City Hospital, Birmingham

The City Hospital originally opened in 1889 as an extension to the Western Road workhouse and has been known by several names including Birmingham Union Infirmary, Dudley Road Infirmary and Dudley Road Hospital. Mark Gould refers to the City Hospital being haunted in his article entitled ‘Ghosts of sisters past’ which was published in The Guardian on 22 December 2004.

‘At City Hospital, [Judith] Whalley says, a priest was brought in to carry out an exorcism after a gang of builders disturbed something when they were demolishing wards that were originally part of the workhouse, dating back more than 150 years. “They heard cries from inside one of the wards and went in to investigate, but couldn’t see anyone. When they tried to get out they found the door was locked. They panicked as the demolition ball was heading that way. Eventually, they managed to break out but demanded a priest was brought in or they wouldn’t work again.”

Mark goes on to mention a haunt like experience reported at the Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre, which is part of the City Hospital site.