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 Stanford House, you will get to investigate multiple areas across this historic building, including the ground floor rooms, the haunted stairwell, the coffin room, the first floor areas and top floor rooms. Plus, if you wanted to you have the chance to brave a lone vigil in the toilet block to see if you also experience these ghostly hands.

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 led by your team investigators 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, Dowsing Rods and Detectors, and participate in interesting paranormal experiments such as Victorian Table Tipping, Glass Divination and the Ouija Board.

You will also have a break halfway through the night, where we provide you with unlimited refreshments and snacks to re-energise ready for the next vigil.

Stanford House is a Grade II-listed Georgian townhouse, tucked away on the corner of Castle Gate and Stanford Street in the historic heart of Nottingham, with a past deeply rooted in the city's political rivalries, industrial wealth and social drama.

Before the present mansion was built in 1775, an earlier residence on the plot stood here, and in around 1701 it was purchased by Thomas Mansfield of West Leake. By the 1730s, the property passed to Thomas Bennett, a Leicestershire gentleman who was brought in by the Howe family (Whig political faction) as a stopgap Member of Parliament while Lord Emanuel Scrope Howe relocated oversea in Barbados, following his appointed position of Governor of Barbados.

The house became an important local base for regional political maneuvering, and when Thomas Bennett died childless in 1738, his chaotic will, which was allegedly drafted over several glasses of Madeira wine and helped with by the Duke of Kingston, led to years of complex family legal entanglements and mortgages involving prominent local figures, including the emerging banker Abel Smith.

The house gained its true splendour and lasting name, when a wealthy and fiercely ambitious silk merchant called William Stanford, purchased the building in 1775. Stanford demolished the older structure to build a lavish, red-brick town residence that showcased his immense fortune. Designed with elegant Venetian windows, high-ceilinged parlours and hand-carved fireplaces, the mansion was intentionally positioned on Castle Gate to rub shoulders with Nottingham's high-society elite, directly rivaling the grand townhouses of the local aristocracy.

William Stanford was not just known for his silk trade, he was also an extreme Royalist, whose political passions frequently scandalised the town. In 1789, when King George III temporarily recovered from his notorious bouts of mental illness, towns across Britain held extravagant public celebrations. William transformed his Castle Gate home into a blinding spectacle of loyalty, covering the entire facade in glowing illuminations, banners, and decorations so magnificent that local chroniclers recorded it as the most dazzling display in all of Nottinghamshire.

As the 19th century unfolded and Nottingham morphed into an industrial powerhouse, Castle Gate shifted from an exclusive aristocratic enclave into a hub for commercial, legal and civic power. Stanford House adapted alongside the city, eventually being converted in 1928 into the headquarters for Robert Barber and Sons, one of the region’s most prominent legal firms. For over 60 years, solicitors, clerks and clients walked its creaking timber floorboards, conducting high-stake legal affairs within its historic rooms.

Today, Stanford House survives as a remarkably well-preserved window into 18th century high-societal life, complete with its original shutters, grand staircases, wondrous fireplaces and dark, vaulted cellars carved into the sandstone beneath Castle Gate. Having evolved into office suites and event spaces, the building still breathes the atmosphere of its Georgian origins, where the echoes of silk merchants, political conspirators and centuries of Nottingham history remain embedded in the stone.

Beyond its grand Georgian exterior and rich silk-trading heritage, Stanford House has earned a chilling reputation as one of Nottingham’s most active haunted buildings.

Beneath the opulent plasterwork and tall windows lies a building steeped in centuries of residual emotion, where paranormal investigators regularly report strange occurrences, sudden temperature drops, and an unnerving sense of being closely watched from the dark corners of the rooms, leaving sudden, heavy oppressive feelings that settles over the chest.

On the upper levels and stairwells, ghost hunters often report spotting shadow figures standing tall and intimidating, before quickly darting back into the darkness. Some believe this could be members of the Howe family, who return to watch over their property against visitors entering their space. Others believe these entities to be former servants still carrying on their duties from the past, until they're interrupted by the presence of investigators.

Disembodied footsteps are frequently heard creaking along floorboards and smacking against the stone floors after nightfall, often accompanied by the distinct sound of doors unlatching, opening and slamming shut. Some previous visitors claimed to have witnessed light anomalies in the entrance hall, as well as flickering lights near the fireplaces. It's not often you come across a haunted toilet, but paranormal investigators and the staff at Faded Footsteps have reported the sensation of unseen hands touching them, freaking some out at a time when they least expect it.

The spirit activity in Stanford House is not merely subtle or atmospheric, it is frequently interactive. During séances and vigils using EMF detectors, Spirit Boxes and EVP recorders, investigators have picked up direct responses echoing names, historical fragments and sharp warnings. Disembodied voices ranging from a soft female weep to a commanding male tone, have also been recorded on EVP equipment, leading many to believe that both former servants and wealthy past residents still linger within their respective quarters.

Does William Stanford still haunt his former residence? Whether it's the imprinted energy of William Stanford’s fierce political household, or the long-forgotten souls who inhabited Castle Gate across the 18th and 19th centuries or before, Stanford House remains an active magnet for the supernatural.

DATE: Friday 9th April 2027

TIMES: 9:00pm - 2:00am (Arrive 15 minutes early and wait patiently at the front of Iron Forge building until a member of our team greets you for registration)

LOCATION: Stanford House, Stanford Street (side entrance), Nottingham NG1 7AQ

PARKING AT EVENT: Castle Road Car Park (next to Robin Hood statue), St James Street NCP Car Park, Broad Marsh Car Park NCC and other nearby car parks. Please note parking charges may apply.

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!