Your night of ghost hunting with Brookes Paranormal is guaranteed to be a fun, safe and spooky one. Experience this historic location with exclusive access after dark, as you explore the eerie rooms and areas in search for the ghostly spirits that haunt here.

 

Here at Derby Gaol, you will get to investigate areas like the Condemned Cell, the Debtors Cell, the William Buxton Room, the Murder Room, the vaulted block corridor and the Museum seating area where paranormal activity has been experienced. You'll also be guided on a short walk over to the former Vernon Gate Prison site where hangings took place, where you'll investigate both the Drop Room and the room below.

 

Our team are friendly, professional, approachable and knowledgeable with paranormal investigating, and we will guide and support you to make sure you get the most out of your investigation. Whether you're a paranormal novice or an experienced investigator, you'll be well-looked after and treated like family. This is an honest ghost hunting experience, so there won't be any fakery or trickery during the night. We believe that if activity happens, it happens for real.

 

On your ghost hunt, you will be split into smaller groups to give you the best, personal experience possible. You will also get hands on with various pieces of ghost hunting equipment, such as EMF Meters, REM Pods, Spirit Boxes and Detectors, and participate in interesting paranormal experiments such as Victorian Table Tipping, Ouija Boards and the Estes Method.

 

You will also have a couple of breaks throughout the night, where we provide you with unlimited refreshments and snacks to re-energise ready for the next vigil.

The history of penal justice in Derby stretches back centuries, but the famous Derby Gaol site on Friar Gate was built in 1756 to replace an earlier, heavily decaying gaol located at Cornmarket. Designed as the primary county prison for Derbyshire, the building was constructed to hold debtors, felons and those awaiting capital trial before the courts. Its subterranean brick-vaulted cellars were built directly beneath street level, creating a dark, enclosed environment where security and isolation were paramount.

 

Life inside Derby Gaol was cruel and brutal, reflecting the harsh penal philosophy of 18th century England. Overcrowding was chronic, with multiple prisoners crammed into tiny, damp and cold cell chambers measuring just 7 feet by 7 feet. Outbreaks of Typhus were widespread due to the stagnant air, lack of sanitation and open sewage troughs. Inmates were reliant on family or charity for basic rations, while those without funds faced appalling starvation and disease alongside violent offenders awaiting execution.

 

Derby Gaol played a central role in enforcing England’s 'Bloody Code', serving as the site for dozens of public executions. Crimes punishable by death ranged from petty theft, arson and forgery to murder and highway robbery. The condemned were held in a specialised cell before being led outside to the gallows, which were erected directly in front of the building on Friar Gate. Among its most famous historical events was the imprisonment and execution of leaders from the 1817 Pentrich Rising, Jeremiah Brandreth, William Turner and Isaac Ludlam, who were hanged at the front on Friar Gate on the 7th November 1817, and posthumously beheaded for high treason. William Buxton, a notorious highwayman who was arrested soon after a highway robbery between Buxton and Ashbourne, was imprisoned at Derby Gaol and hanged by the neck on Friday 25th August 1780 outside the front on Friar Gate.

 

By the 1820s, changing attitudes towards prison reform and severe spatial limitations forced the county to seek a larger facility. In 1827, the Vernon Gate Prison was erected nearby on Vernon Street, leading to the decommissioning of Derby Gaol on Friar Gate. The street-level structures were subsequently repurposed into commercial townhouses and shops, while the historic subterranean cellars underneath numbers 50 and 51 remained largely intact and preserved.

 

In the late 20th century, the historic cellars were acquired and restored by local historian Richard Felix, who converted the surviving structures into a working museum and educational site. Today, the 1756 Derby Gaol stands as one of the best-preserved Georgian prison cellars in the United Kingdom, housing original ironwork, prisoner-carved graffiti and historical artefacts that document the grim evolution of crime, punishment and execution in Derbyshire.

Derby Gaol on Friar Gate is widely regarded as one of Britain’s most intensely active paranormal locations, carrying an oppressive atmosphere shaped by a century of starvation, disease and capital punishment.

 

Visitors and paranormal investigators routinely report shadow figures moving across the dark corridor, sudden drops in temperature when the gaol has been warm, the heavy creaking of cell doors opening and closing, and the strange sound of iron chains dragging along the stone floors. Apotropaic Marks or 'Witch Marks' can be seen carved directly into one of the historic oak cell doors, suggesting that even the prisoners of the 18th century were terrified of the dark entities sharing their confinement.

 

The Condemned Cell is where disembodied voices and groans originate, leaving a creepy sense of dread and fear for those brave to stay in there for a while. Sudden EMF spikes have also been detected here frequently, with many ghost hunters intuitively picking up information of the men, women and children who were incarcerated here, showing that there are definitely some spirits who are sentenced to be shackled within these walls for eternity. Female visitors also report feeling cold, rough hands touching their hair, arms or back, along with a sudden, overwhelming wave of grief and sorrow.

 

In the Debtors Cell, poltergeist activity and unexplained smells descend from this room, with a wooden cross known to move by unseen hands and a weird floral scent that appears and dissipates in seconds. In the past we've also had spirit interaction on equipment in this area. A male spirit is dominantly present within this area and the Condemned Cell too. Some say this is a spirit called 'George', while others believe this to be the ghost of William Buxton, the famous Derbyshire highwayman who was imprisoned at Derby Gaol and hanged in August 1780 at the gallows along Friar Gate.

 

In both the backyard and near the front entrance steps, ghost hunters and people passing by have witnessed headless apparitions stumbling at a quick glance, before vanishing in an instant. Some people believe these to be the ghosts of the 1817 Pentrich Rising leaders who were hanged at the gallows on Friar Gate and posthumously beheaded by the axe.

 

Richard Felix himself saw a grey apparition here one Friday afternoon several years ago, which led him to further believe in the existence of ghosts, and he can still recall his encounter in impressive detail to this very day. Who knows, perhaps you might see a ghost here too!

 

Over at the Vernon Gate Prison site, residual hauntings have been reported, where passersby have spotted a ghostly male hanging and swinging outside the front gates where they were publicly hanged. Ghost hunters have also witnessed the sounds of heavy footsteps walking along the cobbles at night, despite no one else being around, the groaning sounds of someone crying in pain and cold chills as if being brushed past by an invisible force.

DATE: Saturday 6th February 2027

 

TIME: 8:00pm - 2:00am (Arrive 15 minutes early and wait patiently outside the front entrance on Friar Gate until a member of our team greets you for registration)

 

LOCATION: Derby Gaol, 50-51 Friar Gate, Derby DE1 1DF

 

PARKING AT EVENT: Parking on Friar Gate (Free overnight parking after 6pm), Ford Street Car Park (£3.90 tariff and then free after 8pm) and other Local Street Parking.

 

REMAINING BALANCE: Needs to be paid FOUR WEEKS prior to the event date. Failure to pay your remaining balance(s) before this deadline will result in you forfeiting your place(s) and your place(s) will be sold on. Deposits are NON-REFUNDABLE!

 

WHAT TO BRING: A torch, a warm coat/jacket, sensible footwear, any equipment you wish to bring along (your responsibility), your positive and open-minded energies.

 

PLEASE NOTE: Bringing alcohol or illegal drugs to this event is strictly prohibited. If anyone arrives at the event under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances, they will not be allowed to stay for the night and will be asked to leave immediately, NO REFUNDS!