Wem Town Hall Ghost
Wem is a small market town in Shropshire, England. As is generally the case in England, it’s old. Settlements have been there since way before the Roman conquest of Britain.
In 1905, a new town hall was built. Made of red brick, it still stands on the high street. Although now it has been repurposed as a community arts centre. It’s unassuming frontage all but ignored by passing residents.
1995 Fire and Picture
Wem Town Hall had a very unremarkable life for the first 90 years of usage. That all changed on the evening of the 19th of November 1995. A fire broke out.
Tony O’Rahilly, a keen amateur photographer, saw the blaze from afar. Grabbing his camera, he headed for the burning building. Unfortunately for him, he was stopped by local authorities. Undeterred, he took a picture of the blaze from across the road, using a 200mm lens.
This picture to be exact:
As can be seen, a girl appears to be looking out from the burning building. But she doesn’t look scared. Or even concerned. Nor is she making a break for the open doorway. So what’s the explanation?
Could this be Jane Churn, a young girl accused of starting The Great Fire of Wem in 1677? And if it is, is this the first ever true picture of a ghost?
Locals seemed to think so.
O’Rahilly was shocked when he saw the picture. But also level headed enough to know it needed authenticating.
Expert Analysis
O’Rahilly sent the picture to ASSAP (Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena). They determined that a piece of burning wood had fallen on the railing, creating a simulacrum. A simulacrum is basically a fancy word for a likeness or similarity.
Others were not so sure. Dr Vernon Harrison of the Royal Photographic Society studied the picture. Although he remained sceptical, he believed the image to be genuine.
A third analysis by the National Media Museum concluded that the picture was indeed doctored. After studying the negative, they believed it to show scanlines as of those on a television across the image of the girl. This led them to believe the image of the girl was pasted into the photograph.
In 2010, a local resident claimed to have solved the mystery of the Wem Town Hall ghost. They claimed the girl in the picture had a striking similarity to a girl printed on a postcard that appeared in the local paper. To see the original article, click this link here: From the Edge of Postcards. It includes a fascinating breakdown of the picture and how it matches the postcard.
The most likely explanation is of course that the picture is a fake. We could ask the taker, but he is unfortunately no longer with us.
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