sits on a picturesque street surrounded by the hustle and bustle of city life. Not far from Leicester's city center, the Hall has somehow managed to retain an appearance of a past era, despite the urban chaos encroaching on it's borders.
As you approach the Hall, the modern city seems to withdraw and you find yourself on the doorstep of 18th Century Leicester. A local tavern - The Talbot Inn and small park area, coupled with the 13th century St Peter's Church and Cemetary, all seem to add to the authenticity of ages past.
The house itself was built between 1709 and 1713 by Edward Cradock. Until 1937, it was invariably a residence for Leicestershire's "well-to-do" families before being bought by the Leicester Corporation who turned it into a museum.
One known previous owner of the house was John Ellis, chairman of the Midlands County Railway. He bought the house in 1847 and lived there with his six daughters until their deaths.
There have always been rumours that Belgrave Hall is haunted, rumours to which I certainly paid no attention to as a child. To me, Belgrave Hall was my country retreat, a place where I could hide out in it's beautiful gardens and seek shelter when it became too hot. I often conducted my forays alone and never once considered looking over my shoulder!
Recently, Belgrave Hall came under intense scrutiny by paranormal experts from around the world. The reason for this scrutiny? A ghostly image caught on camera by the Hall's closed-circuit television cameras. Recorded at 5am during late December 1998, the image appeared to show two figures bathed in light and even more strangely, the camera which usually records an image every second, froze for five seconds when the image appeared.
Museum staff have witnessed several strange occurrences over the years and for some unknown reason, the activity seems to have been increasing. In 1987, two mediums were brought to the Hall to investigate the haunting and both seemed to feel a strong spiritual presence.
Naturally, Managing curator Stuart Warburton, has been seeking rational explanations for the ghostly image. Local paranormal groups were brought in to examine the evidence and whilst they agreed that many theories could explain the recording, they remained optimistic about it's authenticity.
News of the ghostly image spread and TV newscasts around the world featured the film footage asking the question, "Do you believe in ghosts?" It wasn't long before the news found and firmly nestled with the experts.
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