Jeff Forshaw, who joined Clifton Hall as a volunteer in 2023, was preparing the 180-year-old Grade II-listed building with his daughter for a live paranormal investigation when he heard a loud noise resembling running water. "It was loud, as if someone was filling a bath," he said. After he shouted "hello", the sound suddenly stopped.
Mr Forshaw was at the hall with his daughter, getting it ready for a Halloween event by Haunted Scouse, a group that scans haunted locations. In the basement, a fire exit door refused to open, as if someone was blocking it from the other side. "It genuinely felt like someone had planted their foot behind it. My daughter thought I was messing around, so she squeezed past me and tried it herself." After several minutes, the door burst open; when they tried again, it worked normally.
Music box and phantom touches
The pair also heard what sounded like a music box playing in a corridor, and Haunted Scouse members later reported similar sounds. A volunteer said they felt something push their shoulder while working alone in the basement. The kitchen manager, once a skeptic, has since been hit with a pan lid and watched his keys fly across the room toward him.
The same manager described seeing the silhouette of a man looking through a window toward the car park. Mr Forshaw returned the next day to search for anything that could cast such a shadow, but found nothing.
A history of the hall
Built as a private residence in 1845, Clifton Hall later served as a tabernacle before being converted into a masonic hall in the 1920s. It has been available for hire for events and functions since 2023. The strange occurrences have even persuaded some of the more skeptical staff members.
