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Capital Of England --St. Helen's House
St. Helen's House
St. Helen's House
Known affectionately as Pickford's masterpiece and built in 1767, St
Helen's House is probably Derby's finest surviving Georgian town house.
Built for John Gisbourne of Yoxall Lodge, Staffordshire, in 1767, this
fine Palladian mansion once stood in 80 acres of parkland and was
visited by society's elite, who would have been almost certainly
entertained in some splendour. The house would have had all of the
necessary accessories to have impressed the most influential people of
the day. Grand balls and dinner parties would have been a regular
occurrence at this grand house.
The first monastery in Derbyshire is believed to have existed on the
site prior to the present building being erected. In 1137 a man called
'Ibvi gifted a parcel of land to be used as an oratory (chapel) which
was dedicated to St Helen and served by a community of Augustinian
canons.
St Helen's House has had several uses in its time including once being
owned by William Strutt, eldest son of the industrialist Jedediah
Strutt, who made many improvements to the interior. The building then
became Derby School, during which time several new parts were added,
including a red-brick chapel.
Today the building is the property of Derbyshire County Council, and
houses an adult education centre. There are many who believe that the
building would be better utilised as a museum to accommodate some of
Derby's treasures including paintings by Joseph Wright, whose pictures
quite possibly hung there in earlier days.
Needless to say, the building is said to be haunted by many ghosts. One
is said to be that of a young lady, who comes sweeping down the stairs
as if hurrying away from something, or someone, that is chasing her.
Another ghost is said to be that of a monk who has been seen on several
occasions in different parts of the building. One previous lady worker
at St Helen's House, who was employed there when it still functioned as
a school, informed me that on several occasions whilst she was working
late in the evening she had heard an eerie and chilling voice whisper
her name. On further investigation this lady found no other person
present. When questioning colleagues about her experience she was told
that this type of strange occurrence had happened frequently to several
people, and some members of staff were so used to this that they had
nicknamed the ghost 'The Whisperer'.
Certain parts of the building are
also said to have cold spots, and one
gentleman, a student at the building
in 1992, witnessed a grey smoky
figure, seemingly almost of human
shape, descend as if from the ceiling
and pass through a wall.
St. Helen's House