SOLD OUT - Derby Gaol with Richard Felix and Denise Mott - in aid of The Teenage Cancer Trust

 Veritas Paranormal invite you for a full paranormal extravaganza!! 

Tickets are priced at £60pp, with just a £30pp deposit required to secure your place. Funds raised from your booking will allow us to donate over £500 to The Teenage Cancer Trust.

Your evening will consist of the following;

• Supper to start the night from 7pm-8pm (A jacket potato with beans & bacon).
• A talk on the paranormal delivered by Richard Felix.
• Take part in a past life regression hosted by Denise Mott.
• A tour and an investigation of the newer Derby Gaol (Vernon Gate), led by Richard himself. Please note that this location is a 10 minute walk from our base at the older Gaol, with steps up to the turret of the newer Gaol. We will accommodate as best as we can, those who may have mobility issues - but please use your discretion BEFORE booking.
• An experiment on stone tape theory, led by Richard - (this has to be seen to be believed!).

Paranormal Activity

A Derby city centre attraction has been ranked one of the most haunted in the UK. The Derby Gaol in Friar Gate was listed as the 87th spookiest spot in the country in a poll.

"It ranges from doors closing by themselves, the sensation of feeling sick, and discomfort in the throat, or the sensation of being suffocated.

"One visitor claims to have seen two dead men hanging from a beam inside the cell."

History (Credit - Derbyshire Live)

The old gaol in Friar Gate has a particularly gruesome past. Today, all that survives of the original gaol are its cells, which now form part of a working museum which tells the story of its grisly history.

The cells are also reputed to be haunted and form part of a popular city ghost walk. People can even stay in the cells overnight.

The gaol first opened in 1756. It replaced one in the Cornmarket and materials from that building were actually used in the construction of the Friar Gate gaol, which was deliberately sited close to Nun's Green, a place where executions had traditionally taken place.

The gaol was not meant to hold prisoners for a long length of time but to be a holding pen for the courts or the gallows. By the end of 1756 the new building was up and running with its first prisoners. It was designed to house a maximum of 29 prisoners - including those destined for execution.

Its capacity was later extended due to something called the Bloody Code (1770 to 1830), which saw people hanged in England for a whole range of minor crimes. Capital offences included stealing cheeses, geese and breaking into a weaving shop.

Records show that there were 58 hangings carried out at the gaol between 1756 and 1825, including the Pentrich Martyrs of 1817, who were executed on charges of treason in front of the building following their failed revolution. However, a far grander building came into use as a gaol in nearby Vernon Street and the Friar Gate gaol closed in 1846.

As for the Vernon Street gaol, in 1886 it was renamed HMP Derby. It lasted until 1919 when demolition of most of the building took place.

Until 1929 the remaining part was used as a military prison and by 1930 the area behind the frontage had been converted into a greyhound stadium which lasted until 1988.

Today the site is home to office buildings - but the magnificent frontage and archway of the old prison has been retained.