Ghosts in the Gardens trail, York: Trail set to celebrate some of York's most famous residents - its ghosts

From a Roman legion trundling through the cellar of Treasurer’s House to the Grey Lady whose sight is said to herald success for whichever production is running at the Theatre Royal, some of York’s best-known residents are its ghosts.

And a collection of mysterious figures are once again be lurking in corners of the city’s most historic spaces this autumn as the popular wired ghost sculptures returned for a third year of the Ghosts in the Gardens trail at the weekend.

This time, as well as old favourites including a highwayman - perhaps inspired by notorious Dick Turpin, executed on the Knavesmire in 1739 - and a spectral bride, a certain very tall duck is set to join the phantasmagoric cohort.

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Long Boi, the missing and now presumed deceased mascot of the University of York, is already set to be immortalised in a statue. And while York BID, the organisers, refused to confirm the new ghostly duck is the return of Long Boi in spirit, the resemblance is uncanny.

York BID's award-winning Ghosts in the Gardens. Picture Jonathan GawthorpeYork BID's award-winning Ghosts in the Gardens. Picture Jonathan Gawthorpe
York BID's award-winning Ghosts in the Gardens. Picture Jonathan Gawthorpe

Ghosts in the Garden was launched in 2021 to attract visitors back to York in the aftermath of the pandemic, but it proved so popular that organisers have expanded its original 10 ghosts to some 45.

And a new event for this year is Ghosts After Dark, which will marry the sculptures up with storytelling in the Museum Gardens over three nights from November 7 to 10.

Carl Also, operations manager at York BID, explained: “Originally we were expecting this to be a creepy Halloween thing - but very quickly we realised, it’s not about that. It’s about bringing history to life.

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“We have amazing locations, like the Minster and Clifford’s Tower - but we also have hidden gems like St Anthony’s Garden, which is one of the best gardens in York but so few people even know about it.”

There are 20 locations being showcased as part of this year’s trail, and care has been taken by the team to have ghosts ‘haunting’ the places they may have walked when alive.

“You’ll see a butcher throwing slop out of the window on Shambles. You’ll see an archer poised on Clifford’s Tower ready to fire, and you’ll see a miller at the old mill behind the Castle Museum.

“We have a female stonemason at the Church of Holy Trinity, inspired by Mary Ann Fisher who used to work there.

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“There’s no signs for any of the ghosts. There's no information. It is just a case of just experiencing the ghosts as you happen across them. The idea is that if you were to go back in time, there’s a real chance that you could have seen that ghost in that location, doing that thing.

“People can then use their imaginations to see what they want to see.”

A full trail map of all 45 ghosts can be found online, or collected from the visitor centre on Parliament Street.

As for Mr Alsop’s own belief in ghosts, he does have one spooky York tale to share. “I used to work on Shambles.

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"There was a storeroom to the shop - and there was only one entrance to the cellar, and when I walked round I wanted to get out of there sharpish and didn’t want to go down there.

"The owners explained that it was ‘just Mary.’ The story goes she was a prostitute who got caught stealing, and now her ghost hangs around in the cellar.

“Do I believe in ghosts? I’m not sure.

“But there was just something weird about that cellar…”

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