Holymoorside
About Holymoorside
Holymoorside is a small village, located two miles west of Chesterfield, on the eastern edge of the Peak District National Park.
The village has a population of approximately 1,500 people and is steeped in history. Each report explains the history of the particular area.
Beeley Moor
On 12 August 2015, three people were watching a meteor shower on the moor, when they observed something that appeared to be a panther moving around on Harland Edge, a few hundred yards away. Despite it being late in the evening, its outline was silhouetted against the horizon and it moved east along the edge in an unusual manner. The witnesses were familiar with the moor and knew there were no trees in that direction.
Belmont
Once the home of local mill owner Simeon Manlove, this 18th century country house was demolished in 2006 and apartments now occupy the site. During the mid 20th century, the house was used as a nursery. Some of the nursery nurses would refuse to sleep in the tower due to its reputation for being haunted. Local legend also states a cannon was fired in the direction of Gladwin's Mark from the top of the tower.
Birkenshaw Wood
In the late 2000s, a border collie belonging to one resident of the village would refuse to enter the part of the wood near the wooden bridge over the stream. The collie would cower down and begin shaking not long after entering the wood via the stile with the gate from Chander Hill Lane.
Chander Hill
Chander Hill Farm dates back to 1207, when monks from Beauchief Abbey in Southern Sheffield would be sent to work on monastery farms at Harewood Grange. There is rumoured to be a tunnel from Chander Hill to Harewood Grange, originating from a large trapdoor in a downstairs room. Phantom monks have reputedly been sighted walking down Chander Hill Lane.
Cliff Bottoms
On 6 February 2020, one local resident was taking his dog for a walk through the woods when he became aware of a distinctive uncomfortable atmosphere by the stepping stones over a brook. Continuing a few dozen yards along the path in the direction of Upper Loads, he suddenly noticed several dark shadowy shapes floating in and out of the trees in a clearing, just off the path. This experience lasted for around fifteen seconds before the shapes faded and the witness fled.
Harewood Grange
The site of a monastery farm, apparitions of monks have been seen around the farm buildings and walking through the dip in the nearby Harewood Road. A resident of one farm has stated that they have found remains of old tunnels on their land.
Harewood Road
When driving through the Cathole Valley one night in 2008, a lady witnessed a large black animal, which she believed was a panther, dart in front of her car.
A property at the bottom of Harewood Road is supposedly haunted, with a door seen opening and unusual shadows in a dorma bedroom reported in the 2010s.
Hipper Hall
Dating back to the 16th century, the Grade II listed Hipper Hall and its adjoining tithe barn are among the oldest buildings in Holymoorside. Mary Queen of Scots is rumoured to have stayed the night there, with her ghostly shadow claimed to have been known to frequent the building. During the 1940s, two local boys decided to go and investigate, taking a shotgun with them and camping out for the night outside one of the barns. Suddenly, a shadow appeared on the barn door, causing one of the boys to fire the shotgun and creating a hole in the door. However, it turned out it was just the shadow of a tree branch cast by the moonlight!
Holymoor Road
A property on Holymoor Road near the centre of the village is supposedly haunted, with a very uncomfortable atmosphere being reported by a former occupant, who claimed to have witnessed apparitions in the cellar, along with other "unpleasant things". However, there have not been any unexplained phenomena since at least the 1980s, and it is possible that the property, which was once a small pub, is no longer haunted.
A different property on Holymoor Road is apparently haunted by a former owner. Footsteps, the sounds of breaking glass and the noise of heavy furniture shifting from another room have been reported. Certain items vanish, only to reappear later in plain site. The taps in one bathroom supposedly turn on, gushing water, when no one has been near them. A plumber was unable to find any rational explanation. A spiritualist medium investigated the property in 2007 and reported sensing a presence around the kitchen and hearing "When You Wish Upon A Star" being sung from one of the bedrooms.
Hunger Hill Pumping Station
Built in 1924, the grand waterworks building now stands derelict in Corporation Wood. Once the site of satanic rituals, it was rumoured that a couple were murdered there by devil worshipers. Strange mists have appeared on photos taken inside the building and there is an uncomfortable atmosphere surrounding the entire area, with some locals avoiding the woods completely.
Ghost investigators visited the site in April 2023 and recorded some interesting phenomena.
More information about the pumping station can be found here.
Little Blackpool
Between Walton Holymoorside Primary School and Walton Back Lane is a small hollow called Little Blackpool, named because in the Victorian era many families would go down to the River Hipper there to paddle and bathe. One lifelong resident of Holymoorside has commented that the hairs on the back of his neck always stand up near the two gates at either end of Little Blackpool and a chilling sensation comes over him. In the mid 2010s, he was out walking his dog at 6am when he noticed a hooded figure walking on the wrong side of the barbed wire fence. He noted that it was uncommon to see anyone else out so early on a winter's morning, let alone someone on the other side of the fence, which is a riverbank and full of brambles. Just after he passed Little Blackpool, the hooded figure vanished.
In the 1980s, the same resident was walking one afternoon through a field north Little Blackpool when he observed a young lady he knew walk behind a hawthorn bush with her dalmatian before disappearing. He later discovered that the lady had shot herself dead the day before the sighting.
Longside Road
In October 1999, a man was cycling along the lane when he suddenly turned very cold and noticed an elderly gentleman standing atop the guide stoop at the side of the road. His arm was outstretched with his finger following the cyclist and pointing in the direction of Hardwick Hall, as marked by the stoop. The cyclist was left incredibly shaken by the encounter and began crying when he returned home. A couple of years later, two local teenage boys had exactly the same experience whilst out cycling one afternoon, with both returning home crying. The two boys and the cyclist have never met.
After the man had the encounter, he and his wife became interested in guide stoops and purchased a book by about the locations and history of them in Derbyshire. On the front cover was a sketch of the exact same elderly gentleman seen on Longside Road.
New Road
A property on New Road is the site of ongoing paranormal activity, with a resident reporting distinctive cold spots in some rooms, the apparition and noise of a phantom young girl playing with children, taps turning on full blast at random times of day and night, along with disembodied footsteps on the stairs. In addition to doors opening and closing by themself, the apparition of a man in a brown suit has been frequently sighted in the cellar.
Riverside Crescent
Holymoorside Cotton Mill stood on the site of Riverside Crescent for over one hundred years before its demolition in 1927. A property on the cul-de-sac is supposedly haunted, with the figure of a young lady being witnessed on the landing in the late 2010s.
Rufford House
A vicar from Old Brampton was once called to this property near Chander Hill after the then occupants were unnerved by the unexplained phenomena there. The phenomena included unexplained banging noises, sudden cold spots, a resident being awoken by footsteps coming up the stairs when she was alone in the house, and a guest being so startled by an apparition at the top of a staircase that he dropped his coffee. Dogs were said to be too frightened to go upstairs and would instead sit and bark up at nothing from the bottom of the stairs. It was believed that in years gone by an accidental shooting death had occurred at the property, which could potentially explain the unusual activity experienced there.
The Old School
Constructed in the 1870s, the Old School House on New Road was the site of the village's primary school until relocation to its current location by the Doghole Hamlet in 2002. Inside the main school hall were decorative spheres at the end of each roof truss, one of which was carved into a rose. The others, however, were uncarved - the explanation being that the sculptor died after falling from his ladder. The school has a long reputation of being haunted, with rumours of an air raid shelter that collapsed during the second world war, killing some children sheltering inside.
One evening in the early 1980s, the school caretaker and a couple of others were alone in the building, setting up a stage in the hall for a nativity performance. As the trestles needed cleaning, one of the men went to get a bucket of water, which he placed down a few feet from a flight of stairs downwards from the hall. Several minutes later, the men heard a clattering and noticed the bucket had disappeared, only to be found at the bottom of the stairs.
Since the Old School's conversion into apartments in the early 2000s, reports of paranormal activity have not ceased. One resident mentioned frequently waking up in the night hearing a young girl's voice from within her apartment and seeing odd shadows out of the corner of her eyes on other occasions.
Walton Holymoorside Primary School
The school was constructed in 2000 on the site of an historic orchard and market garden, replacing the cramped facilities on New Road. The school opened in June 2002 and is one of the largest primary schools in the county. Since August 2017, lights have been noticed turning on and off inside the building, in the upper junior and nursery areas, when the building is unoccupied. No electrical faults have been found upon investigation. One caretaker and a member of the administration staff have reported an uneasy atmosphere when working alone in the building during the holidays. Loud bangs have been reported around the reception area, while heavy footsteps have been heard emanating from an alleyway when no one is on site.
