MANCHESTER’S MOST HAUNTED: The grizzly history of the Royal Exchange Theatre

The Royal Exchange Theatre is one of the most historic buildings Manchester’s city centre has to offer – but it just so happens to be one of the most haunted, too.

Now, it’s no secret that Manchester is a little spoiled for choice when it comes to a good old fashioned haunting – there’s the demonic dog Black Shuck lurking in Manchester Cathedral, the eerie Ordsall Hall complete with a ‘ghost cam’ and even the country’s most haunted pub right here in Manchester (yes, that’s an actual thing).

But perhaps one of the most sinister hauntings of all?

Stephen Gidley / Flickr

Well, it has to be the Royal Exchange Theatre. 

Now, this Grade II listed building found between St Ann’s Square, Market Street and Exchange Street isn’t exactly the first place that springs to mind when you think of a haunted building… But there’s a lot more to it than initially meets the eye.

Built all the way back in 1792, the Royal Exchange began life as a trading hall at the very centre of the famed Industrial Revolution. The building was sadly damaged during WW2, especially during the Christmas Blitz of 1940 which was said to have killed many people in the building, and was partially rebuilt. It is also reported that a man and a young girl who worked in the Exchange when it was a cotton exchange took their own lives.

Charles Flower

But, as the cotton industry fell to its knees, the Royal Exchange went on to permanently close its doors in 1962, remaining unoccupied for ten years. It wasn’t until the 1970s until a theatre company took over the derelict space, originally operating as a pop up before transforming it into what it is known as today; the Royal Exchange Theatre.

But the bad tidings were far from over; in the 1990s, the theatre fell victim to an IRA bomb, which was detonated less than fifty metres away. The resulting explosion devastated the building, and it would take a further two years, and a lot of fundraising to repair the damage. 

However, despite being repaired, its history with the blitz and the IRA has lingered and, over the years, there have been countless reports of sinister and ghostly happenings throughout the building.

A group of builders tasked with repairing the damage caused by the IRA bomb reported being able to hear a piano being played in the distance, but when they went to find the mysterious pianist the music stopped when they entered an eerie room with an empty, decrepit piano. 

This kept happening until one of the builders finally had enough and smashed the piano up before throwing it in a skip.  Surprisingly it actually worked, and they stopped hearing the chilling music.

Royal Exchange Theatre

The greenroom is also said to be haunted by a glamorous blonde woman and handsome well-dressed man, who wouldn’t look out of place in an old fashioned Hollywood film.

And, if that wasn’t enough, an unsettled female ghost is known to throw around items in the Wig Room and knock over vases of flowers. She especially doesn’t like white lilies – which according to some accounts will fall to the ground and unnaturally wilt if they are placed in the proximity.

The ghost of actor and director James Maxwell, who played a huge part in re-establishing the Royal Exchange as a prominent figure in the world of British theatre, is also said to lurk within the building… Though just how sinister his intentions are, we can’t be sure.

So, when you’re next at the theatre watching a show and feel something breathing down your neck, it might not be the strange looking bloke sitting behind you…