Our first ghost story in our Haunted Blackpool month surrounds the popular Foxhall hotel situated on Manchester Square on the Promenade.
The Foxhall Hotel as it stands today is a tribute to the early beginnings of Blackpool. We’ll first take you back to when Blackpool was quiet and rural and the first inhabitants started a settlement on the land.
Supposedly named after a fox that was kept chained near to the property, Fox Hall, as it was originally called was constructed towards the end of the 17th Century by Edward Tyldesley. The property was lived in by his son, Thomas Tyldesley, who kept a diary during his time there.
At this point, Blackpool as we know it now was a far cry from the deserted coastline that stood at the time. Due to the desolate condition of the land, it’s thought that the Tyldesley family chose the location so that they could stay away from the public eye whilst they made their political plans and enjoyed their religion.
Close to the property in the location that we now know as Marton Moss was a “black pool” of dark water, not far from the location of Fox Hall.
Over time, Fox Hall changed purpose from a residency to a farm house, and then a hotel and pub. By the 1980s, the building had fallen mainly into ruin and it was decided that it would be demolished. The new Foxhall building was completed and opened in 1991 on the site.
Although the last remains of Blackpool’s oldest home have been lost forever, it would seem that there are a few spirits still lingering. It’s said that Fox Hall was the perfect location for priests to seek refuge as well as being a hotel for smugglers and members of the aristocracy. Their ghosts are reported to still haunt the land where the Foxhall stands today with many eye witnesses claiming to have heard eerie sounds and seen ghostly shadows within the building.
