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Niddry Street Vaults Ghost Hunt

Niddry Street Vaults Ghost Hunt

The sheer intensity and frequency of paranormal occurrences within the Niddry Street Vaults have cemented their place as one of the most renowned haunted locations in the world.

Niddry Street Vaults Ghost Hunt With Paranormal Eye UK
If the darkness sends shivers down your spine, then perhaps the ghost hunts at the Niddry Street vaults are not the ideal choice for you. This underground location is renowned for its eerie reputation, being considered one of the most haunted places in the UK. Over the years, countless reports of paranormal activities have flooded in, adding to the mystique of this place. Visitors have claimed to witness ghostly apparitions, with one recurring figure being a man who silently observes those who dare to enter. As you venture into the depths of these vaults, the unsettling sound of stones being hurled and crashing onto the floor is a common occurrence. It is no wonder that ghost hunting events and ghost nights are immensely popular here, as they offer an opportunity to experience the supernatural firsthand. However, be warned, for an overnight ghost hunt in these haunted Vaults may leave you trembling with fear. So, are you prepared to step outside your comfort zone and embark on a spine-chilling ghost-hunting adventure beneath the streets of Edinburgh?

History Of Niddry Street Vaults

Building work commenced in 1785. The bridge consisted of 19 stone arches, spanning a chasm just over 1000 feet long. It stood 31 feet above the ground and had foundations penetrating Edinburgh’s bedrock as far down as 22 ft.

However, Edinburgh was a fearful and superstitious place at the turn of the 18th century, both of real and imagined harm. The citizen’s fear of what the unearthly and supernatural could inflict was exacerbated by their inherent mistrust of the invading English. This long-held belief resulted in the building of the defensive Flodden Wall after the disastrous Battle of the same name in 1513. This artificial barrier around the city’s outskirts, combined with Edinburgh’s natural geography, forced residents to live virtually on top of one another – in some cases in houses 14 stories high – rather than expanding outwards as with most developing cities.

This air of claustrophobia, fear and mistrust bred anxiety among the locals. When the South Bridge was finally completed in 1788, it was deemed an appropriate and fitting honour that the Bridges’ eldest resident, a well known and respected Judges’ wife, should be the first to cross this fine architectural structure.

Unfortunately, several days before the grand opening, the lady in question passed away! But promises had been made, hands had been shaken, and the city fathers felt obliged to honour their original agreement, and so it was that the first “body” to cross the South Bridge crossed it in a coffin.

The locals were shocked! The bridge was now cursed! The majority of the townsfolk refused point-blank to cross the bridge for many years, preferring the awkward and impractical route instead through the deep valley of the Cowgate. 18th-century Edinburgers may seem overly superstitious by today’s standards, but over the following centuries, it slowly became apparent that they might have had a point…

As time passed, space on Edinburgh’s South Bridge started to sell at premium prices; the land was fetching more per square foot than anywhere else in Europe. Business people began to build shops along the top of the bridge to make the most of passing trade. To accommodate these shop fronts, tenement houses were built along both sides of 18 of the original 19 arches, leaving only the Cowgate arch visible, as it remains today. To maximise space further, floors and ceilings were built beneath the blocked-in arches constructing dark, airless, vaulted chambers. These areas were initially used as workshops for the businesses above, while the vaults below ground level were used for storage.

Records from the day, recent excavations and various artefacts which have since been discovered all point to the fact that in the early days of the bridge, many businesses thrived in these artificial, “underground” spaces; taverns, cobblers, cutlers, smelters, victuallers and milliners, all left evidence of their trades. However, as time passed, the quality of life in these spaces deteriorated. The bridge (which had never been waterproofed due to its being built on a tight budget) began to leak, and the businesses were slowly forced to move out. Several years passed, during which time the function of these spaces began to change.

In the absence of legal trade and licensed businesses, the dark, damp, wet vaults became home to only society's poorest and most disreputable sections. This included immigrant Irishmen and Highlanders seeking refuge from the clearances, mercenary landlords, and even body snatchers!

While little documentary evidence exists to support this theory – (technically, these people weren’t supposed to be there in the first place) – when the vaults were eventually excavated, several corners revealed “middens”* containing household items such as old toys, broken medicine bottles, clay pipes, buttons, horseshoes, snuff boxes, cracked stoneware and ceramic jars, pots and plates; all visible signs of dwelling and inhabitation.
The vaults became utterly unusable long after the workshops and businesses moved out and its new residents moved in. A lack of light, air, heat, ventilation and sanitation and a slow, steady water seepage through the bridge's cracks made these areas impractical and uninhabitable. Within 30 years of the bridge’s opening, the abandonment of the Vaults was more or less complete.
The vaults were filled in with rubble, both for security for the businesses still operating above on street level and also to discourage settlers from making a home in what was effectively a place to die, not to live… and so the vaults fell into the dim distant memory of generations past.
However 1985, these long, lost, forgotten spaces came to public attention after a chance excavation revealed the labyrinthic network of rooms and dwelling spaces. These spaces have lost none of their original atmospheres. They are still dark, occasionally claustrophobic, and when it rains in Edinburgh, they can still be very damp. The Vaults today ooze memories of the past; their stones seep water and stories, invoking memory and provoking the imagination.

Haunting Events Paranormal events

Niddry Street Vaults Edinburgh Scotland
Ghost Hunt

Investigating with the Paranormal Eye UK Team throughout the evening
Exclusive access after dark
Group Vigils
Séances
Spiritual Medium during the investigation
Working in Small Groups, Using an array of different equipment and techniques
Complimentary Tea, Coffee,
Complimentary light snacks

Get Directions To Niddry Street Vaults

The Niddry Street Vaults offer a thrilling array of ghost tours that take place throughout the night. As the sun sets and darkness envelops the surroundings, you have the opportunity to witness paranormal phenomena alongside the friendly and passionate paranormal eye team. Prepare to delve into the unknown as you encounter eerie ghostly apparitions during these ghost investigations. Embark on haunted tours where the heavy sounds of footsteps echo through the vaults, relying solely on the beam of your torch to guide you through the mysterious depths.

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