Haunted Britain and Ireland
Page 8
It is also one of Britain’s most haunted canals. At the old Northgate in Chester a Roman centurion has been seen guarding the entrance to the city. An American pilot who crashed during the Second World War has been seen at Little Onn, near Church Eaton in Staffordshire. At Betton Cutting, near Market Drayton, ghostly shrieking has been heard, while just beyond Market Drayton, at Tyrley middle lock, it is said that if you arrive in the middle of the night the resident ghost will close the lock gates behind you.
Probably the best-known phantom on the Shropshire Union, however, appears at the lovely hamlet of Norbury Junction. At this point the canal descends into the dark Grub Street cutting. The High Bridge above this, the double-arched Bridge 39, is supposedly haunted by a black shaggy-coated or even simian creature said to be the ghost of a boatman who drowned there in the nineteenth century. He is known locally as ‘the Monkey Man’.
Stafford Superbowl
The Stafford Superbowl is a highly popular venue for tenpin bowling, pool and Quasar, but some claim the building is never really empty, even when there is no one there! Odd mumbling has often been heard there, as if several people are talking quietly amongst themselves. One senior mechanic felt the sound was following him from lane to lane and was so frightened that he could not continue preparing the bowling lanes and had to go to the main entrance and wait until someone else arrived.
There have been a variety of other strange incidents. A hanging man has been seen by a cleaner in Quasar, lights have exploded inexplicably in the pool room and the telephone has malfunctioned on many occasions.
The building stands on the site of the former infirmary’s morgue, which may have something to do with the paranormal phenomena experienced there.
Stafford Superbowl, Greyfriars Place, Stafford ST16 2SD; Tel: (01785) 256050; Website: www.megabowl.co.uk. Open every day,6 p.m.–12 p.m.
Weston Hall
Weston Hall is a hotel and restaurant with an award-winning garden. It was built in the sixteenth century and for several years after 1898 was used as a lunatic asylum for paupers, taking overspill patients from St George’s County Asylum in Stafford. In the Second World War it was used as a barracks by the army and later became private flats before being turned into a hotel.
A Grey Lady is said to walk the hall and many strange events have been reported in the house and grounds. Within a few days of opening in September 1996, hotel staff found that the bar area had been mysteriously cleaned each morning, even though no cleaning staff had been in and the alarm system had been working throughout the night. Staff have also heard women’s voices talking in empty rooms and have been called by name when they were alone in the building. Mysterious piano music has also been heard and in the early hours of the morning carriages, horses and footmen have been heard on the gravel outside – except that there is no longer any gravel there …
Weston Hall, Weston, Nr Stafford ST18 0BA; Tel: (01889) 271700
Winnats Pass
Winnats Pass is a steep narrow limestone gorge which leads into the village of Castleton in Derbyshire. At its foot, 600 feet below ground, is Speedwell Cavern, one of four deep caverns in the area. There is also an underground canal, which was formed when a lead miners’ tunnel flooded. It is 2,625 feet long and ends in a cavern known as the Bottomless Pit, because 40,000 tons of rubble were dumped into it without changing the water level.
The pass itself is said to be haunted by two young lovers, Alan (or alternatively Henry) and Clara. Their parents did not approve of their relationship, but at the time, the mid-eighteenth century, anyone could get married in the Peak Forest, day or night. The young couple decided to elope, but as they were going through Winnats Pass on their way to the forest, they were robbed and murdered by three lead miners. Their bodies were found years later, lying together in a shallow grave.
The miners were never caught, but the story runs that in one way or another they were all punished for their crime: one hanged himself, one was killed in a rockfall and one went mad.
To this day it is said that the voices of the young lovers can be heard crying for mercy as the wind whistles through Winnats Pass.
Winnats Pass, Castleton, Derbyshire
Speedwell Cavern, Castleton, Derbyshire; Tel: (01433) 620512; Fax: (01433) 621888. Open daily apart from Christmas Day.
Southern England
The ABC Cinema, Plymouth
The Angel Hotel, Lymington
Battle Abbey, East Sussex
The Brushmaker’s Arms, Hampshire
Corfe Castle, Dorset
Dimbola Lodge Museum, Isle of Wight
Dozmary Pool, Bodmin Moor
Dunster Castle, Somerset
The Farringford Hotel, Isle of Wight
The George Hotel, Crawley
Hastings Castle, East Sussex
The Hill House, Ross-on-Wye
The Holt Hotel, Oxfordshire
The New Inn, Pembridge
Newquay, Cornwall
Nunney, Somerset
Okehampton Castle, Devon
Pevensey Castle, East Sussex
The Royal Victoria Country Park, Southampton
Theatre Royal Winchester
Tintagel Castle, Cornwall
The Trout Inn, Oxford
Westbury Swimming Pool, Wilts.
Yeovil Railway Station Buffet, Somerset
From Oxfordshire down to the southern coast of England and beyond to the Isle of Wight, west to Cornwall and up through Devon and Somerset, this section of the United Kingdom is filled with mysticism and legends of old. From the pretty villages of the Isle of Wight to the brooding moors of Exmoor, Dartmoor and Bodmin, the area holds stories of ghostly happenings and events that can only be classified as paranormal.
My own favourite spot in this part of the world is Somerset, particularly the wonderful town of Glastonbury. I could walk for hours in the ancient dignity and grace of the ruined Glastonbury Abbey, absorbing an atmosphere that exists nowhere else on Earth. To walk up the Tor to the tower dedicated to St Michael and look out over the Vale of Avalon is an incomparable experience.
The ABC Cinema, Plymouth
The ABC Cinema in Plymouth is one of the few buildings that were left standing in the town after the heavy bombing of the Second World War. It stands on the site of the original Theatre Royal, which burned down in the early 1900s.
Over the years there have been numerous reports of a presence within the cinema. These have mainly been centred around Screen 2. The majority have involved the sighting of a female figure dressed in a red skirt and jacket. She has been seen by both employees and customers, but when the lights go on, she is not there. The sightings apparently increase when a horror film is shown and the complex has had problems with the sound system, though it is not known whether these are related.
The haunting is thought to be connected to the days when the Theatre Royal was Plymouth’s major theatre and an actress committed suicide there by hanging herself in her dressing room.
Torbay Investigators of the Paranormal (TIP) recently conducted two overnight investigations at the cinema and recorded light orbs and irregular magnetic fields. A local medium who was with them picked up the name ‘Winnie’ or ‘Minnie’. Further investigations are scheduled with a Plymouth group called Magic2K.
The ABC Cinema, Derry’s Cross, Plymouth, Devon PL1 2SW; Tel: (01752) 663300
The Angel Hotel
Lymington is a small market town on the estuary of the Boldre river. Its dockyards once provided more ships to the Royal Navy than Portsmouth, but now there are just a few slipways left and the harbour is mainly used by private yachts and the Isle of Wight ferry.
The thirteenth-century Angel Hotel was the favourite inn of the shipbuilders and sailors of the town. It was once known as the George, but the name was changed around 1768, possibly for political reasons, as a George was on the throne at the time.
At that time the hotel was a coaching inn and local people would often gather to watc
h the Royal Mail coach leave for Southampton and London. One of the hotel’s ghosts is that of a coachman. He can often be seen in the early morning standing at the kitchen window looking out into the yard as though keeping watch over the loading of the Royal Mails.
The hotel is also haunted by a tall grey-haired man in a naval-style coat with brass buttons fastened up to the neck. He has been seen on many occasions, usually late at night. He may be the ghost of an officer who stayed at the hotel the night before he was due to appear in court. He never made it to the courtroom because he committed suicide in the hotel bedroom first.
The second floor of the hotel is haunted by the ghost of a blonde girl dressed in white, though very little is known about her.
In the 1960s, a couple staying in one of the rooms adjoining the old Assembly Hall heard a piano being played in the middle of the night. The next day they complained to the hotel manager about the noise, but he explained that the piano which had stood in the Assembly Hall had been so badly damaged that it had been taken away just the day before. The couple would not believe it until they were taken into the room and saw for themselves that there was no earthly piano there.
The Angel Hotel, 108 High Street, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9AP; Tel: (01590) 672050; Fax: (01590) 671661
Battle Abbey
Battle Abbey was built on the site of the famous Battle of Hastings, which took place when William of Normandy invaded Britain in 1066. The two armies did not actually fight at Hastings, but at a place north of the town, which is now named Battle. The Saxons occupied the higher ground and the battle raged inconclusively for several hours until the Normans pretended to flee and the Saxons broke ranks to pursue them, whereupon the Normans turned back and cut them down. King William later built an abbey on the site to atone for the loss of life during the conquest.
Some of the original abbey is still visible today, though parts were turned into a country house following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. The parkland of the abbey includes the ground believed to be the site of the battle.
Several ghosts linger on there. In the huge Common House, constructed as a dining-room for visiting dignitaries, the ghosts of an elderly man in a brown monk’s habit, a Norman knight and a young boy have been seen. Another knight is said to walk across the battlefield and one appears on horseback on 14 October, the anniversary of the battle. The ground also seems to bleed after a storm, though a more prosaic explanation for this is iron oxide in the soil.
In and around the grounds mysterious footsteps have been heard and on different occasions a lady in a red Elizabethan dress and another lady in grey have been seen. Horses’ hooves have been heard by the magnificent arched gatehouse and people often feel uncomfortable there.
A black monk has been seen in several places, including the Guest House, Monks’ Walk and outside the abbey. Even the ghost of King Harold has apparently put in an appearance on the anniversary of the battle, complete with an arrow jutting from his eye!
Battle Abbey, Battle, East Sussex TN33 0AD; Tel: (01424) 773792; Fax: (01424) 775059; Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk. Open from the beginning of January to the end of March.
The Brushmaker’s Arms
The Brushmaker’s Arms is a traditional pub with a large garden. It got its name because in the past it served as a base for brushmakers in the Vale of Upham.
One regular guest was a brushmaker called Mr Chickett. He was famed for the quality of his brushes and reputed to make a very good living. Rumour also had it that he carried all his money with him and slept with it under his pillow. Inevitably one night when he was staying at the inn he was robbed and murdered. Ever since, his shadowy figure has been seen roaming the inn as though hunting for something – probably his lost fortune. Sometimes he cannot be seen but dogs seem to be aware of his presence.
The Brushmaker’s Arms, Shoe Lane, Upham, Nr Winchester, Hants SO32 1JJ; Tel: (01489) 860231. Food served. Folk music monthly on Thursday evenings.
Corfe Castle
The ruins of Corfe Castle stand on a hill off the A351 Wareham–Swanage road to the north-west of Corfe Castle village. A Roman fort once occupied this spot, then in the ninth century a wooden castle was built. It was rebuilt from stone in the eleventh century and became royal property from the time of William the Conqueror. In the thirteenth century King John greatly enhanced it with a new hall, chapel and outbuildings. Henry III later extended it with more walls, towers and gatehouses. At that time it was an important stronghold guarding a gap in the Purbeck Hills. In 1572 Elizabeth I sold it to her dancing master, Sir Christopher Hatton, and in 1635 it became the property of Sir John Bankes, the Lord Chief Justice.
During the Civil War the castle was besieged twice by Parliamentarians. In 1643, Lady Bankes, Sir John’s widow, successfully defended it, but in February 1646, the treachery of an insider led to Parliamentarian troops entering the castle disguised as Royalist reinforcements. The castle fell and Parliament ordered it to be slighted, leaving it the ruin that can be seen today.
It is said that Corfe Castle was the inspiration for Kirrin Castle in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books.
Strange lights have been seen at the castle at night and it is said that they are carried by the ghosts of Civil War soldiers. A headless woman has been seen walking on the hill near the castle gateway.
Corfe Castle, The Square, Corfe Castle, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5EZ; Tel: (01929) 481294 (general), (01929) 480609 (learning centre), (01929) 480921 (shop), (01929) 481332 (tea-room); Fax: (01929) 477067; E-mail: corfecastle@nationaltrust.; Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk.Open daily, apart from 25 and 26 December. Parts of the grounds may be closed in high winds.
There is a visitor centre, Castle View, on the A351 north of the castle, which includes interactive displays and a schools room. Guided tours are often available. Free parking is available at Castle View.
The Swanage Railway operates a steam train service from the Norden Park and Ride just outside Corfe Castle to Swanage, stopping at the castle.
Dimbola Lodge Museum
Dimbola Lodge at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight is the former home of the pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–79). After living for many years in Ceylon, she moved to London on her husband Charles’ retirement in 1848 and became part of Kensington’s artistic community, which included the Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In 1860, while visiting Tennyson at his home at Farringford House (see page 173), she bought two adjacent cottages from a local fisherman, Jacob Long, linked them by means of a Gothic tower – which dominates the Freshwater skyline to this day – and named the new house Dimbola after her family’s tea plantation in Ceylon. She lived there for the next 15 years and it was there that she was given a camera by her daughter and son-in-law and began her photographic career, converting the fowl-house into a studio and the coal-house into a dark room and producing over 3,000 photographs.
Her main interest was portraits and she produced some striking and definitive images of eminent Victorian writers, artists and scientists, including Tennyson, Darwin and Thackeray, who lived locally, and Lewis Carroll, Robert Browning, Edward Lear and Ellen Terry.
The Cameron family returned to Ceylon in 1875 and many years later Dimbola Lodge was again divided in two parts, named Dimbola and Cameron House. By 1993, Dimbola had become a private residence and holiday flats, and Cameron House was unoccupied and threatened with demolition. Fortunately the Julia Margaret Cameron Trust was able to buy first Cameron House and then Dimbola and restore the Lodge. It has since been Grade II listed and now houses a museum and galleries, a bookshop and a tea room specializing in vegetarian food. It hosts both historical and contemporary photographic exhibitions.
There was a major retrospective of Julia Margaret Cameron’s work at the National Portrait Gallery, London, recently.
It is said that the photographer herself still haunts Dimbola Lodge wearing her favourite brown taffeta dress. People have reported a strange smell in th
e gift shop, which is supposed to be that of the chemicals that she used to fix her photographs. It is also said to appear when her favourite classical music is played in the tea room. Visitors have also reported seeing phantom maids on the stairs and other ghostly figures around the house and grounds.
Dimbola Lodge Museum, Terrace Lane, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight PO40 9QE; Tel: (01983) 756814; Website: www.dimbola.co.uk
Dozmary Pool
Dozmary Pool, meaning ‘Drop of Sea’, is a moorland lake to the south of Bolventor on Bodmin Moor. According to legend it was bottomless and had a whirlpool in the centre and a tunnel connecting it to the sea, but in 1869 it dried up completely, which quashed that idea. However, it is still home to many tales of the supernatural.
It is claimed that Dozmary Pool is the lake into which Sir Bedivere threw King Arthur’s sword Excalibur after the king was mortally wounded. The Lady of the Lake, guardian of Excalibur, reached up a hand and caught the sword, holding it aloft for a moment before drawing it beneath the water, where it remains to this day.
The site is also linked with local legends of a man called Jan Tregeagle. He was an early seventeenth-century magistrate famed for his cruelty. He was rumoured to have murdered his wife and children, sold his soul to the Devil and made his fortune by robbing an orphan of his estate. After his death some of the people he had swindled went to court to try to get back their land. At the end of the trial the judge was about to sum up when a final witness was called: Jan Treageagle himself. The court laughed, but was horrified when a shadowy figure began to appear in the witness box. Undeterred, the judge calmly questioned the ghost, who testified that he had indeed swindled the defendants.