The little boy said to haunt city mansion

THE story of a young boy who lost his life one Christmas has long petrified visitors to Calderstones House - and staff reports suggest there could be a grain of truth to the tale.

- By MORGAN KING

The Georgian mansion in Calderstones Park has been the headquarters of shared reading charity The Reader since 2013. Like any old house, it is the setting for various ghostly yarns, but the best-known is the grisly tale of a Victorian child worker who lost his life in the coal cellar.

The boy, who was apparently crushed by a delivery of coal that fell on him in the cramped space, is rumoured to haunt the house and its grounds. A 21-year-old front of house manager, who preferred not to be named, experienced something she couldn’t explain.

She said: “A colleague and I went down to the room where the little boy is said to have died, to pick up some stock for the bar.

“We were messing around and jokingly I said: ‘Little ghostie come out and show yourself’. Just afterwards I was in the staff kitchen when another colleague said: “You look really pale’. Literally a second later, I projectile vomited.

“It was all very weird. I felt fine afterwards. I am a very scientific person and don’t normally believe in things like that. I like things to be scientifically proven.”

The coal cellar has been sealed off and is no longer regularly used by staff at the house.