The Shakespeare
Manchester, Greater Manchester 1656 & 1928
“Whatever the case, The Shakespeare in Manchester is one haunted place…’ Spooky Isles
The Shakespeare pub in Manchester is an iconic one for anyone who has spent any considerable amount of time around Manchester, I always remember being so amazed by its architecture… and after doing a bit of digging the Shakespeare is even more impressive to me…
The pub was built in 1656, but not in Manchester, no… Originally known as the Shambles, the pub was built in the city of Chester - a huge 40 miles away from where it stands now! Amazingly and astonishingly, the entire pub was dismantled brick by brick and transported over to Manchester in 1928. I can’t even imagine the trials and tribulations of transporting an entire building in the 1920s, it must have been a huge pain in the ass, but they managed to retain many of its original details and it certainly retains the character it had during its time in Chester.
I didn’t decide to write about The Shakespeare pub because of its fascinating history (it was a pretty big factor though!), the building is said to be incredibly haunted. Similarly to the Ship of Theseus debate, if you replace a ship board by board is it still the same ship at the end; if you dismantle your entire pub and transport it 40 miles away, will the same ghosts still haunt it?
But who is said to haunt the Shakespeare? There’s a few tales floating around about the ghostly activity in the pub, and how it may have occurred. Patrons and landlords alike have both reported seeing the ghost of a girl engulfed in flames at the top of the stairs. Some speculate that this must’ve been the girl responsible for lighting the candles in the pub, and one unfortunate day she accidentally lit herself on fire.
But other tales have circulated about who this girl may be. Perhaps she did accidentally cause a fire, but some say that the girl actually died at the hands of the chef. Riddled with guilt, it is said that the chef then hung himself from one of the beams… and supposedly, the marks of the rope can still be seen on said beam to this day. It is the ghost of this evil chef that is said to roam around the bar area, causing glasses to lift into the air!
Have you ever experienced anything strange at the Shakespeare in Manchester?!
