"The Tontine Hotel was built in 1780 by Shrewsbury architect John Hiram Haycock to provide accommodation for the many travellers and visitors to the area. Its location was specifically chosen due to its proximity to the Ironbridge - one of the true wonders of the industrial age It was also widely used as a meeting place for many local industrialists. For many years it was used by the Shropshire Canal Committee. Comprising of three storeys, it is a fine example of Georgian Shropshire architecture. In 1786 it was extended by Samuel Wright of Kidderminster. The magnificent Ironbridge stands on the other side of the road, and the town that has sprung up around it attracts many visitors to this day.
The name comes from an agreement between a group of investors where as each either pulls out or dies, the investment is then re-divided amongst the remaining members until only one person is left to inherit the total. In the case of the hotel, this particular 'Tontine' was never fully completed.
In the 1950s it gained a certain local notoriety as the place where Frank Griffin, the last man to be hanged in Shropshire (
visit link) , was arrested following the murder of Jane Edge, the 74 year old landlady of the Queens Head in Ketley. Griffin was arrested in Room 5 and is still thought to make his presence felt!!
Staff and guests have over the years reported many strange phenomena, including:
* Unexplained noises in the bar area
* Strange light anomalies
* Movement of objects
* Sounds of children when there are none present
* Lights turning on and off in the cellar"
SOURCE - (
visit link)
There then follows a comprehensive report of the 2005 investigation, and a final conclusion -
"CONCLUSION -
The investigation proved interesting on many levels - there were a number of occurrences throughout the night which cannot be readily explained, and the more sensitive members of the group were picking up on a number of things which were verified by the staff. Of particular interest was the details regarding the young man who seems to haunt room 5 and who just wishes to remain in contact with people who still work at the hotel.
The response by the group to room 9 was also very interesting, as again, this is something that the hotel staff have already identified. No-one from the hotel had spoken to the group before the investigation, so it was interesting that the reactions were so similar.
The information about the function room and its connection to the back room in the flat was also really intriguing, and this will need to be looked into. Certainly, when Ian and I had originally visited the hotel to arrange this investigation, I had felt physically sick in the room, and was very uncomfortable this time round, so to see people react in a similar way was again interesting.
The single most amazing experience of the night though has to be the coins in the cellar, which happened unfortunately after most of the group had left. This was certainly one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced, and something that would warrant further investigation. We would like to try and set up some experiments in the cellar if permitted by the hotel to see if we can achieve similar results.
In all, the general feeling of the group was that the Tontine still has a number of guests who seem unwilling to check out!"
A similar story is told by BBC Radio Shropshire - (
visit link)