Have you heard about the cursed skull of Wardley Hall? – Greater Manchester’s very own horror story

The recently-published book ‘Strange Manchester’ is a combination of horror stories located in Greater Manchester that have been passed down by generations. Each story is said to be true and there are a total of thirty tales within the book and author Adrian Finney says Salford has its fair share of uncanny tales.

The story that should stand out the most to Salfordians will be ‘The Cursed Skull of Wardley Hall’ which is now the official residence of the standing bishop of Salford.

It tells the chilling story of Ambrose Barlow who was hung drawn and quartered in 1641 for being catholic.

Adrian explains the story in more detail below.

This isn’t the first horror book that Mr. Finney has written, as he has also written one in the same book series named ‘Strange Sheffield’, which is where he lives now.

He was inspired to write ‘Strange Manchester’ as his family where born and raised in Leigh which meant that Adrian spent a lot of time there whilst growing up.

He says: “It’s the kind of weird and strange stories that people have told over the years that everybody claims true.

“I’ve spoken with witnesses and all the stories that people have told are hand me down stories and I’ve just written them up.”

In his spare time Adrian hosts a ‘Ghostbusters’ themed ghost walk for charity.

“Bunting Nook is where I do the ghost walk and it is known as one of the most haunted roads in England.

“I do it as a Ghostbusters cosplay, so I dress up as a Ghostbuster and when the new film came out somebody recognised me and then contacted me to do a press event for them.”

His inspiration for writing horror stories came from his childhood where he would watch documentaries and read books about supernatural experiences.

“Back when I was a kid we used to have these ‘strange but true’ documentaries on tv.

“A book named ‘This House Is Hunted’ by ‘Guy Playfair’ which talks about the ‘Enfield hauntings’ is also something that I remember reading, looking back I was probably to young to be reading it to be honest.”

Click here to purchase ‘Strange Manchester’, exclusively on Amazon.