A FRIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

HOVE MUSEUM & ART GALLERY is a late 19th century Italianate Victorian villa that was originally known as Brooker Hall. The building dates from 1877 when it was built for Major John Oliver Vallance (Lord of the Manor and a principal landowner in Hove). Vallance died in 1893 at the relatively young age of 46. When the First World War broke out his wife Emma moved her family out and allowed the building to be used for nursing wounded soldiers.

Following Emma’s death in 1924 the house was purchased by Hove Council for £4,000. Once again, during WWII, it was used to house soldiers. However, on this occasion, it was German prisoners of war, many of whom were put to work at local orchards and the nearby Hove gas works.

Although no apparitions have been witnessed at the house, an unearthly presence has been sensed on numerous occasions. A caretaker at the museum often felt he was not alone in the house. Nonetheless, he never felt the presence to be at all malevolent, merely showing concern and keeping an eye on things.

On one another occasion a previous caretaker noticed that objects were frequently moved about the place. He spoke of hearing the sounds of lumbering footsteps about the building when the public had left and the place was empty. He would sometimes hear the sound of a door being closed followed by the sound of footsteps in the lower corridor. By all accounts, the corridor once led to what had been the domestic quarters and later became used as the curator’s room. For some inexplicable reason, although the area was heated, it was always reported to feel cold.

It is widely believed that animals, particularly cats and dogs, have an extra-sensory perception, in that they can sense things that humans cannot. Interestingly, the caretaker’s dog often seemed to become unsettled when entering the room. On several occasions the animal point blank refused to enter and would begin growling and hackling its hair at something it appeared to see, though nothing was ever there.

More unexplained phenomena was to be experienced by a friend of the caretaker’s daughter who was staying for a sleep-over. The young girl found herself frequently disturbed in the night by someone tucking her into bed. The following morning she asked her friend’s mother why she had kept entering the room in the night and disturbing her. The mother remained as confused as the child as she had slept soundly in her own room all night.

A more humorous, but nonetheless disturbing, incident was said to have occurred to an artist who had been at work on his own at the back of the house. The painter had been working away merrily at his easel when he suddenly felt someone pinch his bottom. On turning around to see who the joker was, he discovered no one there. So disturbed was he by the incident that he instantly downed tools and fled, never to return to Brooker Hall again.

If you have not visited this charming little museum it is well worth a visit.

OPEN ALL YEAR

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday 10am-5pm Sunday 2-5pm (open Bank Holiday Mondays)
Closed Wednesdays, 24th-26th December

Admission FREE

https://brightonmuseums.org.uk/hove/plan-your-visit/opening-times/