New data has revealed Sheffield could be among the top paranormal places in the UK.
Sheffield is known to have some haunted history and the city hosts paranormal investigations, ghost tours and walks. It is also home to the road dubbed “one of the UK’s most haunted” – the A616 Stocksbridge Bypass – with alleged reports of ghostly children, hooded figures and cars stalling.
A study conducted by Alan Boswell Group ranked the city 31st in the UK, and revealed there were at least 27 paranormal reports in Sheffield in the last year.
The study also looked number of cemeteries, vacant properties, and houses build over 100 years ago.
45 cemetries and 174,747 memorials are located around Sheffield, alongside 2,644 empty buildings.
66,830 existing properties are said to have been built before the year 1919.
However, do these eerie findings haunt our student halls? A survey of The Sheffield Tab readers saw 50% of respondents say yes and 50% say no when asked if they have had a paranormal encounter with ghostly figure.
In recent years, ghost tours have been held at the National Emergency Services Museum at West Bar and at Endcliffe Hall, which is a short distance away from the University of Sheffield’s Endcliffe student village.
Academics from Sheffield Hallam University have recently worked on the National Folklore Survey for England, which showed that just over one in three people in England believe in ghosts.
Those aged 25-34 were more likely to believe in the paranormal in many forms: from possession and spells, to angels and demons.
Over 60% had heard a ghost story or legend related to the area they live in.
Dr David Clarke, an Associate Professor at Sheffield Hallam University who lead the survey team, said: “Our aim is to produce the first representative national survey of folklore in multicultural England to raise awareness of the value of folklore as a cultural asset.
“Far from folklore being something old fashioned, our results show that traditional beliefs and customs are a central part of modern life for millions of people. Everyone has folklore and this is reflected in the responses to our questions on supernatural beliefs and experiences.
“One surprising result is that, of those who say they have had an extraordinary experience, almost one in five have never told anyone about it, even family and close friends.”
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