Ghost Hunting At Jimmy Allen's Nightclub

This video was uploaded to the YouTube channel Dead Air in July 2020.

Jimmy Allen's nightclub/bar is built into the arches of the 12th Century Elvet Bridge in Durham. Between 1635 and 1819, this was a prison and was even described as the "worst in Britain". The cells were small and cramped, there were no toilets and some of the most evil criminals were locked up here as they awaited execution. The cells are in a tunnel that ran underneath Durham, and ran all of the way to the courthouse, so prisoners could be moved without going above ground or being able to escape.

The nightclub uses part of a larger holding cell, where prisoners were once chained up, and the rear stock room of the bar was once a mortuary, where executed prisoners (and those that died of disease whilst in custody) were stored.

Jimmy Allen was the most famous prisoner. He was a local celebrity that played the Northumbrian agpipes for the Royal Family, but a life of petty theft saw his fall from grace and he was arrested in for the theft of a horse. Originally sentenced to death, it was later overturned to a life in prison. King George III became aware of Jimmy being locked up in Durham, and sent a Royal pardon so that he could be released, but it arrived too late - Jimmy died aged 77 in his cell. Its his ghost that it said to haunt this place.

The famous legend in Durham says that people are suppose to be able to hear the sound of bagpipes coming from the cell that he died in. Others have reported hearing the music while they walked over the Elvet Bridge.

Staff over the years have reported all kinds of paranormal activity inside the venue and it became a favourite for local paranormal groups to investigate.

Must of the original cells are visible, although bricked up, and the original stone work of the prison and the Elvet bridge still forms the structure of what is now a nightclub.

No advertising or product placement was used in this video. Any brands, logos or businesses that appear are done so as part of the investigation.

To find out more about Dead Air, visit our blog, which has more information about some of the places that we have visted.

Dead Air was formed in 2009 by University friends Rob Davies and Chris Felton, originally as a radio show in Newcastle based FM station, NE1fm. The show originally was based around encouraging callers to talk about their own experiences and opinions on the paranormal, as well as monthly live broadcasts from some of the North East's scariest places.

Chris works alongside Alan Robson, the host of Metro Radio's Nightowls and Sky TV's 'Scariest Places on Earth', and plans to make a full return to the show in 2021. Rob has been a radio presenter with NE1fm on the music scene, but is now 100% committed to creating paranormal content for the channel.