Edinburgh’s haunted past is no secret to residents and visitors but what may be less well known is when Lancashire spiritual medium, Derek Acorah, took a trip down the infamous vaults.
In a spine tingling Youtube video - or side splitting depending on your disposition - Acorah can be seen being filmed as he enters the vaults in the capital's Old Town.
The footage, which was believed to have been shot in 2003 for an episode of series three for the hit show ‘Most Haunted’, shows the famous British medium trying to converse with various spirits that have been trapped in the South Bridge Vaults.
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The Vaults have been home to a variety of tours over the years, with Mercat Tours currently offering exploration of the suspected haunted space most recently.
In this episode, Acorah is joined by the then curator of the tours, Ian McCain, who explains a bit about the history behind the series of chambers that made up the Vaults.
Their construction was understood to be part of the South Bridge Act 1785 and the area became home to taverns and workshops for a variety of trades including cobblers. The space was also used as storage units for merchants of Auld Reekie after its construction was completed in 1788.
However, the place soon became infamous as a place for debauchery with criminals setting up illegal gambling pubs and dodgy whisky distilleries. Rumours to this day say that the space was also used by bodysnatchers to house corpses overnight.
Acorah bumps into a mixture of characters during his visit, from bloodied young women to foreman bosses and a man with one leg.
In the episode, he said: “A gentleman has shown himself in a few of the same areas and manifests when he wants to. The atmosphere and feelings he throws out to me is that he is a bit of a show off.
“This gentleman would not be shorter than six foot one or two and you get with him the conditions of a very slim man. His dressage is quite long and jagged, and quite tight. Very noticeable shoe area with the boots right up to the knee. He is a rather gaunt looking man with high cheekbones.
“He would frighten you if you did not know him but he is not evil.”
He continues to fumble around in the dark talking to spirits - or himself - and then he comes to a young lady “showing herself in the corner.”
“The colouration of her skin and dress is a white and cream but it is dirty to my eyes but very noticeable. There are stains of blood, as if this lady has been in a physical altercation and has slashes and cuts to the neck and face”, Acorah continued.
“It seems as if indiscriminately she had been cut and slashed - she has not reached 24. She does not look angry but has a pitiful look. She has not gone into the light at any time - the speed with which she has come over, really she is between worlds.”
The Most Haunted host then starts chatting to the spirit of a man called Alastair, with another gentleman Tam in attendance.
“This gentleman, I hope you can see the energy essence around him, he is not taller than five foot one or two - he is quite a robust and tubby man,” Acorah adds.
“In front of him is a leather apron around his waist. His trousers look quite funny as they go to the knee and I’m seeing these stocky legs and he keeps saying a lot of his friends are here. He could have been a boss of men.
“Spiritually I can hear the banging.”
McCain says that Acorah had guessed correctly (or for the more sceptical, did some research before arriving) about the man in the apron as the area was used by blending and bottling manufacturers as well as cobblers.
The TV host also bumps into a couple of horses and begins screaming the name “Alec MacNeish” into the dark abyss.
McCain adds that he believes that Acorah had picked up on several other spirits that other visitors believe to have made contact with. Although he concedes that he has not experienced a paranormal encounter during his time in the chambers.
The Vaults were understood to have severely deteriorated into the 1820’s, when a number of the capital’s most vulnerable residents moved into the space. But by 1860 it is understood that the damp and mould stricken area was left vacant.
It was only discovered that people had lived in the vaults by 1985 during an excavation that uncovered ‘middens’ with toys, medicine bottles, plates and other signs of human activity.
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