Is the Washington on Fitzwilliam Street (centre of town, next to Devonshire Green) haunted? This pub has a listing in a directory from as far back as 1839. I also heard that a doctor may have operated from this site at some point. With an old pub like this and so many people coming and going through the ages, could it be that it has picked up a resident spook or spirit? I have already checked the Ghost Hunters guide to Sheffield but it is'nt in there. Any help from anyone would be great!:help:

If it is haunted it will be by the legions of BT engineers from Washington Works and Eldon House who used to spend their afternoons in there :hihi:

When I worked at Infogrames next door, we used to spend a lot of time in there. Saw plenty of spirits but no ghosts. :D
I bet they were gutted when Infogrames closed down, they must have made a fortune from us.

Ah, the old jokes are the oldest! :rolleyes: I thought the Washington works were a cutlers, not full of BT enginneers?

In the mid-1980s, the pub was a fashionable haunt for Sheffield musicians, such as members of Cabaret Voltaire etc. Long overcoats and dour expressions were obligatory. We thought we looked 'cool'. In retrospect, we resembled extras on the set of 'Last of the Summer Wine'.

I never heard any tales of the place being haunted. The landlord of the time used to sometimes look as if he'd seen a ghost though.

It's still a haunt for musos in sheffield

Yeah, saw Stephen Singleton in there last year. Well, pretty sure it was him ...

Ah, the old jokes are the oldest! :rolleyes: I thought the Washington works were a cutlers, not full of BT enginneers?

BT used the building as offices for several years after the cutlery industry re-located to China :) I think the site is now a block of student flats.

BT used the building as offices for several years after the cutlery industry re-located to China :) I think the site is now a block of student flats.

That's the building Gremlin/Infogrames was in, after BT vacated it. No ghosts there either, but I did get to meet Tony Robinson as he came to see the place before it was pulled down. I think it was briefly featured on the Time Team special, as they did a dig to see if anything from the ancient cutlery works turned up in the rubble. Greybeard is right, it's student flats under construction now.

That's the building Gremlin/Infogrames was in, after BT vacated it. No ghosts there either, but I did get to meet Tony Robinson as he came to see the place before it was pulled down. I think it was briefly featured on the Time Team special, as they did a dig to see if anything from the ancient cutlery works turned up in the rubble. Greybeard is right, it's student flats under construction now.

So it was a cutlers first, then BT moved in, then Gremlin/Infogrames. Then before it was pulled down Tony Robinson had a potter around. Now it is going to be the site for student accomodation. I wonder whether they would be interested to know they are opposit the site for an old jewish buriel ground (Autoglass opposite)? I had heard before that when BT used the place for a telephone exchange that you had people walking through walls almost every day! has anyone else heard of this?

Segasonic,
I remember Steve Singleton excitedly telling me that the early ABC were to support Spandau Ballet as I bumped into him en route for the then Kite's Winebar in the 80s. 'Spandau are going to be massive ' he rather breathlessly said . I wasn't convinced. Shortly after both Spandau and ABC became 'massive'. Funny old world.

Your bang right harry,i can remember the jews burial ground and as a kid we would look into it through a gate.

Only a small place wasn't it? I think they shifted all the graves to a place in Ecclesfield. I am sure someone has mentioned before that when BT ran the Washington works they couldn't move for spooks. Maybe the restless souls of the people awoken from their sleep by the moving of their graves decided to wander around the strange looking machinery with the flashy lights?

It's still a haunt for musos in sheffield

Erm, what do musos look like. Sort of watered down Goth? Long overcoats and dour expressions? Listening to Spandou Ballet?:confused:

Erm, what do musos look like. Sort of watered down Goth? Long overcoats and dour expressions? Listening to Spandou Ballet?:confused:
Ah, Musicians!:rolleyes:

I dj at the following night at the washington Plan B at the DJ's Scott & Jamie Thompson and Mark Dale playing Punk-Soul-Ska-60's Beat-New Wave-Two-Tone & have never encountered any ghosts in there, it is still pretty much a hanunt of local bands , we even had amy winehouse in once when were djing

Ok, so most people don't seem to think that the Washington is haunted, what about any of the surrounding area? One part used to be a graveyard, further down the road you had an old WW1 hospital (Stokes tiles) and most of the area was flattened in WW2! Someone somewhere must have had something weird happen to them in one of the buildings around there. How about where the Hornblower used to be (Revolution bar)?

Didn't there used to be a school opposite the pub about 100 years ago or more?

Segasonic,
I remember Steve Singleton excitedly telling me that the early ABC were to support Spandau Ballet as I bumped into him en route for the then Kite's Winebar in the 80s. 'Spandau are going to be massive ' he rather breathlessly said . I wasn't convinced. Shortly after both Spandau and ABC became 'massive'. Funny old world.

They don't make em like that any more. I far prefer ABC to Spandau :thumbsup:

My best mate owns The Washington, he and the bloke who lives upstairs reckon it is, there have been some strange things happening quite recently. Footsteps being heard upstairs walking across the floor whilst sitting in the bar,when no-one is up there, and just the staff sitting downstairs in the quiet, having a quick snifter before they leave. (always late at night) I have been upstairs and it's a huge place, all bare floorboards so you could instantly hear anything walking across the floor.
If spirits do exist (which I believe they do) then the amount of people who have lived, worked, drank and probably died in there, it wouldn't surprise me.
These accounts come from bar staff, who have been working that evening, and not been drunk.:loopy:

Good, someone else has said it is haunted! Thanks Lovabulrogue! I heard that they used to use the upstairs part as a late bar and an area bands played in, is that still the case? I also heard that at some point in the past a doctor may have plied his trade there. With a history that spans possibly 200 years, (the earliest record I found for it was 1839) it would have seen alot of people come and go. I bet the people who used to live in the old terraces going down Fitzwilliam Street would also work in the cutlery works, then go to the local for a pint. Who knows what characters that place may have seen other the years, people who like Spandau Ballet for a start!:hihi:

Dunno about haunted but in the mid '80's the old couple who ran it used to have a huge collection of teapots.

Dunno about haunted but in the mid '80's the old couple who ran it used to have a huge collection of teapots.

What an excellent post Longcol. You are right - I remember seeing them.
Teapots 1 Ghosts 0.
Result!

Dunno about haunted but in the mid '80's the old couple who ran it used to have a huge collection of teapots.

Teapots and the old couple were still there in 1991, I think it was about that time they retired. Nice people.

Edit: Spirits in a pub - whatever next ? :)

Good, someone else has said it is haunted! Thanks Lovabulrogue! I heard that they used to use the upstairs part as a late bar and an area bands played in, is that still the case? I also heard that at some point in the past a doctor may have plied his trade there. With a history that spans possibly 200 years, (the earliest record I found for it was 1839) it would have seen alot of people come and go. I bet the people who used to live in the old terraces going down Fitzwilliam Street would also work in the cutlery works, then go to the local for a pint. Who knows what characters that place may have seen other the years, people who like Spandau Ballet for a start!:hihi:

No, upstairs is just living space. I will be there a week on Sat (after the derby match) until late no doubt. I ask again.

No, upstairs is just living space. I will be there a week on Sat (after the derby match) until late no doubt. I ask again.
Cheers for that, look forward to your reply!:)

I don't know about ghosts but when I used to go in regularly a few years ago the smell in the gents was pretty haunting :hihi:

What an excellent post Longcol. You are right - I remember seeing them.
Teapots 1 Ghosts 0.
Result!
Ahem, it could very well be 1-1 after extra time!:P

I don't know about ghosts but when I used to go in regularly a few years ago the smell in the gents was pretty haunting :hihi:
Spooky stuff? Or maybe not?:rolleyes:

Back to the teapots, did they used to have them displayed on the shelving all around the lounge?

Yes they did and the toilets are still as rancid as they ever were

I don't remember the Ladies toilets being that great either! Never any loo roll anyway! Haven't been in for ages but used to enjoy the beer garden in Summer and the interesting CD collection. What's it like nowadays? The last time I went in (bout 3 years ago), it was dead, so stopped going.

It's old, so it must be haunted. How's that for daft logic. My house is nearly 200 years old. So it must be haunted. The school my kids go to is over 100 years old, so that must be haunted too.

What a pile of tosh.

It's old, so it must be haunted. How's that for daft logic. My house is nearly 200 years old. So it must be haunted. The school my kids go to is over 100 years old, so that must be haunted too.

What a pile of tosh.
Just because its old does not mean it automatically becomes haunted. The pub has a colourful past and has been witness to many events over the last 200 years or so, wouldn't it be also be a nice touch if some of the happy (or sad) events were somehow replayed either by spirit or just by some form of recording in the atmosphere?
However age is not a pre-requisit (sorry, no dictionary to check spelling on that). The Roxy nightclub (about 40 years plus?) is reputed to be haunted. Novotel is said to have a few rooms that have an oppressive atmosphere and the ghost of a German who committed suicide there. It has been said even Sheffield Arena has had its spooky moments.
As for old buildings, I don't think there is a ghost at the Yorkshire Bank on Fargate and that has been there well over 100 years, The tall brick building on Fitzalan Square (now a bookies? used to be a hotel in ye olde times) is over 100 and no reported spooks. Across the road, the Yorkshire bank there is about the same age but I haven't heard of anything going bump in the night. Maybe your home, doesn't have a ghost because:-
a) Nothing ever happened there to warrant one.
b) Not the right kind of atmosphere that would record one.
c) They don't exist.
d) You are not sensitive to that sort of thing (neither am I).
e) Nobody would want to haunt you.
f) Nobody would dare haunt you.
g) You have such a closed mind that you wouldn't recognise something stange if it appeared with a white sheet over its head rattling chains.

I only posed the question, other people are free to reply. Thankyou for your time and thoughts with this question.:)

And yes, the beer garden in the summer is a nice place to be with a cold one.

They do one or two nice real ales in there now, sometimes from Sheffields very own Kelham Island Brewery.

Been drinking in town for many years and just started going back in the Washy.Glad to say the later hours have sparked the buzz back into the place.Debbie Harry in a few weeks ago.

Looking forward to music and sun in the garden.:clap:

is the autoglass building built on the buriel site?

as i work there, at night aswell

is the autoglass building built on the buriel site?

as i work there, at night aswell
Yes, the autoglass building and the part of the restaurant next door are on the site of an old Jewish buriel ground that was there untill 1976 when all the graves were removed to Ecclesfield. There is a theory that the removal of these graves (mostly children) may have resulted in a number of paranormal occurences at the old BT telephone exchange that used to be opposite, hence my other post on the forum regarding this.

I used to go in the Washington, once or twice a week at lunchtime between 1984 and 1989 (used to work at Pryors on Egerton St). Was never aware of any hauntings until I just read this thread, but I remember never being comfortable in ladies loos and getting one of mates from work to go in with me. Reason was I heard someone/something move in next toilet but nothing there. Spooky eh

Spooky stuff, maybe! Does anyone remember any incident at the pub that involved a small child, maybe five or six years old approx. Maybe in the beer garden?

I work in the washinton and me and other staff have definitly seen and heard strange things. I'm sure i've seen a spirit/ghost whatever u want to call it. One of the other bar staff has seen a man in a cagoole (sp?) sitting in the deep end with a pint and then he vanishes a second later. There have been doors locked behind people, when no one with keys was around the vicinity.........mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..it's all very strange.. i would be curious to know more about it's history tho :? :o

Cor, I thought this thread had vanished into the depths of the forum!! Cheers for the last posting!

Have a look in "Haunted Sheffield" (by Mr & Mrs P Dreadfull), or the "Pub on Every Corner" for more history!