One instance which has been found at the former pub was the Old Coachman's uniform, thought to be over 150 years and found behind the chimney breast. This comes along with the many reports of ghosts and spirits within the Four Crosses. They will then continue their charity drive in Kingsmead in Northwich from around 7pm, before heading on to Middlewich. a 1572 English translation of Ludwig Lavater's De Spectris, Lemuribus et Magnis atque Insolitis Fragoribus (Opens in new window) on ghosts and spirits As well as books, the collection includes pamphlets, journals, posters, ephemera and a small number of conjuring manuscripts from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. New works, particularly on the history and psychology of magic, are regularly added to the collection.

Books on this subject can be found in many parts of the Library’s collections including Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Art and Literary Studies as well as in our e-book collections.

Manchester’s most haunted

Tom added: "Bidston Hill is also classed by many investigators of UFOs as a “window area” – a hot-spot of UFO activity where strange craft and lights in the sky regularly appear. Nor does Paganism have the divisiveness of organised religion, yet it still offers some sense of spirituality in an increasingly atomised world where "God is Dead", as Nietzsche said. Liverpool expert on all things paranormal, Tom Slemen, wrote a guide of haunted places for the Liverpool ECHO in 2013, and he claimed Bidston Hill is one of the "most mysterious supernatural landmarks in the country". The Darkened Room : Women, Power and Spiritualism in late Nineteenth Century England (Opens in new window) (1989) by Alex Owen and,

Iona is a small island, roughly 3.5 miles long and one mile wide which lies off the west of Mull. In 563AD St Columba (grandson of the Irish King Niall) and 12 followers built their first Celtic Church on the island and monastic community. Iona became famous as St Columba started converting Scottish and English pagans into Christians. Iona also became the resting place of Kings and according to a survey in 1549 it boasted 48 Scottish Kings, 8 Norwegian and 4 Irish. Amongst the Scottish kings buried on Iona are King Kenneth I, Donald II, Malcolm I, Duncan I, Macbeth and Donald III.Hocus Pocus Junior (Opens in new window)(1634), the first work dedicated to conjuring with illustrations. Books and journals can be searched for in the Library Catalogue and Archive collections in the Archive Catalogue. Protection, 2023, by Paula Turmina will be on show as part of the Surrealism and Witchcraft exhibition at Lamb Gallery, London. Photograph: Courtesy of the artist Environmentalism is another theme that plays strongly in art inspired by spirituality. This year brings renewed interest in the art of Monica Sjöö, a Swedish-born artist who described herself as a “radical anarcho/eco-feminist and goddess artist, writer and thinker involved in Earth spirituality”. A retrospective of her work is at Modern Art Oxford this month which moves to London next year. We need to lend a thought to history when it comes to this supernatural trend, as we’ve been here before. Between the two world wars, Britain was gripped with ghost fever. This was the period when the most hauntings were reported. Cultural historians put that down to a number of factors which resonate today.