The area of St John’s Garden in Liverpool was once a burial ground.
In 1767 the area contained a small mortuary chapel and general burial site. The construction of St John’s Church began in 1775 and was started by Thomas Litoller. Litoller would use a gothic design that would later influence buildings like St George’s Hall.
The construction of St George’s Hall started in 1854 and when it finished St John’s Church was hard against the west elevation.
The name St John’s Garden comes from St John’s Church as the Church once stood within the grounds of the garden.
The graveyard and cemetery contained about 27,000 bodies before it was closed in 1854. The closure was due to the extension of St George’s Hall and surrounding buildings. Parts of these buildings still remain on the old burial ground.
St John’s Church did not survive long into the construction of St George’s Hall. By 1897 the city had taken the decision to move the Anglican Cathedral to St James’ Mount and close St Johns.
Hauntings
The old area of St John’s Church, cemetery and mortuary is believed to be haunted. St George’s Hall is also believed to contain ghosts.
A hooded figure is sometimes seen slipping into the back of St. George’s Hall from the area of the Gardens where St. John’s once stood. Sounds of wailing and crying are also sometimes heard coming from the area where the church once stood.
The most common reported haunting of the area is of orbs. Odd colours and shapes are sometimes seen floating along at ground level.
In Pure Spirit
Are you from Liverpool or Merseyside? Could you tell that the St John’s Gardens were once a graveyard by looking at them today?
Living TV’s Most Haunted Live* held their final night of Most Haunted Live January in 2009 in St. George’s Hall next to the area St John’s Church and mortuary. The program stationed webcams at the upper corridor room, a lower tunnel corridor, basement room and by a trap door. The series was titled “The Search for Evil” and by night seven a demonic entity which appeared to call itself Jake had been following the crew.
During the last night show In Pure Spirit’s article Demons from the TV: safety tips was the post popular page on the site.
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