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 Wortley Top Forge, you will get to investigate multiple areas across this incredible heritage site, including the Main Iron Forge, the Blacksmith's and Joiner's Workshops, the Foundry, Cottage Number 6 and Cottage Number 7. This location involves investigating with outdoor elements.

 

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.

Wortley Top Forge is a Grade I-listed Building and Schedule Ancient Monument located between Sheffield and the Peak District in the Don Valley, with a rich and dark history to tell, standing as the world's oldest surviving heavy iron forge with operational water-driven machinery.

 

The industrial origins of Wortley Top Forge date back to the 17th century, with the earliest documented building constructed between 1603 and 1625 under Royalist landlord Sir Francis Wortley. Utilising the River Don to power its machinery, the site operated as a heavy bloomery and finery forge. Documented operational leases exist from at least 1640, and during the English Civil War after Sir Francis Wortley was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1644, Parliamentarian trustees took over management of the works alongside ironmasters like William Cotton.

 

In 1739, John Cockshutt acquired the lease for the Wortley Forges, eventually securing sole control of the site in 1745 following legal arbitration with the rival Spencer syndicate. Under John Cockshutt and his sons, John Jr. and James, the forge underwent massive structural development and was rebuilt into a state-of-the-art finery forge, establishing the stone buildings, timber-framed workshops and twin waterwheel layout that survive today. During this era, James Cockshutt collaborated with leading Enlightenment scientists like chemist William Lewis, to experiment with charcoal-to-coke refining and early industrial innovation.

 

Throughout the 19th century, under the stewardship of ironmaster Thomas Andrews Sr. and later his son, Thomas Andrews Jr. (FRS), the forge shifted focus from traditional bar iron to heavy industrial components. The site gained international acclaim during the global expansion of the railway network by specialising in the production of high-quality wrought iron railway axles. Two water-powered 'belly-helve' forging hammers were installed on the forge floor to shape the wrought iron blooms into heavy axle components.

 

Beyond manufacturing, the site played a significant role in early metallurgical science through the work of Thomas Andrews Jr., a Fellow of the Royal Society and eminent metallurgist. Operating directly out of the forge, Andrews pioneered in microscopic and chemical research into the crystal structure of metals, thermal properties of iron, and the causes of fatigue failure in railway axles. His findings contributed foundational insights to Victorian engineering and modern materials science.

 

Despite its global reputation, the invention of mass-production steelmaking processes in nearby Sheffield, rendered traditionally forged wrought iron obsolete. Railway axle production at the forge ceased around 1908 to 1912, with final workshop operations winding down by 1929. The workers’ cottages were occupied until the late 1960s.

 

In 1955 through the efforts of C. R. Andrews, the site was acquired by the Sheffield Trades Historical Society and subsequently restored under long-time curator Ken Hawley MBE. Today, Wortley Top Forge is operated by the South Yorkshire Trades Historical Trust, and maintained by dedicated volunteers as an industrial museum, offering a rare, direct link to the foundational centuries of the British Industrial Revolution.

The hauntings of Wortley Top Forge comes from centuries of intense physical labour and industrial accidents which have left a lingering imprint on the ironworks site.

 

Staff, volunteers and ghost hunting groups frequently report seeing the apparition of a broad-shouldered man in late 18th or early 19th century attire standing on the upper viewing gantry overlooking the forge floor. Local tradition identifies this figure as former ironmaster Thomas Andrews Sr., who appears to be quietly inspecting the silent machinery, as if maintaining his endless watch over the works.

 

The nearby workshops form another focal point of activity, dominated by recurring sightings of a tall, dark shadow figure. This shadowy presence is often seen moving between the wooden workbenches and machinery, disappearing into the corners of the room. Those who encounter the figure describe a drastic drop in room temperature, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of being closely monitored while inside the space.

 

Beyond industrial workers, ghost hunters also report sensing older, robed figures often described as Cistercian monks connected to early medieval land use along the River Don. Back in the 12th and 13th centuries, monks from nearby Roche Abbey and Kirkstead Abbey held extensive land grants, timber rights for charcoal and mineral rights along the River Don Valley, associating them with early ironworking traditions.

 

Wortley Top Forge is also renowned for its auditory phenomena that echoes throughout the stone structures after hours. Witnesses inside the forge have documented the distinct sounds of heavy iron chains clanking across the floor, the metallic thud of the water-powered tilt hammer, and the disembodied voices of past workers when the night is falls silent. These residual audio occurrences give the impression that the forge is still operating at the height of its 19th century production.

 

Poltergeist-style activity and physical interactions are routinely reported by caretakers managing the museum's collections. Small hand tools, metal components and loose equipment left on workbenches overnight are sometimes found rearranged or moved across the forge by the next morning for no logical reason. During night vigils, investigators have also reported hearing disembodied footsteps marching deliberately across the stone flagstones, coming to a halt directly beside them, before fading away.

 

The overall atmosphere of Wortley Top Forge is defined by heavy residual energy tied to its centuries of continuous industrial operation. The combination of intense heat, massive waterpower and generations of men working with molten metal, has created a location where past workers are still bound to the place. Whether attributed to intelligent spirits or residual energy of the environment, Wortley Top Forge remains one of South Yorkshire's most haunted industrial heritage sites.

DATE: Friday 5th February 2027

 

TIMES: 8:00pm - 1:00am (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: Wortley Top Forge, Forge Lane, Thurgoland, Sheffield S35 7DN

 

PARKING AT EVENT: Car Park on-site.

 

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!