Little is known about Clifton Hall of Nottingham before the 13th century when it was purchased by the Clifton family. It does have a reference in the Domesday Survey of the 11th century. The River Trent flows below the Hall standing on a cliff near the village of Clifton. The immense mansion consists of 52 rooms including 17 bedrooms, a theater, a gym, and a host of bedrooms, reception rooms, and bathrooms.

In 1958, the Clifton family sold Clifton Hall; and, from that time until closing in 1976, Clifton Hall was a girls’ grammar school. One former student, Tracey Collins, recalls that the place was very creepy, and although she never experienced anything paranormal herself, she did hear others speak of activity including the sound of a baby crying behind a bricked-up room and a young woman glimpsed walking past a window in another bricked-up room.

Tracey recollected a gigantic painting of Colonel Clifton seated on a horse. The painting hung in the main stairway of the hall and was “unsettling.” The girls were told that the foot in the stirrup was not actually Colonel Clifton’s, but of his daughter killed in a riding accident nearby during the time that the portrait was being painted. This legend is untrue, as both of Colonel Clifton’s daughters outlived him.

In 2007, Clifton Hall was purchased by wealthy businessman Anwar Rashid. Rashid and his young wife, three daughters, and one son moved into the mansion soon after the purchase. At the time they moved into the house, Anwar was a firm disbeliever of ghosts.

Paranormal activity was immediate and they endured their first experience on the first day at their new home. All of the family members heard knocking on the wall and a male voice saying “is anyone there?”, but no one was around. The incident repeated two minutes later.

Another frightening experience occurred when Anwar’s wife, Nabila, saw her eldest daughter downstairs watching television very early one morning…until she discovered that her daughter was still in bed!

After a while, the Rashids’ friends became uncomfortable at the home and stopped visiting. The family called in a in a local paranormal group to investigate. Even the investigators were frightened of the place and unable to help the Rashids.

The clinching event was finding drops of blood on their 18-month-old baby’s quilt. The family immediately moved out of the mansion…that very day, in August of 2007. The following September, they allowed the bank to reclaim their cursed property.

As of 2012, artist Suresh Patel was living and working at Clifton Hall. I have not found any reported evidence of Mr. Patel experiencing any paranormal activity.

References and additional information:

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/7628098.stm

https://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Clifton-Hall-Creepy/story-12235883-

https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=317834

https://www.silentvoices.org.uk/#/the-clifton-hall/4547541848

https://openlylocal.com/planning_applications/3393078-Planning-Application-13-00355-PFUL3-Clifton-Hall-Holgate-Nottingham-