Ghost Hunt Events

Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum in Dorchester, Dorset was Dorset's courthouse from 1797 until 1955. Through that time, it saw everything from the 1834 trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs to the 1856 domestic abuse case that inspired Thomas Hardy to write 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles', to victims of mesmerism, child perpetrators and American GIs tried during the Second World War.

Discover the depths of the cold, dark cells, before ascending to the dock. Stand in the dock of the famous courtroom, where famous novelist and poet Thomas Hardy was a magistrate from 1884 until 1919.

See where the Tolpuddle Martyrs were held before being brought to trial, thereby sparking the Trade Union movement.

After ending its life as a court in 1955, Shire Hall was used as offices for West Dorset District Council (previously the Rural District Council).


Date: 10th February 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 20
Minimum Guest Age: 16 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Fort Horsted was the largest of the five forts designed to defend Chatham's eastern and southern approaches. Many changes were made to the original design of Horsted since its inception in the 1860's. Most noticeably Fort Horsted does not have caponiers or other exposed external features clearly visible in earlier works such as the Drop Redoubt in Dover. This was due to the development of high explosive shells in the intervening period between the 1860's and the eventual construction some twenty years later. Fort Horsted was finished by 1889, but never received the full compliment of armament she was designed for. In 1902 Fort Horsted was mounted with seven machine guns. In the Second World War AA guns were mounted at the Fort.


Date: 24th February 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 8
Minimum Guest Age: 16 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Deal Castle is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII in Deal, Kent, between 1539 and 1540. It protected against invasion from France. The Castle comprises of a keep with six inner and outer bastions, the moated stone castle and had sixty-six firing positions for artillery.

During the Second English Civil War of 1648–49, Deal was seized by pro-Royalist insurgents and was only retaken by Parliamentary forces after several months' of fighting.

Although it remained armed, Deal Castle was adapted by Sir John Norris and Lord Carrington during the 18th and 19th centuries to form a more suitable private house for the castle's captain, which was an honorary position.

In 1904, the War Office concluded that the castle no longer had any value either as a defensive site or as a barracks and it was opened to the public when the captain was not in residence. Early in the Second World War, the captain's quarters were destroyed by German bombing and the castle became a Battery Operating Post (one of the first-floor rooms in the keep became the Battery Office) for an artillery battery placed along the shore line. The castle was not brought back into use as a residence and was restored by the government during the 1950s to form a tourist attraction.


Date: 2nd March 2024

Time: 7:00pm until 1:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 9
Minimum Guest Age: 18 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Merley House in Wimborne, Dorset was built in 1756. Merley (originally spelt Myrle) was an ancient manor belonging to the Lords of Canford. In 1751, Ralph Willett purchased the estate and built the larger and much grander house we see today.

A walled garden was built to the North East of the house with an Orangery on the south side. This has survived to this day and used to be known as the Merley Bird Gardens, home to many exotic bird species. It is now the Orangery Suite.

In 1875 the whole estate was sold by auction but there is little information as to whom it was sold until it was bought by Ivor Guest, 1st Lord of Wimborne. In 1927, the MP for South Dorset, Angus Valdemar Hambro purchased the estate in a dilapidated condition, spending two years renovating it.

In 1939 the out break of war meant that the house was requisitioned by the War office. When they left in 1946 the house was again sold at auction. Now down to just 270 acres it was sold in 14 lots and the house was converted into flats.

During the 1960s a holiday park was started, by the present owners, to help finance the restoration of the house. The ground floor was opened to the public and contained a collection of model cars, lorries, airplanes, ships and train sets. Most recently the downstairs was restored again to create spacious and elegant areas.


Date: 9th March 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 20
Minimum Guest Age: 16 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Harwich Redoubt Fort in Harwich, Essex was constructed between 1808 and 1810 to protect the port of Harwich against the threat of Napoleonic invasion. The fort was constructed on a hill, which allowed views in all directions.

French prisoners of war were made to help construct the fort. The fort has a central parade ground. It was originally armed with ten 24 pounder cannons. In 1861 a 68 pounder cannon was added to the fort's weapon range.

Later in 1903 three 12 pounder QF guns were added to the fort. Despite the ongoing modernisation no shot was fired in force. In the 1920s the redoubt was falling into disrepair. The fort was briefly used during the Second World War to house British troops awaiting trial. Restoration started in 1969 and still continues today.

Ghostly Activity
Witnesses have reportedly seen apparitions through the windows and heard unexplained footsteps. Many visitors to the fort have also reported being touched by unseen hands in the lower casements. There have also been many other mysterious noises and apparitions seen by visitors.

The fort is well known for the apparition of a headless soldier. In 1972 a soldier was decapitated by a cable attached to a 12 ton cannon which broke under the strain. It is rumoured that this soldier now roams the fort.


Date: 6th April 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 9
Minimum Guest Age: 16 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Fort Burgoyne in Dover, Kent was originally known as Castle Hill Fort. Work started in 1861 and it was complete in 1868 as one of the Palmerston forts surrounding the South of England.

It was built to a polygonal system with detached eastern and western redoubts with a surrounding ditch, flanked by three demi-caponniers and a double caponnier to the North. Two detached wing batteries to the East and West of the main fort were also constructed in spurs off the main ditch. The main fort comprised a large parade ground, to the North of which was a long row of casemates, which provided the barrack accommodation for soldiers and officers. Above the casemates, on the terreplein, were Haxo Casemates, which housed the guns.
This was to guard the high ground northeast of the strategic port of Dover, just north of Dover Castle.

The fort is named after the 19th century General John Fox Burgoyne.

After the First World War Fort Burgoyne was used as military depot or store for Connaught Barracks. Until recently the central part of the fort was still owned by the Ministry of Defence, forming part of the Connaught Barracks site.

There were two mysterious deaths in February 1887, two men died for no known reason.


Date: 11th May 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 21
Minimum Guest Age: 18 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Harwich Redoubt Fort in Harwich, Essex was constructed between 1808 and 1810 to protect the port of Harwich against the threat of Napoleonic invasion. The fort was constructed on a hill, which allowed views in all directions.

French prisoners of war were made to help construct the fort. The fort has a central parade ground. It was originally armed with ten 24 pounder cannons. In 1861 a 68 pounder cannon was added to the fort's weapon range.

Later in 1903 three 12 pounder QF guns were added to the fort. Despite the ongoing modernisation no shot was fired in force. In the 1920s the redoubt was falling into disrepair. The fort was briefly used during the Second World War to house British troops awaiting trial. Restoration started in 1969 and still continues today.

Ghostly Activity
Witnesses have reportedly seen apparitions through the windows and heard unexplained footsteps. Many visitors to the fort have also reported being touched by unseen hands in the lower casements. There have also been many other mysterious noises and apparitions seen by visitors.

The fort is well known for the apparition of a headless soldier. In 1972 a soldier was decapitated by a cable attached to a 12 ton cannon which broke under the strain. It is rumoured that this soldier now roams the fort.


Date: 22nd June 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 24
Minimum Guest Age: 16 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Fort Burgoyne in Dover, Kent was originally known as Castle Hill Fort. Work started in 1861 and it was complete in 1868 as one of the Palmerston forts surrounding the South of England.

It was built to a polygonal system with detached eastern and western redoubts with a surrounding ditch, flanked by three demi-caponniers and a double caponnier to the North. Two detached wing batteries to the East and West of the main fort were also constructed in spurs off the main ditch. The main fort comprised a large parade ground, to the North of which was a long row of casemates, which provided the barrack accommodation for soldiers and officers. Above the casemates, on the terreplein, were Haxo Casemates, which housed the guns.
This was to guard the high ground northeast of the strategic port of Dover, just north of Dover Castle.

The fort is named after the 19th century General John Fox Burgoyne.

After the First World War Fort Burgoyne was used as military depot or store for Connaught Barracks. Until recently the central part of the fort was still owned by the Ministry of Defence, forming part of the Connaught Barracks site.

There were two mysterious deaths in February 1887, two men died for no known reason.


Date: 10th August 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 24
Minimum Guest Age: 18 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Deal Castle is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII in Deal, Kent, between 1539 and 1540. It protected against invasion from France. The Castle comprises of a keep with six inner and outer bastions, the moated stone castle and had sixty-six firing positions for artillery.

During the Second English Civil War of 1648–49, Deal was seized by pro-Royalist insurgents and was only retaken by Parliamentary forces after several months' of fighting.

Although it remained armed, Deal Castle was adapted by Sir John Norris and Lord Carrington during the 18th and 19th centuries to form a more suitable private house for the castle's captain, which was an honorary position.

In 1904, the War Office concluded that the castle no longer had any value either as a defensive site or as a barracks and it was opened to the public when the captain was not in residence. Early in the Second World War, the captain's quarters were destroyed by German bombing and the castle became a Battery Operating Post (one of the first-floor rooms in the keep became the Battery Office) for an artillery battery placed along the shore line. The castle was not brought back into use as a residence and was restored by the government during the 1950s to form a tourist attraction.


Date: 7th September 2024

Time: 7:00pm until 1:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 20
Minimum Guest Age: 18 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Fort Burgoyne in Dover, Kent was originally known as Castle Hill Fort. Work started in 1861 and it was complete in 1868 as one of the Palmerston forts surrounding the South of England.

It was built to a polygonal system with detached eastern and western redoubts with a surrounding ditch, flanked by three demi-caponniers and a double caponnier to the North. Two detached wing batteries to the East and West of the main fort were also constructed in spurs off the main ditch. The main fort comprised a large parade ground, to the North of which was a long row of casemates, which provided the barrack accommodation for soldiers and officers. Above the casemates, on the terreplein, were Haxo Casemates, which housed the guns.
This was to guard the high ground northeast of the strategic port of Dover, just north of Dover Castle.

The fort is named after the 19th century General John Fox Burgoyne.

After the First World War Fort Burgoyne was used as military depot or store for Connaught Barracks. Until recently the central part of the fort was still owned by the Ministry of Defence, forming part of the Connaught Barracks site.

There were two mysterious deaths in February 1887, two men died for no known reason.


Date: 5th October 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 20
Minimum Guest Age: 18 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Harwich Redoubt Fort in Harwich, Essex was constructed between 1808 and 1810 to protect the port of Harwich against the threat of Napoleonic invasion. The fort was constructed on a hill, which allowed views in all directions.

French prisoners of war were made to help construct the fort. The fort has a central parade ground. It was originally armed with ten 24 pounder cannons. In 1861 a 68 pounder cannon was added to the fort's weapon range.

Later in 1903 three 12 pounder QF guns were added to the fort. Despite the ongoing modernisation no shot was fired in force. In the 1920s the redoubt was falling into disrepair. The fort was briefly used during the Second World War to house British troops awaiting trial. Restoration started in 1969 and still continues today.

Ghostly Activity
Witnesses have reportedly seen apparitions through the windows and heard unexplained footsteps. Many visitors to the fort have also reported being touched by unseen hands in the lower casements. There have also been many other mysterious noises and apparitions seen by visitors.

The fort is well known for the apparition of a headless soldier. In 1972 a soldier was decapitated by a cable attached to a 12 ton cannon which broke under the strain. It is rumoured that this soldier now roams the fort.


Date: 5th October 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 20
Minimum Guest Age: 16 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.

Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum in Dorchester, Dorset was Dorset's courthouse from 1797 until 1955. Through that time, it saw everything from the 1834 trial of the Tolpuddle Martyrs to the 1856 domestic abuse case that inspired Thomas Hardy to write 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles', to victims of mesmerism, child perpetrators and American GIs tried during the Second World War.

Discover the depths of the cold, dark cells, before ascending to the dock. Stand in the dock of the famous courtroom, where famous novelist and poet Thomas Hardy was a magistrate from 1884 until 1919.

See where the Tolpuddle Martyrs were held before being brought to trial, thereby sparking the Trade Union movement.

After ending its life as a court in 1955, Shire Hall was used as offices for West Dorset District Council (previously the Rural District Council).


Date: 19th October 2024

Time: 8:00pm until 2:00am
Ticket Price Per Person: £46

Tickets Available: 20
Minimum Guest Age: 18 years old.

Deposit payment available (£20 per person)
Read previous customer Feedback/Testimonials from this location.