Edinburgh's Blair Street Vaults

 
There are few places in the world quite as haunted as the Edinburgh's Blair Street Vaults. Also known as South Bridge vaults or just Edinburgh Vaults, the place consists of a series of nineteen chambers arches. The vaults were home to local taverns and shops but later became a safe haven for thieves, murderers and all sorts of nasty figures, making it one of the most dangerous places in the city.

Eventually, living conditions proved to be unsuitable even for these criminals, who could no longer tolerate the poorly circulated air and lack of sunlight, running water, and sanitation. Things became so bad that by the 1860s, most of the vaults had been emptied and filled with rubble, so as to prevent flooding and discourage ongoing crime.

Legend:

According to many paranormal investigations, the Edinburgh Vaults are reportedly one of the most haunted locations in the world. Mustering up all of our courage, our group went on a ghost tour of the vaults, learning of the spirits that still roamed its corridors from the 17th and 18th centuries. 

One of the famed ghosts is known as “Mr. Boots,” an evil entity who is believed to have murdered a woman and kept the body in his “house” inside. He hates the people who tour the vaults, and allegedly gets angry or even attacks anyone who dares to sit in the spot where the body was hidden. The most common reports of his presence, however, are the sounds of thick, heavy boots, stepping ever so slowly around visitors.

A woman described her encounter with Mr. Boots as:

“She told us of the presence of a malevolent male ghost who was very strong… he told her to get out of the vaults… She had tried to reason with him but he made a lunge at her and she saw him very clearly… He said ‘get out’ repeatedly. He was very territorial.”

There are also some other spirits which are not so terrifying. One is called "The Aristocrat", who is a well-to-do gentleman with a tall black hat and beard and is often seen leaning against the wall between the double height room and the tavern. With folded arms, he watches and grins at people as they pass. The other is called "The Cobbler" who is believed to be a shoemaker from the late 18th century, he is described as a short, stocky man wearing a long leather apron and a white shirt. He is known to smile at people as they pass, and is generally felt as a positive presence.

There is also a young spirit called "The Child". He is a small boy who wanders through the vaults, aged at about six or seven. He is described as having “blonde, curly hair and is dressed in a smart, blue suit with knicker-bocker trousers.”

Other unusual occurrences have also been reported around the vaults, with a member of staff at an adjoining bar once reporting leaving an orange on the counter for a few seconds while he put something in the bin, only to find it perfectly peeled when he looked back.

Investigation:

In 2001, Professor Richard Wiseman conducted a study of people spending time the vaults and concluded that, since those people who believed in ghosts reported more supernatural occurrences that those who did not believe, and since there were more “sightings” and odd events in rooms the participants had been told were haunted, that much of the experience was created in the minds of the people who went in there.

In contrast to this however – and perhaps lacking the academic credentials of Professor Wiseman – was Joe Swash, who spent a night in the vaults by himself in 2009 for a BBC programme, during which his microphone supposedly recorded the voice of a Catholic priest reciting the last rights for 20 minutes, something Swash himself never heard.

Others take down Electronic Voice Recorders, light meters and other ghost-hunting gadgets, and invariably all report strange, unexplainable readings.

For those that work there, however, there’s no need for any specialist equipment - just nerves of steel to go down into the dark vaults after everyone else has left the building.

Historical paranormal locations, like the Edinburgh Vaults, that embrace their haunted legacies are some of the coolest places to visit, because not only are you getting the opportunity to step back in time, you might even get to interact with the spirits who were there when it all happened.