A woman finds a Victorian prison hidden in a secret basement beneath her shop.
When Claire Meeson bought an abandoned hardware store in Wrigley, Staffs the last thing she expected was to find police cells where a notorious killer once lived.
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Even though she knew the purchase came with a basement, she didn’t know it used to be an old police station between 1845 and 1879.
And to make things even scarier, Claire discovers that William Palmer, one of the most prolific murderers of the Victorian era, was caged there.
Palmer, also known as the ‘Prince of Poisoners’, was an English doctor who was convicted of murder in the 19th century.
Charles Dickens called Palmer “the greatest villain that ever appeared at the Old Bailey” when he killed his friend John Cook using strychnine – a white, odourless, bitter crystalline powder – in 1855.
She was also suspected of killing several other people, including her brother, mother-in-law and her four children, who died suddenly of “convulsions”.
Claire’s business has now become an unexpected attraction for historians, school trips and Halloween paranormal hunters.
She said: “When we bought the building the first thing we did was clean up the place.
“When we cleaned we also saw a basement, part of it was cells.
“The only history we knew about that place was that it was an old hardware store from the ’60s that closed until COVID happened.
“But we didn’t know it was a police building, we thought the cells were actually a basement, but when we evacuated we realized it was something else.”
Claire has since transformed the shop into a vintage, used and multi-purpose store.
Neither Vinicius nor Real Madrid attended the Ballon d’Or ceremony… because Rodri won itHe added: “We actually asked the local history society.
“They had photos showing it was even housing at one point.
“We spoke to an old lady who remembered there was a signpost in the building with the words ‘for prison cells’ on it, which led us to the information.
“If you look at William’s history, he was hanged in 1956, and there are records from when he was convicted in 1955 that show he was held at the Rugeley police station, which This was the building at that time.
“It’s an amazing piece of history.”
Palmler’s name can also be seen on a document that charts the known prisoners and their alleged crimes by year.
Claire said: “We have a framed picture of the record, people ask us all the time, ‘Why is this there?’.
“And when we tell them, they always say ‘We didn’t know it was a police station.’
“We’ve actually had schools say they would love to come and have a look and the Stafford Paranormal Group came to stay for a night.
“We don’t mind people talking about the history of that place.
“Everyone is welcome to come and look around and have a fantastic experience of almost forgotten history.”
About 30,000 people were at Stafford Prison to witness Palmer’s public execution at the hands of George Smith on June 14, 1856.
As he climbed the gallows, Palmer is said to have looked at the trap door and said: “Are you sure it’s safe?”
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After his death, Palmer’s wax figure was displayed in the Chamber of Horrors of Madame Tussaud’s wax museum from 1857 to 1979.
He is buried in The Old Chancel at Wrigley.
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