Staff at an NHS hospice reported a string of ghostly encounters, including repeated sightings of a young girl in a red dress, prompting them to seek help from the Church of England after the incidents unsettled workers in 2023, according to reports.
The chaplain at the former Priscilla Bacon Lodge, near Colman Hospital in Norwich, sought assistance from deliverance ministers – often referred to as exorcists – and conducted a religious rite that involved the use of holy oil from Norwich Cathedral.
According to emails published in The Telegraph following an Freedom of Information (FOI) request, the hospice chaplain contacted the Diocese of Norwich for “advice/support from the deliverance team”.
The former hospice sits on the grounds of what was the Jenny Lind Children’s Hospital, which operated there until 1975 – a history that some staff suggested explains the “spirits” they believed were haunting the building. One source told The Telegraph employees had repeatedly reported seeing the figure of a “small child in a red dress.”
In 2023, the hospice chaplain emailed the Diocese of Norwich to report “paranormal incidents” that had been “really upsetting staff”, noting that they were “awaiting advice and support from the deliverance team.”
A week later, in another email, the chaplain confirmed they were at that point in “conversation with a member of the deliverance team” who was “aiding the care and ministry I’m offering”.
Meanwhile, the hospice chapel was being decommissioned, so the chaplain was also seeking advice on marking the closure of the facility.
In an email with the subject line “oil”, the chaplain indicated he was planning a “concluding ceremony”, and a last holy communion at the chapel.
He goes on to say “I would really value your prayer for this, its been a difficult time and I am currently awaiting advice/support from the deliverance team [regarding] some ‘paranormal’ incidents which have been really upsetting staff.
“Secondly and more practically I wonder if I might be able to obtain some Holy Oil from Cathedral stock for the planned service.”
According to the Church of England’s guidance, “Christian exorcism is a specific act … made in order to rid a person or place of an evil spirit by which they are possessed.
“It is the ‘binding and releasing’, the ‘casting out’ or ‘expelling’ of an evil or malevolent possessing spirit that is not human.”
It adds that the formal rites of deliverance “are intended to put in place additional safeguarding procedures where the laying on of hands or any ‘casting out’ of demons is deemed necessary.”
Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust told The Independent that despite the concerns among staff and the interaction with the deliverance team, a specific exorcism had not eventually taken place.
A spokesperson said: “Deliverance ministry is a specialist form of pastoral care within the Church of England, rooted in the church’s commitment to healing, wholeness and peace for those experiencing distress, whether physical, mental or spiritual. It is offered in the context of prayer, sacrament and scripture and embedded within the wider ministry of healing.”
In an email, the Diocese of Norwich told The Independent: “An exorcism was not carried out at the Priscilla Bacon Lodge. The deliverance ministry team were not at the site.”
The Independent has contacted NHS England for comment.
