Built in 1875, Hurworth Grange Community Centre in the village of

Hurworth-on-Tees Hurworth-on-Tees is a village in the borough of Darlington, within the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated in the civil parish of Hurworth. The village lies to the south of Darlington on the River Tees, close to its ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, has had a long and varied history, from private residence of a wealthy Quaker banking family to its modern-day use as a well-loved community centre. In 2003, a chilling story emerged that the once family Anne and Arthur were found brutally murdered inside the upper floor of the Grange. It is believed foul play was to blame as there were stab wounds to their necks and weirdly, to both of their eyes. The killer, who got the infamous name Eye Ripper, has never been caught and perhaps roams the streets of Hurworth to this day...

History

Hurworth Grange was constructed in

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

, commissioned by Alfred Backhouse as a wedding gift for his nephew, James Edward Backhouse. The building is a large

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

Victorian mansion that at one time boasted of a lovely rock garden created by the famous Backhouse nursery of Yorkshire. Over the years the house changed hands, being used as a residence by the Rogerson family and then later the Spielman family. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Jewish refugees were housed at Hurworth Grange and a military installation was set up in its grounds. In 1956 ''

Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God The Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, officially the Hospitaller Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God (abbreviated as O.H.), are a Catholic religious order founded in 1572. In Italian they are also known commonly as the Fatebenef ...

'' purchased Hurworth Grange to use as a Juniorate School. In 1967 the Juniorate School was closed and Hurworth Grange was purchased by the local Parish Council for use as a community centre.

Hauntings

Regular patrons of the Hurworth Grange Community Centre have reported various types of

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...

activity occurring. In early 2005 ''Anomalous Phenomena Investigations'' (API), of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...

, run by founders Colin & Cindy Nunn and Chris & Jo Carnegie, were granted exclusive privileges to investigate the alleged

hauntings The list of reportedly haunted locations throughout the world, that are locations said to be haunted by ghosts or other supernatural beings, including demons. Reports of haunted locations are part of ghostlore, which is a form of folklore. Ar ...

. In August 2006 the

BBC North East and Cumbria BBC North East and Cumbria is one of BBC's English Regions covering Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Gateshead, South Tyneside, City of Sunderland, County Durham, Northumberland, most parts of North Yorkshire & Cumbria. The region provides u ...

crew filmed the team conducting an investigation at Hurworth Grange. The show aired on 30 October 2006 and was presented by

Anna Nolan Anna Nolan (born 16 October 1970) is an Irish television presenter, producer and former business manager, waitress and Irish international basketball player. She has presented numerous television programmes in Ireland and the UK. Early life Wh ...

. API continues to conduct regular investigations at Hurworth Grange, with future plans to publish a book about their findings.

External links

Official Hurworth Grange WebsiteAnomalous Phenomena Investigations Website
{{coord, 54.4854, -1.5419, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Alfred Waterhouse buildings Community centres in England