The ghosts that haunt Adelaide
WHEN the doorbell keeps ringing, Sarah Tinney doesn’t answer it. Her historic Brighton home has a resident ghost, after all. And her house isn’t the only Adelaide building where things go bump ...
- More of Adelaide’s scariest places
- South Australia’s X-Files: — Kapunda’s haunted history
See Part 2 of the ghosts that haunt Adelaide later in the week
WHEN the doorbell doesn’t stop ringing, Sarah Tinney doesn’t bother to answer it. There’s no one there that she can see — it’s probably just the friendly ghost that lives at her historic home in Brighton. With Halloween on Saturday, here are the stories of some of Adelaide’s haunted buildings — and the people that live in them.
Dunluce Castle, Brighton
A FRIENDLY male voice calling out in an otherwise empty house, a brief tap on the shoulder and a doorbell with a mind of its own was all it took for an owner of an SA historical landmark to believe it was haunted.
Sarah Tinney bought Dunluce Castle, at Brighton, 11 years ago, and says from day one she changed her mind about the existence of ghosts.
Mrs Tinney spoke to the Guardian Messenger about her spooky experiences within the 105-year-old estate ahead of Halloween this Saturday.
She believes one of the ghosts lingering at Dunluce is its original owner, reverend Alexander Macully, after hearing a friendly “hello” emanating from inside her locked house when she was unpacking moving boxes.
“I heard a friendly man’s voice call out from the entry way, but I was sure I had locked the door behind me,” Mrs Tinney says.
“I wasn’t spooked until I got down there and realised the door was still locked.
“I thought right, okay — Alexander was saying hello.”
Mr Macully died in 1921, aged 74, nine years after he built Dunluce Castle.
Over the years, Mrs Tinney has learned to live with the castle’s quirks — including a doorbell that rings by itself.
“Half of the time I don’t even bother going to the door,” she says.
“It doesn’t ring every day, but sometimes it rings three times a day when there is no-one there to ring it.”
She says a friend is frequently brushed on the shoulder or the leg when visiting, though Mrs Tinney has never been “touched” by the mysterious being herself.
Rumour has it the ghost of Mr Macully’s daughter, Kitty Whyte, who is said to haunt the Brighton Jetty, has also made an appearance at her childhood home.
While Dunluce has been spruced up over the years, Mrs Tinney says they do honour the first family who lived there — she had the Macully crest etched into her kitchen splashback.
“I hope whoever it is, is happy with how I’m decorating,” she says.
— Amy Moran
British Hotel, North Adelaide
UNKNOWN to many, there is a mysterious silhouette that weaves its way across the walls of North Adelaide’s British Hotel.
As owner Richard Spalvins recalls, he has stood behind the bar to pour a pint of Coopers Pale Ale but Guinness flows from the tap.
He has seen bins falling over and rolling down the hall, hears alarms going off at odd hours and feels a soft tap on the shoulder when no one is around.
There have been many unexplained happenings at the North Adelaide pub since Mr Spalvins bought it 16 years ago.
He shared the spooky past of the Finniss St hotel with the City North Messenger just days out from Halloween.
“A guy hung himself up in one of the upstairs rooms,” Mr Spalvins says.
“His name, Claude, is engraved in the marble fireplace.”
There is no history on the mysterious man or how long ago he died, but Mr Spalvins says it could be as far back as a century ago.
He has no doubt Claude’s spirit still lives on in his hotel, which is one of Adelaide’s oldest pubs, after being licensed to serve alcohol to the public in 1837.
“We think Claude was a regular of the hotel before he went upstairs and hung himself and there we go,” he says.
“When we first took over 16 years ago a lot of strange things were going on.
“You poured a lager and a dark (ale) would come out or you would pour a Pale Ale and a Guinness would come out.
“There would be nothing on our surveillance or the alarm codes, but they would go off.
“Everything would change.”
Mr Spalvins says over the years staff have run into the ghost, been tapped on the shoulder and have seen bins floating down corridors.
— Sarah Spencer
Z Ward, Glenside Hospital
IT IS hard not to think of the hundreds or even thousands of people who were locked up at Glenside Hospital’s former Z Ward when you are there, by yourself, in one of the cells.
The people sent to Z Ward had been judged criminally insane, from compulsive thieves to murderers.
Among them were the “worst of the worst”, according to Adelaide Haunted Horizons owner and tour guide Alison Oborn.
Mrs Oborn has run ghost tours at Z Ward for just over a year, taking more than 1500 people through the former Parkside Lunatic Asylum.
The tour starts in the cells. Mrs Oborn encourages the group to wander around and let her know of any “odd” or “cold” feelings.
The cells all feel a little odd — it is a former mental hospital after all — but, so far, no chills.
Other people on the tour do seem to genuinely feel that certain cells were “creepy” or “had a bad feeling”.
Mrs Oborn goes on to explain some of the weird phenomena people on the tours have experienced.
In one of the rooms, the “Mirror Room”, people have seen figures in one of the mirrors, while in another room people have heard heavy breathing.
There is one where people have seen a “dark mass” appear and scuttle around the room.
The tour culminates with five, silent minutes by yourself in one of the cells — time to reflect on what it must have been like for those who spent any time — never mind the 26 years or more years of the longest-serving prisoner — in this place.
One tour members says she felt breath on her neck during her five-minute cell visit.
Just the possibility of a supernatural experience — and it is quite high, according to Mrs Oborn — is enough to make you wary and jumpy at the smallest sounds.
The tours had a six-month hiatus while the building’s owner, Beach Energy, worked out what to do with the site.
But, with their development plans on hold, the tours are back on.
— Eugene Boisvert
Port Dock Hotel, Port Adelaide
A VOLUPTUOUS madame who strolls the front bar of the Port Dock Hotel, a Chinese man found floating in the Port River in a hessian sack, and a teenage music lover.
These are some of the mysterious, spooky and all together kooky ghost stories floating around in pubs, wharves and on the sea in historic Port Adelaide.
The Portside Messenger spoke to paranormal investigator David Hogg about the scary spirits lurking in the dark and under the moonlight.
Mr Hogg, who runs ghost tours of the area, says the Port Dock Hotel is the most haunted pub in Port Adelaide.
The old madame who worked in the hotel, which opened in 1855, lingers inside the old building.
Mr Hogg says many workers, cleaners and guests on his tours have encountered the all made-up but sad former brothel worker.
“We don’t have a name for her unfortunately and there is no record of who she may have been,” Mr Hogg says.
“Those sort of working girls — if they pass away in the hotel — didn’t make the papers too often so we don’t have any records of her.”
People who spot the sex worker have reported feeling “uneasy” and “scared” after their paranormal experience.
Mr Hogg says there is also a young boy who haunts the hotel’s cellar and local legend has it he is the son of one of the working girls.
“Again there is no evidence as to who he may have been but he has been seen around the downstairs, in the cellar and upstairs at times.”
Mr Hogg says the ghost of Chinese seaman Lee Pao Sung is also spotted often walking along the wharf.
Pao Sung’s body was found floating in the Port River after he was beaten to death, with nails driven into his skull and wrapped in a blanket.
Two of his shipmates were arrested for his murder.
The Lighthouse Hotel also has its fair share of spooky stories, including one about a young man who hangs around the jukebox.
“He’s been seen by various different bar staff and there is also one of an angry old man who is often seen looking at the mirrors,” Mr Hogg says.
“He’s scared staff members and we have linked him back to a few things that have happened in the hotel, one of which was an old man who committed suicide there by swallowing acid.”
- Kurtis Eichler
The Gully Pub, Tea Tree Gully
UNEXPLAINED banging noises, televisions turning on and off by themselves, and the sound of someone — or something — calling out names when no one is there, are just some of the mysterious happenings at the Gully Public House and Garden.
Staff at the 161-year-old hotel say the North East Rd building is haunted.
Some will not even walk into certain rooms in the pub for fear of something paranormal being there.
In the spirit of Halloween, which is on Saturday, Gully venue manager Andrew John has shared some of the supernatural stories from the hotel.
“The Gully has been the (cornerstone) of our community for more than 160 years, therefore, there are great old wives tales, some which include ghost stories,” he says.
Mr John says the lower part of the hotel was originally used as living quarters and this is where people claim to feel most uncomfortable.
“Some long serving staff members hesitate walking through certain areas because it makes them nervous,” he says.
“Over the years, staff at The Gully have reported their name being called out during lock-up at night time, and also smelling the odour of fairy floss or blossoms in areas that usually don’t smell so lovely.
“It’s not unusual for TVs to turn on or off, and there have been cases of unexplained banging noises, or glasses falling off the bar by themselves.”
Gaming Manager Nadine Murphy says some staff claim to have even seen ghosts in the building.
“Over the years sightings have included a girl ghost dressed in a white dress and the sound of happy laughter,” she says.
“Staff members who’ve encountered our Gully ghost believe they are friendly spirits.”
There have been two confirmed deaths associated with the hotel.
Landlord Joseph Morris died in 1899 when he was thrown from a horse and an infant, believed to have been suffocated at the hotel by its mother, also passed away.
The woman was not convicted of any crime.
The Gully Public House and Garden opened in 1854 and was originally known as the Tea Tree Gully Inn.
— Elizabeth Henson