The Stanley Dock opened in 1848 and was designed by Jesse Hartley. The Stanley Dock Warehouse was opened later, in 1901, and is a grade II listed building. In 2006 work began in a £20,000,000 exercise to link the connecting Leeds and Liverpool Canal to the waterways of Pier Head.
In 1901 when the Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse was finished it covered the largest area of any other building. The building was used by a morgue for dead American servicemen during the war during which time it became infamous when a body snatcher was discovered and shot dead.
The dock and warehouse were used up until 1980. During their lifetime they served as a port on the sea routes between the United Kingdom and America. As a busy port, it was the location for numerous murders. Immigrants and travellers, especially the Irish, were often blamed for the deaths and sometimes without any evidence at all.
In 1980 the warehouse fell into disuse but has been championed by local newspapers and the ground floor is now used as a Sunday market.
Hauntings
There are a number of reported hauntings in Stanley Dock and Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse. It is said that the ghost of the body snatcher shot by the Americans still lurks in the building as does that of the soldier whose body he tried to move. Psychics visiting the warehouse have often reported sensing the name ‘George’ or ‘Crippins’ in relation to the incident.
Another report tells the sad tale of a woman and a child who spend eternity roaming the huge building looking for each other but unable to meet. One theory is that both lost souls are from a Polish family who fled to England to escape famine but who never made it any further than Merseyside docks. The daughter may have drowned and the mother died of a broken heart.
Headless Moll is a ghost more commonly associated with Pier Head – having died in an accident at the Stanley copper works – but reports of a headless ghost at Stanley Docks began shortly after the construction work to link the canal around Stanley Dock to the Pier Head area started. Has this lost soul moved to the morgue or elsewhere in the warehouse?
The South West Wing of the building is known to be one of the most haunted areas of the warehouse. The morgue is supposed to be haunted by the spirit of an evil doctor.
In January 2009 Living TV’s Most Haunted Live visited the warehouse to look for ghosts. They used webcams to allow an interview audience to view a number of rooms in real-time during the live TV show.
In Pure Spirit
Have you been down to the docks at Liverpool? How would you describe them?
Does it make sense that the ghost of the American serviceman whose body was attempted to be removed from the warehouse would be haunting the area? What about the underground sections of the area? Could they home any evil pit ghosts?
The sad tale of a woman and a child im just wondering were you found this information?
Hi Chris, thanks for the comment.
Sorry for not replying straight away but I had retreated to bed to watch MHL from the warmth of the duvet. Info comes from three main sources; the internet (mainly book search and news archives), a very small paper library behind me and local knowledge.
I'm not actually in Liverpool myself. In this case I've a pair of paranormal studying friends in the city who were more than happy to help out, who emailed over the info and who I'm sure will be pleased that they scored a few hits!
no doubt most haunted researchers will be scaning this site or maybe they created it.
Hi Mary,
This site isn't associated with Most Haunted Live in anyway. I'd like to think that official researchers might cast an eye this way but that's about as far as it goes! Thanks for the visit.
Yeah funny that all the information off it happens to be in the show….and it was published today at 8:57PM! what were the chances *sigh*
Hi Matthew,
I certainly did time the post so that it went live during the program! A bit of a risk as there's no way to be sure that people will find it in time but we got lucky on this one!
Photographs around the Stanley warehouses can be found on my website..
On the "Dock Rd area" album..
On here >>> http://www.Liverpooldays.com
Cheers..
Gerard Fleming
Im in Liverpool and about to start running regular paranormal evnts at the Stanley dock complex. The most haunted event was like a lot of their events and scripted to produce a TV show (seen scripts from another Liverpool location shown on tv late 2009).
We dont dramatise anything and try our best to produce an unbiased investiagtion. I have doen a lot of research prior to the event but as i will be only be providing 1st aid & halthe and safety support for the event – i am not in a position to influence anyone taking part. Anything found or reported will be processed and used to compare against future events throughout the buildings as we move around the site and looked into by our historian to see if any records exist.
I worked in this warehouse until 1985. I was responsible for taking off crown locks when bonded warehouse control was passed to the warehouse keeper. I patrolled the warehouse alone during dark evenings and never felt any presence or evil in the building. Maybe I’m just insensitive.
big norm. peter price our local radio presenter went to the stanley dock warehouse on halloween nite.he took along a spirtulist who said there was a spirit of a young girl who followed them around and was trying to hold her hand.peter spoke to the nite watchman,who told them he has seen the young girl several times and caught an image of her on his mobile phone.he also said he has seen things on the 6th floor were the american servicemen were kept,i have been round the sunday market afew times and i wouldnt walk around there in the day time when empty,let alone through the nite like the security guy its a huge place with many floors and is empty at the moment except. for the sunday market which is a must to visit if you are in the area,you will get afeeling for the place it is very imposing.i have heard it is soon to be made in to apartments.and i am happy with that,it would be a crime if it was pulled down.
are we able to still visit the tobacco warehouse?
I was the Warehouse Officer for Stanley Warehouse up to and including the mid ’80s, it still operated beyond my move. During my time as the Officer there I was tasked with removing the HM C&E locks, moving freely and alone through the whole of the warehouse. I didn’t sense any ‘spirits’ there apart from the whisky and rum.
http://cdn2.shipspotting.com/photos/middle/9/6/6/1715669.jpg Is the ship that supplied the 20000 litre tanks with 98% by volume spirits through pumps and tanks leading to the warehouse. This was mid 80s still.