For past pupils of Arnold School, it may not be surprising to hear that this is one of the locations of our Hunted Blackpool ghost stories. Although Arnold School no longer exists, the ghost stories still linger.
The History of the School
Frank Truswell Pennington founded Arnold School. Opened on May 4th 1896. the school was initially called South Shore Collegiate School. It moved to Lytham Road when Pennington took leadership of the school. The original Victorian buildings that stood on the site were expanded to accommodate the growing numbers of students.
The school was named after the new location’s previous name, which was Arnold House School. The word “House” was dropped later.
After Pennington passed away, the school increased in size again and became two separate schools, one a grammar school for boys, and a girl’s high school.
Merger
In 2013, Arnold School merged with King Edward VII and Queen Mary school to become KEQMS.
The Occult Society
In 1970, it is said that Arnold School was the choice for some Ouija board sessions by members of the Occult Society. During the sessions, the students allegedly received responses to their questions, determining that they were speaking to a spirit of a woman. The woman told the students via the ouija board that she had been murdered in 1854 by being axed to death.
The Occult Society students asked the spirit to give further proof of her existence and suddenly the room became freezing cold, even though they were directly beside the warm boiler room. This alarmed the students so much that they said the Lord’s Prayer to end the seance.
