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Blog · 24 October 2026 · Alan Morton

Haunted Pubs in Hartlepool: Ghost Stories Over a Pint

Ask anyone in Hartlepool for a ghost story and, sooner or later, you’ll end up in a pub. Our pubs are some of the oldest buildings in town, and there’s nothing like last orders and an empty cellar to get the imagination going.

We’ve already written about the most haunted places in Hartlepool and the history of the Headland. This time we’re heading into town and down to Seaton Carew, pulling up a stool and looking at the stories told about the town’s haunted pubs.

As always, we’re a sceptic-friendly team. Everything below is what has been reported, claimed or passed down as local legend. None of it is proven, and we’ll point out the everyday explanations as we go. Please also remember that, apart from the Pot House, which has now closed, these are working pubs and hotels. Pop in for a drink and a chat by all means, but they are not ghost-hunt venues unless the owners say so.

The Ward Jackson, Church Square

The Ward Jackson is the Wetherspoon on Church Square, opposite Christ Church, with Ralph Ward Jackson’s statue standing out front. Ward Jackson is the man who cut the first sod for West Hartlepool’s coal dock in 1845 [1].

Hartlepool folklorist Paul Screeton, who spent most of his career at the Hartlepool Mail and wrote Haunted Hartlepool and East Durham (The History Press, 2014) [2][3], is convinced it’s haunted. He told the Mail that, twice in one week, he walked past at 10am and saw an alcove occupied, once by a woman with about six full bags of shopping. Both times he went in to check, and the seat was empty. He also says he saw an object appear in mid-air by the cutlery area, drop to the floor and vanish, and that staff have told him of encounters on the old bank’s staircase, in the upstairs toilets and in the cellars [4]. He even wrote much of his book in one of its alcoves [3].

The sceptic’s view: reflections in big old windows can play tricks on anybody, but it’s a good story from a man who has spent decades collecting them.

The Jacksons Arms, Tower Street

Not to be confused with the Ward Jackson, the Jacksons Arms on Tower Street [5] is said to be home to a glamorous ghost with bleached blonde hair. Drinks have reportedly spilled mysteriously too [6]. In his book, Screeton describes her as a Diana Dors lookalike, according to a review in The Northern Echo [3]. We’ll admit that spilled pints in a pub on a Saturday night have a few possible explanations.

The Grand Hotel, Swainson Street

The Grand has been part of town-centre life for well over a century. The Hartlepool Mail described it as 122 years old in 2021 [7]. It’s said that doors would bang shut for no reason, and a mischievous spirit was reported to push men while they were spending a penny [6]. One online ghost database adds that some staff rooms are said to be haunted by a young girl, with lights reportedly switching on and off [8]. We’d treat that second story with more caution, as it isn’t attributed to a named witness.

The Pot House, Croft Terrace

Some pub ghosts are said to be former regulars, and some are said to be former landlords. The Pot House, formerly the Harbour of Refuge and one of the oldest pubs on the Headland, called last orders on 8 November 2025 [18]. While it was trading, former landlord Albert was reportedly spotted there several times, along with his wife [6].

The Rossmere

The Rossmere made the top 20 in a 2023 list of Hartlepool’s most haunted places, compiled by the local group Haunted History of Hartlepool. The reports include pipes coming loose after they had been tightened, and chairs being moved [9]. Anyone who has ever changed a barrel will know that cellar fittings and old plumbing have a mind of their own, so that’s where we’d look first.

The Blacksmiths Arms and Camerons Brewery, Stranton

The Blacksmiths Arms started life as cottages and opened as a pub in 1821. Its name comes from a forge in one of them [10]. Locals have reportedly christened its poltergeist “George”, and he is blamed for opening doors, moving glasses and smashing bottles [11]. The landlord told Teesside Live in 2021 that he’d never seen anything himself, but had been told the cellar was the most haunted part of the pub. He also said that, during the Second World War, the cellar was used as a mortuary, with a now bricked-up passage to Stranton Church [10]. We haven’t found any record that confirms the mortuary story, so we’d call it pub legend for now.

Next door is Camerons Brewery. William Waldon founded the Lion Brewery there in 1852, and after his death in 1854 it passed to his widow, Jane. John William Cameron took over its management in 1865 [12]. Legend says a worker was accidentally locked in a refrigerated loft and froze to death, and his spirit has been blamed for moving furniture. Another ghost is said to be Jane Waldon herself [13]. Other accounts mention a woman heard walking empty corridors, and phantom dray horses said to kick visitors’ legs in the old stables [11]. We couldn’t find any record of the frozen worker, which is the usual sign of a legend that has grown over the years.

The Marine Hotel, Seaton Carew

Down on the seafront, the Marine was built in 1900 for Camerons, on the site of the old Seven Stars inn. The military requisitioned it in 1918 and again during the Second World War [14]. Screeton names it among the local pubs with “resident spooks” [4]. Reports collected online describe a lady in old-fashioned clothes seen in an upstairs corridor and in the cellar, and beer lines found disconnected again shortly after being reattached [15].

Don’t forget the Headland

The Headland has its own famous haunted pubs, which we covered in our most haunted places guide. At the Cosmopolitan, landlady Jane Fleming told Teesside Live she has often seen a dark figure in the corner where Archie, the man who used to clean the beer lines, liked to drink. A missing picture of him once turned up on the floor after a young barmaid heard tables being dragged around the empty bar [16].

The Duke of Cleveland on Church Walk is a pub we know well. In January 2018, HPI held a sold-out investigation night there [17]. It has reported coffee smells, disappearing mists and a gentleman in a top hat and tails [9].

Why we always look for the everyday explanation first

Pubs are noisy places. They have cellars full of gas lines, cooling pipes and compressors, old buildings that creak as they cool down overnight, and a lot of people who have had a drink or two. That doesn’t mean every story is wrong, just that the first job on any investigation is to rule out the ordinary. That’s how we work on every night we run, with the equipment we use and an honest eye.

Fancy a night in a haunted pub?

If reading this has you itching to spend a night in a haunted pub yourself, join us. Our next big public night is at the Ship Isis in Sunderland, 26 Silksworth Row, on Saturday 20 March 2027, from 11pm to 3am. It’s £28 per person, with full use of our equipment, and you can secure your place with a £10 non-refundable deposit at paypal.me/HartlepoolParanormal/10GBP. Pay by Friends and Family, and put your name and “Ship Isis” in the note. Places are limited, so don’t leave it too late. You can see everything else we have coming up on our events page.

If something is happening in your own home that you can’t explain, our Haunted Homes service is free and confidential, and we’ll always look for the everyday explanation first. You can also report your haunting privately.

Got a ghost story from a Hartlepool pub that we’ve missed? Tell us on Facebook or Instagram (@hartlepoolpara1).

More from the blog: the most haunted places in Hartlepool, or browse all articles.

Sources

  1. J D Wetherspoon, "The Ward Jackson" (pub history): https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/the-ward-jackson-hartlepool/
  2. The History Press, Haunted Hartlepool and East Durham, Paul Screeton (2014): https://thehistorypress.co.uk/publication/haunted-hartlepool-and-east-durham/
  3. The Northern Echo, Mike Amos, "Ghost writing" (book review): https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/opinion/columnists/mikeamos/mikeamos/11372296.ghost-writing/
  4. Hartlepool Mail, "Hartlepool folklorist and author shares some of the spookiest experiences in the town" (30 Oct 2021): https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/people/hartlepool-author-shares-some-of-the-spookiest-experiences-in-the-town-3436281
  5. Hartlepool History Then & Now, "The Jacksons": https://www.hhtandn.org/venues/1610/the-jacksons
  6. Hartlepool Mail, "Halloween 2022: 16 of Hartlepool’s spookiest ghosts, and where to find them": https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/people/halloween-2022-16-of-hartlepools-spookiest-ghosts-and-where-to-find-them-3413059
  7. Hartlepool Mail, "10 retro photos from the Grand Hotel in Hartlepool" (2 Jun 2021): https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/10-grand-reminders-of-a-hartlepool-institution-3258969
  8. Paranormal Database (paullee.com), "Best Western Grand Hotel Hartlepool": http://www.paullee.com/ghosts/ghostgeo/extractghostdata.php?location=54o685570_-1o213298_Best+Western+Grand+Hotel+Hartlepool.txt
  9. Hartlepool Mail, "Most haunted: the top 20 places in Hartlepool with the most paranormal activity" (18 Oct 2023): https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/people/most-haunted-the-top-20-places-in-hartlepool-with-the-most-paranormal-activity-4376172
  10. Teesside Live, "Pints, pandemics and ghosts: the remarkable history of Hartlepool pub still going strong after 200 years": https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/pints-pandemics-ghosts-remarkable-history-21943993
  11. Spooky Isles, "Hartlepool: 5 Haunted Places to Visit" (27 Feb 2020): https://www.spookyisles.com/hartlepool-haunted-places/
  12. Wikipedia, "Camerons Brewery": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camerons_Brewery
  13. Hartlepool Mail, "Ghosts of Hartlepool: 13 of the town’s most haunted places" (6 Feb 2019): https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/ghosts-of-hartlepool-13-of-the-towns-most-haunted-places-and-the-spirits-that-walk-them-134563
  14. Hartlepool History Then & Now, "Marine Hotel": https://www.hhtandn.org/venues/750/marine-hotel
  15. Paranormal Database (paullee.com), "The Marine Hotel": http://www.paullee.com/ghosts/ghostgeo/extractghostdata.php?location=54o660687_-1o187768_The+Marine+Hotel.txt
  16. Teesside Live, "The chilling history of The Cos": https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/chilling-history-cos-headland-pub-19803148
  17. HPI’s own event listing, "Duke of Cleveland, SOLD OUT!" (20 Jan 2018), archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20200517123721/https://hartlepoolparanormalinvestigations.co.uk/events/duke-of-cleveland-investigation-duke-of-cleveland/
  18. Hartlepool Mail, "One of Hartlepool’s oldest pubs pulls its final pint as it closes its doors to the public" (November 2025): https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/people/one-of-hartlepools-oldest-pubs-pulls-its-final-pint-as-it-closes-its-doors-to-the-public-5397891