Investigation into Louth art gallery's spooky goings-on

​Matt Lodge and Dale Tyler-Lodge launched the NTKO (Not That Kind Of) Gallery at 44 Eastgate in April 2022, and they have experienced many unexplained things in that time, which seem to have escalated in the past fortnight.

It began, Dale explained, when they hung an artwork on their stairs heading up to the first floor which depicts a ghoulish, monk-like figure, and would turn 45degrees on itself with no-one touching it.

"It hangs on a string across the back but when we’d find it turned round, it would be balancing on the frame,” Dale said, “There’s no way it could have done that by itself and we all swore we weren’t doing it.”

Doors would also open and bang closed by themselves, and Dale said many people who knew the building’s history would ask if they’d seen the ghost, as a woman in her late 20s or early 30s with long hair had been seen by previous owners over the years.

There has been a feeling of unease on the first floor in the kitchen and toilet area, and voices have been heard on the stairs with no-one else in the area.

The NTKO team also noticed that things would escalate whenever an event or big exhibition was held at the gallery, with artworks pulled off the wall overnight only to be found by the team when they opened up the next morning.

But things have taken a turn in the past couple of weeks, as a Ouija board-themed exhibit was installed in the gallery and since then, one picture in particular depicting a demonic, skeletal figure in a black shroud has been thrown to the floor by unseen hands three times.

A loft hatch in the room where this picture has been hung has also been left with dirty fingermarks, despite being cleaned daily by the team.

Then, spookily of all, after the gallery’s Lincolnshire showcase for the King’s Coronation last week, a trail of crumbly black substance was found the following morning after the launch on Friday night (May 5) – starting at the front door and going all the way up the stairs to the toilet area, where the remains of a disintegrating, Edwardian-era shoe were found.

And now, Dale and the team will be working with a team of paranormal investigators to find out more about the history of the building, and possibly make contact with the resident spirit.

Dale said: “We don’t feel that this is a horrible spirit and we’re not frightened, we just want her to stop pulling the pictures off the walls as it’s costing us a fortune replacing all the glass!”

Research by Dale has so far discovered that a young woman called Eliza lived at the building, which was built in 1888, when it was a public house, and died there in 1913 when she was 31 years old.

It is also thought that Eliza married the Mayor of Louth, who was re-elected five times in his lifetime.

Anyone who knows anything more about the building or the spirit inside can pop into the gallery to speak to the team, or email [email protected]