Allen Tiller’s Top 5 Most Haunted Hotels in South Australia

Allen Tiller’s Top 5 Most Haunted Hotels in South Australia

 I have never done one of these on the blog before, but thought it time. The following hotels, in my opinion, are the (allegedly) most haunted in South Australia. You are welcome to disagree with me, or submit your own opinion on which South Australian hotels you would put in your top five, in the comments here or over on facebook at:

SA Paranormal: https://www.facebook.com/SAParanormal/

Eidolon Paranormal: https://www.facebook.com/EidolonParanormal/

Allen Tiller (Official): https://www.facebook.com/AllenHauntingAustralia/

The Haunts of Adelaide: https://www.facebook.com/TheHauntsOfAdelaide/

1. North Kapunda Hotel

 Licensed as “The North Kapunda Arms” in 1849, this pub grew from the growth of the copper mines in Kapunda and would later be the home of Sir Sidney Kidman’s horse sale, the largest ever held in the world.

 Long considered the most haunted pub in the most haunted town in Australia, The North Kapunda Hotel is home to a plethora of phantoms thought to be ex-residents, publicans, ladies of the night, and miners – the activity in the hotel was recently documented on Haunting: Australia, including a “possession” of one cast member!
Previously it had featured on the documentary “Kapunda: Most Haunted Town in the Western World”.

North Kapunda Hotel: http://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/2019/05/ghosts-of-barossa-north-kapunda-hotel.html
Hallway From Hell: http://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/2016/06/kapunda-hallway-to-hell.html

2. Overland Corner Hotel

 The Overland Corner Hotel is situated on the bend of the Murray River between Renmark and Barmera. It is an isolated pub that has seen two of Australia's most iconic Bushrangers drink at its bar.

  Many active spirits have been reported as haunting the pub for the past 160+ years of its existence. Some of the ghosts are thought to be the Brand brothers, the original family builders of the hotel, who lived, laughed played and died within the Iconic Hotels walls.

Other spirits include that of a local aboriginal girl, and even Queen Adelaide!

Devlin’s Ghost: http://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/2013/06/devlins-ghost.html
EVPs captured at the Overland Corner Hotel by Eidolon Paranormal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WSkkE8P2qw

3. Grand Millicent Hotel

 A recent TV advertisement has listed The Grand Hotel at Millicent as the 2nd most haunted pub in South Australia, but as you can see, in my opinion, it comes third.
 It is thought the hotel is haunted by up to 10 different ghosts which includes the spirit of a little boy who is seen playing near a pool table. The ghost of an elderly man who is seen ascending the staircase, and a spirit who leaves wet handprints on the walls!

ABC News report on the haunting and investigation: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-31/hunting-the-ghosts-of-the-grand-hotel/8752610

4. Copper Coast Hotel

 I have investigated the hotel on several occasions, both privately and with the public, and have encountered some very strange phenome within its walls.
 The upstairs section of the hotel houses the guest’s suites and shared shower facilities. This seems to be the epicentre of the haunting, particularly in the one wing containing bedrooms 11 through to 13.
 On one occasion, about the middle of the day, I was standing in the junction of the hallways, which wind and turn through the upper levels. In one spot I could smell very distinctly the smell of the ocean and old tobacco, but take a step in any direction and the smell would be completely gone. Now, not being one to jump to the “ghost” conclusion in an instant, I put it down to being so close to the ocean, and the smell of tobacco being embedded in the walls and carpets, and didn’t think any more of it, until I went downstairs to the dining room and a psychic told me that right above us was a spirit of an old Swedish sailor who had died elsewhere, but returned here as he felt this was home – (this still did not convince me the place is haunted by a Swedish sailor!).

EVP captured at the Copper Coast Hotel (formerly The Cornucopia Hotel): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VkNioLcM5w
Cornucopia Hotel – MEGAscene: https://issuu.com/risingstarmedia/docs/megascene_issue_7

5. Golden Fleece Hotel – Gawler

Gawler's oldest hotel, The Golden Fleece Hotel first opened its doors on April 1st 1840. The hotel is famous for its hauntings, with one exceptional ghost photo being taken by photographer Scott Pearson in the mid-1990s

 The hotel is reputed to be haunted by a little boy who sometimes seen sitting on the front bar. Other ghosts include an old gentleman and teenage girl. The rear of the hotel was once the town's morgue, until a proper morgue was built by local funeral firm Taylor and Forgie’s.

Scott Pearson’s Ghost Photo: http://strangenationaustralia.blogspot.com/2012/09/ghosts-of-old-spot.html

Ghosts of Gawler: https://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-old-spot-hotel-ghosts-of-gawler.html

Spring-Heeled Stephen: https://hauntedadelaide.blogspot.com/2013/01/spring-heeled-stephen-ghosts-of.html

Devlin's Ghost

 It has been alleged the ghost of a man, with a long red beard, and flowing red locks is seen riding on a white horse around the area of Devlin's Pound not far from the Overland Corner Hotel. It is thought the spirit is that of either one of two men, Patrick or Jim Devlin.

So why is the spirit of this man haunting the area?

 In 1846, cattle were sent via routes from New South Wales to Adelaide. To get across the Murray River, the route crossed near Renmark. An area not far from the pound was found to be a good place to herd the cattle, where they wouldn't wander off or need to be watched the entire night.

Due to the constant traffic of stock drovers, a crafty young man named Patrick Devlin erected a wine shanty where stockmen could drink and refresh themselves, eat a meal, and safely sleep. The wine shanty was illegal and attracted many unsavoury types, including prostitutes and bushrangers.

It is said Devlin got tired of eating fish daily and began to hunger for some prime beef. He produced a cunning plan and began to help himself the stock at the pound, herding it up into the safety of the cliffs around the pound.
 Devlin got away with his cattle rustling for a long time, he had begun small but got ever more confident and ever less cautious. His greed soon took him to rustle his neighbour's cattle, and that proved to be his mistake.

Patrick Devlin, owner of the wine shanty suddenly disappeared without a trace. For a while, the locals thought he'd packed up his swag and set off around the country with all the money he'd made selling illegal grog.


  A few years passed and a shallow grave was found. In it was the skeleton of a man with a bullet hole in his skull, and a matted red beard across his face. The person who found the grave knew straight away they had found the body of Patrick Devlin. Legends began to spring up straight away about his death, some suggested he was killed for the treasure of a few sovereigns hidden under the wine shanty floor, and others say he was killed by a local stock drover who caught him red-handed. Then there were rumours it was the local constable, that he had confronted Devlin, and a gunfight had erupted – whatever the cause, Devlin was dead.

Not long after his body was found, Devlin was seen again, on a dark stormy night as a flash of lightning lit the cliffs. A man on a white horse was seen on the ridge of the Pound, his long red hair and red beard flowing in the strong wind.
He was seen many nights when the weather was bad, and all who saw him knew it was Patrick Devlin, returned from the dead; seeking vengeance for his death from whomever's gun had dealt the fatal blow.

To this day there is supposed to be a buried saddle bag somewhere in the Pound that was put there by a Bushranger who never returned to claim it!

DEVLIN’S GHOST

He’d travelled from auld Ireland’s shores no one knew when or why,

and wandered through Australia’s lands, beneath the southern sky.

But finally he settled down, and with grog he did some peddling,

And thus began the legend of the man called ‘Paddy Devlin’.

His shanty, made from river gums, was on the stock route track,

and cattleman would stop for grog and rest their aching back.

The cattle too, would quench their thirst down at the Mighty Murray

for drovers back in those old days were never in a hurray.

They brought their herds from NSW, headed for Adelaide town,

And the word soon spread that Devlin’s shack, was the place to bed them down.

But ‘Paddy’, sick of eating fish, hungered for some beef,

And soon one dark and moonless night he turned into a thief.

It started with a single beast, that from the herd did stray,

But soon it grew to several head that vanished every day.

The drovers searched along the track, but never one was found,

For they were hid below the cliff, all safe in ‘Devlin’s Pound’.

But Devlin made one big mistake, he preyed upon his neighbour,

A thing that simply was not done, in this land they call Australia.

He disappeared from the scene and nothing more was heard,

Some said he’d simply packed his swag and flown off like a bird.

The years passed by and then one day a shallow grave was found,

The bones and skull, with a bullet hole, were just below the ground.

A long red beard was proof enough that this was ‘Paddy Devlin’,

And that he’d met his just deserts because of his foolish meddling.

Soon tales were told of ghostly deeds along the old cliff top,

And drovers would avoid the place, no longer would they stop.

For it was said that ‘Devlin’s Ghost’ astride a now white steed,

Would still be driving cattle off to satisfy his greed.

So if by chance you pass that way on a lonely moonless night,

Maybe you’ll be rewarded by this chilling fearful sight.

Be not dismayed, just pour a glass and raise it in a toast,

Then you may brag in every bar, that you drank with Devlin’s Ghost.

– Author: John Gordon.

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au