Saturday 19th August 2023
Yet another location that I’d never heard of previously – but have recently been ‘introduced to’ by John Chance – is the impressive ‘Moira Furnace Museum and Country Park’ in rural Leicestershire. It is situated just over 10 miles from the 12th Century ruin of Atherstone Priory, which we visited during the same jaunt… on Sunday April 30th, this year. (See post immediately below this for data on the latter mentioned site).
John had heard that the Moira location was supposedly ‘haunted’, insomuch as commercial ghost hunting companies had been holding events there, for a while now. A subsequent search of Google revealed that the museum had seemingly become very popular indeed with the ghost hunting fraternity – in more recent years - unfortunately creating something of a minefield when attempting to put together any kind of moderately valid record of reported ghostlore…
Built in 1804, on the banks of the Ashby de la Zouch Canal, this imposing blast furnace structure has been featured in numerous, local media reports. As with any such coverage, however, these reports are problematic (from a serious, objective point of view) due to mostly – if not all, in a lot of instances – concerning the machinations of self-professed ‘ghost hunters’. Equally, 99% of the data reported online also consists of similar ‘research’ and, for the sake of objectivity, can only be treated with considerable caution…
According to one ‘Staffordshire Live’ report, the ghost of a ‘drunken man’ has been seen roaming the grounds of the site. He is said to be an unfortunate soul who ‘fell into the canal’, while inebriated (naturally!), and drowned... Interestingly, his apparition has been reported as ‘floating along the canal’!? In stating this, we can only presume that supposed witnesses indicate some form of ‘walking on water’ style manifestation, rather than a, more horrific, grisly ‘floating corpse’ type ‘re-enactment’!? *Shudders*
Within the furnace structure itself, disembodied voices have been reported, along with feelings of unease and nausea in some. Shadowy forms have been reported inside the workshops area, and the alleged apparitions of former, furnace workers spotted in the surrounding parkland. All of the aforementioned was taken from an article about ‘ghost walks’ held at the museum and grounds, so – again – this is lore that should be viewed accordingly…
Some 3 years ago, a regional newspaper printed a piece that claimed the sound of ‘dead children’ had been heard on a ghost hunt here. Frightening ‘whistles’ (?) had also been experienced and the voices of ‘young girls’ caught by attendees.
Needless to say, the subject of ghosts had been broached with staff during our visit and we had been, straight away, told that they did have a ‘ghost walk’ at the site. I had – somewhat cheekily – asked if the place was REALLY haunted… and was informed that ‘Yes… they believed so’! There was a section of the building – down below the level that we were then, currently, standing on – that the staff member didn’t like visiting. It is cold and damp and – while she’d never seen anything – she believes that she has ‘felt a ghost’ down there!? This particular spectre is known as ‘Howard’ and, upon visiting this portion of the site, she will often say ‘hello’ and state her presence and peaceful intent, for fear of some type of manifestation following…
The ‘ghosts’ themselves aside… it has to be said that Leicestershire Council is very clearly ‘on the ball’ with all of the historic sites under their care and greatly stand out with regards to the general running and maintenance of such places! Even if industrial history isn’t really ‘your thing’ (and, despite being a Black Country lad, it certainly isn’t mine!) ‘Moira Furnace Museum’ is an utterly impeccable and most pretty location for a lovely day out, for the entire family! Perfectly sustained and preserved, there is literally ‘something here for everyone’: from digging into the ‘grim and gritty’, working heritage of the region, to walks and boat trips on the pretty canal… exploring the lime kilns and surrounding parkland, with a picnic, maybe… to the sizeable children’s play park! The informative, official, museum website can be visited by clicking this LINK… so go check it out for yourself!
As always, my gratitude goes out to John Chance for his unerring kindness in allowing me to feature in his enjoyable escapades! Bless you matey!
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