Creepy 700-year-old North Wales mill where paying guests are watched around the clock

A creepy old mill dating back 700 years has become the latest to join a haunted house network in which visitors are filmed throughout their stays. The My Haunted Project concept is launching tomorrow (Wednesday, June 11) at Chirk Mill as it expands into Wales for the first time.

Paranormal interest in the four-storey building in Wrexham county has grown since being featured on Amazon Prime’s The Haunted Hunts in 2022. Passing drivers have reported ghostly apparitions in upper windows, while visitors say they’ve heard sounds of scratching and cries from a locked attic that’s stuffed full of antique dolls.

Paranormal investigators have flooded to the mill but My Haunted Project (MHP) has now gained exclusive use. YouTube filming begins on Monday as the team prepares the site for visitors, with the first guests set to arrive on Friday, July 19.

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All will be subjected to 24/7 surveillance from 16 cameras inside the mill. Two more will keep an eye on the grounds where, for the first time, a new “haunted campsite” will be established in gardens where an old mill worker – and a young girl – reportedly wander. For visitors, the experience has been likened to the “Big Brother” of the paranormal world.

MHP aims to cement Chirk Mill’s reputation for being one of the most haunted in Wales, alongside the likes of Plas Teg in Pontblyddyn and Craig y Nos Castle in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons). Chirk Mill is the fourth in the MHP stable, having launched in Chester with My Haunted Hotel, based at Ye Olde Kings Head on Lower Bridge Street – said to be so spooky that guests must first sign a disclaimer before staying.

“In a little over two years since we began filming in Chester, we’ve documented more than 1,000 eyewitness accounts of unexplained activity there,” said Danny Moss of MHP. “We are expecting the same at Chirk Mill. Already there are plenty of reports from visitors seeing dark, shadowy figures and hearing phantom footsteps and the sound of children laughing.

“While it has long had a local reputation for being haunted, our job will be to document everything on film. In two or three years, we’ll be in a position to confirm how much activity is going on there – we anticipate it will become well known as being amongst the most haunted in Wales.” Here's a rundown of the most creepy places in North Wales.

Already this year MHP has expanded into the US with a “My Haunted Manor” in Pennsylvania. More recently, the team got the keys for Woolton Hall, a grade 1-listed building in Liverpool that’s been targeted by vandals and is at risk of becoming a ruin. Dubbed “My Haunted Mansion”, the site has now been secured against intruders and is expected to open for guests in the autumn.

As well as Danny, the MHP team includes Chester hotelier Harry Achilleos and Wrexham’s Brett Jones. Danny first came across Chirk Mill when he was involved in the Amazon Prime series that filmed there. Soon after, mill owners Tony and Tracy Butler got back in touch to ask about developing their paranormal offer.

“Initially they were sceptics,” said Danny. “However Tracy had experienced things over the years and Tony always had the feeling is being watched when he was there. With so much that couldn’t be explained, they had begun to question what was going on.

“I absolutely love working with sceptics as I began as a non-believer myself. This is the kind of field where you have to see it to believe it.” North Wales Live has a WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone

The MHP format sees guests become the “stars of their own show” as they’re filmed from every angle. As the team remains in situ for years, it said this gives them a unique advantage over other paranormal tour organisers, who may only visit for several nights.

The result is an approach that’s yielding some surprises. “At the My Haunted Hotel in Chester, we’ve noticed paranormal activity coincides with certain weather systems,” said Danny. “There are spikes when it rains - not every time, but there is a pattern.

“In Chester, activity is at its highest in September. And at the My Haunted Manor in the US, activity seems to coincide with passing trains! A rail line runs near Chirk Mill but only by long-term data collection will be able to see if any of these patterns are repeated here.”

Records show a mill on the site in 1506, thought to date back to the 1300s. The building was extended from 1780 and the current property mostly dates from this period.

In 1924, the mill was fitted with a turbine and this generated power for the town of Chirk for six years. The mill continued working until 1960, after which it diversified into the milling of whiting – the grinding of limestone for whitewash or fertiliser. Later, the mill was used to produce glue.

Inside, visitors report an “eerie atmosphere”. A dark cellar is reported to be haunted while “disembodied voices” can be heard on the third floor. The attic is home to all manner of dolls and wall-hung masks.

Campers staying at Chirk Mill will have the chance to “share ghost stories” around a campfire until 1.30am. If anything approaches their tents during the night, cameras will have the event covered.

All the results will be screened on the MHP YouTube channel - the first from Chirk Mill is out on Sunday, June 23. To book a stay, visit the haunted mill website, which goes live on June 12. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox

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