Ghosts Ghouls and Gallows Manchester Ghost Tour

Manchester after dark is a city built on coal smoke and cotton money, and the things it buried did not stay buried. Your storyteller meets you in St Ann's Square and opens at the church of 1712, where Victorians walked anti-clockwise around the table tombs and pressed an ear to the stone to hear the dead answer. You are invited to try it. Across the square, an actor who died in 1995 is still seen smoking in the green room of the Royal Exchange. In a narrow alley nearby, Christmas shoppers in 1894 swore they saw the devil walk up a wall in the shape of a goat. Then the night turns to true crime: the Bolton mother who poisoned her children for the burial money, and the killer this city forgot while the Yorkshire Ripper took the headlines. We finish at the cathedral walls, where a headless black dog is said to prowl and where two people praying through a thunderstorm in 1577 were found the next morning with their throats torn out. A ghost tour told straight. You decide what to believe.

1. 1

   St. Ann's Church

   15 min

   Your guide meets you in St Ann's Square and opens the tour at the church, consecrated in 1712. Hear how Victorian Mancunians walked anti-clockwise around the table tombs and pressed an ear to the stone to listen for the voices of the dead, and why a large black dog is still said to roam between this churchyard and the cathedral walls.

2. 2

   Royal Exchange Theatre

   15 min

   Across the square stands the old cotton exchange, now the Royal Exchange Theatre. It is said to be haunted by the actor James Maxwell, one of the five directors who turned the derelict hall into a working playhouse. He died in 1995 and cast members still claim to see him smoking in the green room.

3. 3

   Manchester Cathedral

   20 min

   The tour finishes outside the cathedral, where a headless black dog has been reported prowling the walls and where, in 1577, two people praying inside during a thunderstorm were found the next day with their throats torn out by something nobody saw. We view the exterior only.

• Wheelchair accessible
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
• All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.