The Tolhouse Museum / Gaol
Great Yarmouth
NR30 2SH
Saturday 28th October 2017
8pm - 2am
£45 Per Person (£10 deposit option available, see PAY PAL details at the bottom of the page.)
Great Yarmouth
NR30 2SH
Saturday 28th October 2017
8pm - 2am
£45 Per Person (£10 deposit option available, see PAY PAL details at the bottom of the page.)
At first sight, The Tolhouse seems strangely out of place, like a relic of a bygone age stranded amongst the modern streets, houses and offices of Great Yarmouth. When it was built about 800 years ago, it must have looked a grand place, with its sturdy stone walls, finely carved doorway and arched windows. Then it was the home of a rich merchant whose livelihood no doubt depended on the nearby quayside.
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Before long, however, the house passed into the hands of the Yarmouth town officials. So began its long association with the law, as the courtroom for various different types of courts, the town gaol with the notorious dungeon known as ‘the hold’, and a police station.
The Tolhouse has certainly had a turbulent history. Over the years it has been home to pirates, robbers and murderers as well as countless common crooks. It has been attacked by rebels and rioters and gutted by enemy bombs. Since the 1880s, the building has housed a museum. Today it tells the story of the building and of crime and punishment in Great Yarmouth through the ages.
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The Tolhouse would be one of the most likely places to find a ghost according to the museum's visitor services assistant Les Cole.
He said: “The ghost of a lady with her hair in a bun has been seen walking between the Tolhouse and the Library basement.
He said: “The ghost of a lady with her hair in a bun has been seen walking between the Tolhouse and the Library basement.
Matthew Hopkins, the infamous witchfinder general turned up in Yarmouth in 1645. Most people in the 17th century, even the educated, believed in witchcraft. Hopkins made a fine living for a year or two finding out witches, torturing them to get a confession and then seeing them tried. Several Yarmouth women were tried here, found guilty and hanged; Hopkins bloody reign was short-lived as he died two years later.
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The Tolhouse prison finally closed in 1878. It escaped demolition, and was restored as a library and museum. Yarmouth was badly bombed during the second world war, and the Tolhouse was almost destroyed in 1941. After postwar rebuilding, the current displays were remodelled in 2002.
Ghost hunt East Anglia look forward to a return visit, to see if this building has anymore secrets to give up.
Ghost hunt East Anglia look forward to a return visit, to see if this building has anymore secrets to give up.
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Ghost Hunt East Anglia visit some of England's most haunted buildings, castles, RAF base's and other locations.
Ghost Hunt East Anglia visit some of England's most haunted buildings, castles, RAF base's and other locations.