paranormal occurrences. Even while the hospital was still up and running, numerous staff members claimed to have seen ghosts and heard strange noises.
What are some of the UK’s other spooky locations?
If you’re looking to go on a ghost hunt in the UK, you have plenty of creepy locations to choose from. Some popular options include the Tower of London, Highgate Cemetary, Pendle Hill, Aston Hall, and Clink Prison.
Final Thoughts
With its terrifying history and gothic architecture, Newsham Park Hospital in Liverpool is undoubtedly one of the UK’s paranormal epicentres. Ghost-hunting enthusiasts travel from all over the world to experience this former sanatorium and orphanage for themselves. And Newsham isn’t the only one — the chilling Bron y Garth Hospital in Wales has its own legacy of hauntings, adding to the UK’s catalogue of abandoned medical institutions steeped in ghostly tales.
Even if you’re not a strong believer in the supernatural, a visit to Newsham Park Hospital is sure to send shivers down your spine. Take care as you explore the dusty laundry rooms, the morgue filled with body drawers, and the wards that are still littered with wheelchairs and trolleys.
