Haunted Bedford E-Book

William H. King

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 168

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

From heart-stopping accounts of apparitions and manifestations, to eerie encounters with phantoms and spirits, this collection of stories reveals Bedford's darker side. Drawing on historical and contemporary sources, Haunted Bedford examines some of the lively characters that are said to haunt the town, including the ghost of famous author John Bunyan and Black Tom the highwayman, who was executed here. Including original research on haunted sites, one of which has only ever been investigated by the author, this book is sure to fascinate everyone interested in the supernatural history of the area.

Leseprobe

Contents

Title

Introduction

Bedford

Bletsoe

Bromham

Cardington

Clapham

Cople

Cotton End

Elstow

Goldington

Hall End

Houghton Conquest

Kempston

Marston Moretaine

Milton Ernest

Old Warden

Pavenham

Ravensden

Renhold

Stevington

Thurleigh

Wilden

Willington

Wixams

Wootton

Conclusion

Copyright

Introduction

Bedford may be small (the Borough of Bedford comes seventy-second out of ninety by population in a list of English metropolitan counties, non-metropolitan counties and unitary authorities. The county itself is thirty-sixth in physical area out of the forty-eight ceremonial counties) but it still has its fair share of hauntings. Ghosts include those of a cat, a dog, a green lady, famous people, infamous people (one of whom is Bedford’s own highwayman, who for once isn’t Dick Turpin), children and a mad gardener. Draw a circle with a radius of 6 miles centred on St Paul’s Square in the middle of Bedford, and within that circle you will find sixty-nine known sites where something paranormal has occurred.

This book provides details of all of these haunted locations, along with some of the background details for the particular area, including the site itself, and the town or village where it is located. The book is laid out in alphabetical order with the town or village as the main heading, followed by the names of the haunted sites. For some of the hauntings, details are also given for investigations that I have undertaken, either individually or with members of the Luton Paranormal Society. Included with each site is a map reference, given in latitude and longitude, as well as the Landranger coordinates, which will allow you to find the site using a satnav., or to locate a site on an Ordnance Survey map.

I have been interested in the paranormal for most of my life, especially after I saw my first ghost – a phantom dog – when I was fifteen years of age. Over the last eight years, I have undertaken over 230 investigations at sites from Edinburgh to Winchester and Tewkesbury to Norwich, with the vast majority being in the Three Counties area (Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire). In addition, I have taken part in several documentaries about the paranormal and even appeared as the local historian for the Bedford episode of Derek Acorah’sGhost Towns. The paranormal is definitely a major part of my life as, on an investigation, I met a beautiful woman and fellow ghost hunter named Stephanie, who became my wife in April 2011.

One question I have been asked numerous times over the years is ‘do ghosts exist?’, and my answer is, ‘I don’t know!’, at least not yet. Ghosts have been recorded for thousands of years, yet there is still no categorical evidence that they have a physical existence. Are they the remnants of life, recordings in the environment, or spirits that are trapped on the earthly plane or who have chosen to remain here through some emotional connection? Despite fairly intense research over the centuries, especially in the last 100 years, there is still no definitive evidence. Yet there is enough to make you think that maybe there is something. To go back to the original question, I do not know if ghosts exist but I certainly believe there is something; what I seek is the proof and I will keep searching until I have it.

William H. King, 2012

Haunted sites within 6 miles of the centre of Bedford. (Author’s Collection)

Bedford

THE county town of Bedfordshire lies to the north of the county and sits astride the River Great Ouse, with most of the Bedford population living to the north of the river. On a map, the populated area is spread roughly equally either side of the river, but to the south most of the area is taken up by Kempston and Elstow, which were originally separate conurbations. The town developed fairly late in history, mainly due to a lack of access caused by the extensive marshes to the south and clay hills to the north, which would have been difficult to cross in wet weather. The area was bypassed by the Romans as their two closest roads, Watling Street and Ermine Street, passed the town a long way to the west and east respectively. The closest, Watling Street, passed through the south of the county, which led to the development of Dunstable (Durocobrivis) but this was a long way from Bedford. Even the prehistoric routes, such as the Icknield Way, followed the dry chalk downs to the south. The only thing that the Bedford area had was its water road, the Great Ouse.

One piece of evidence for the earliest occupancy of the area comes from nearby Kempston. Two graves, one containing the remains of a woman and the other of a man, date from the fifth century and are evidence of the early Angle invaders. One of the earliest references to Bedford can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, where it is recorded that in 571 CE, ‘Cuthulf fought with the Britons [Celtic people living in Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages] at Bedford, and took four towns, Lenbury, Aylesbury, Benson, and Ensham’. One of the earliest names was Bedanforda (Beada’s Ford) which later became Bedford. As the name suggests, the town developed as a river ford which was named after Beada or Beda, a Saxon chief who settled there with his followers.

In the late ninth century, Danish invaders conquered the area and established a burh (a fortified earth rampart with a wooden palisade on top and an enclosing ditch) north of the Great Ouse. In the spring of 878, the Danes surrendered to the army of Alfred, King of Wessex, and a treaty was created between King Alfred and the Danish King Guthrum. This established a boundary between the two peoples: ‘First concerning our boundaries: up on the Thames, and then up on the Lea, and along the Lea unto its source, then straight to Bedford, then up on the Ouse to Watling Street.’. Alfred the Great’s son and successor, King Edward the Elder, recaptured Bedford in 919 and ordered the construction of the King’s Ditch to the south of the river as a defence against the Danes, the eastern half of which remains visible to this day. This wasn’t the last that Bedford was to hear of the Danes; they unsuccessfully attacked the town in 921 and again in 1010 when the town was burned.

After Harold Godwinson fell at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, a castle was built at Bedford as part of William the Conqueror’s plans to ensure his power over the indigenous people. William II’s castle, to the north-east of the town bridge, was destroyed in 1224; all that now remains is the castle mound, which has recently been upgraded to improve access.

View of the River Great Ouse. (Author’s Collection)

One of Bedford’s most famous characters was John Bunyan, who was born in nearby Elstow. He is famous for his book The Pilgrim’s Progress: From This World to That Which is to Come, usually simply known as The Pilgrim’s Progress. Under Anglican law it was illegal to ‘conduct divine service except in accordance with the ritual of the Church, or for one not in Episcopal Orders to address a congregation’. Conducting divine service, or preaching, was exactly what John Bunyan was doing, so in 1660 he was arrested and spent nearly twelve years in Bedford Gaol. It was during this time that he conceived The Pilgrim’s Progress, though many believe he started writing it when he was again imprisoned in 1675.

Today Bedford is a large town. The town has an extensive range of shops and entertainment facilities, including walks along the banks of the Great Ouse. The town is now the administrative centre of Bedford Borough, which became a unitary authority in 2009. The borough includes all of the areas once governed by North Bedfordshire District Council, including places like Thurleigh, Ravensden and Pavenham, with a total population of 147,911. It also encompasses the new town of Wixams to the south of Bedford, which may only be a few years old but is already haunted.

Abbey Middle School

Abbey Middle School is a mainstream state school for pupils aged from nine to thirteen years. It was built in the 1960s on what was previously farmland, and is scheduled for closure on 31 August 2014 as the council is planning to change from a three-school system (primary, middle and upper schools) to a two-school system (primary and secondary schools).

Abbey Middle School. (Author’s Collection)

Being a girl at Abbey Middle School can prove to be a bit inconvenient. The girls’ toilets seem to be inflicted with something inexplicable. It is reported that if you enter one of the stalls, the doors will close by themselves and you will be able to hear the sound of music and voices. The latter does not appear to be overly spooky, but it is when you consider that there is no earthly cause for the sounds.

Location: 52.115300, -0.462300

Grid Reference: TL 0538 4745

Allhallows

A large proportion of the central shopping area in Bedford is pedestrianised, including the area known as Allhallows which runs from Midland Road in the south, to St Loyes Street in the north. Originally called All Hallows Lane, the Church of All Hallows stood nearby but was demolished in the seventeenth century.

When most ghosts are seen there is usually only one witness to the event, but not in the case of this haunting. In 1979, shoppers near to the Midland Bank (now HSBC) in Allhallows were rather surprised to see what was described as a mediæval friar, wearing a hooded gown and sandals, walking down the street. Witnesses reported that his attention seemed to be focused on his rosary. It seems that he was walking from the direction of Greyfriars, which took its name from the Grey Friars (Franciscans) who had a friary there from the late 1200s. The friary survived until the Act of Supremacy, passed by Parliament in 1534, which made Henry VIII the supreme head of the Church and subsequently led to the Dissolution of the Monasteries. This allowed Henry to seize their income and assets, and effectively disband the monasteries, priories, convents and friaries. A similar haunting has been reported from the area of the Greyfriars public house and it is likely that it is the same ghost.

Location: 52.137300, -0.470400

Grid Reference: TL 0478 4988

HSBC in Allhallows, where a ghostly friar was seen. (Author’s Collection)

Ashburnham Road

In October 1975, a twenty-seven-year-old woman, Janet Green, was living with her two young children, aged two and three years, in a church hostel in Ashburnham Road in Bedford. One day she had to call out the fire service to rescue her children, who had become trapped in a most unusual way. She claimed that a figure had moved a heavy sideboard so that it blocked a door, trapping her children in their room. It proved impossible for the firemen to move the sideboard from outside the room, so the children had to be rescued through the window. According to Janet, the figure had caused trouble in the past but no further details were forthcoming.

Location: 52.136600, -0.478500

Grid Reference: TL 0423 4979

Ashburnham Road looking north. (Author’s Collection)

Aspects Leisure Centre

Cineworld, in the Aspects Leisure Centre off Newnham Avenue in Bedford, is haunted. In fact, there are two locations where strange things happen: one is in Screen 4 and the other, inconveniently, is the ladies’ toilets.

Numerous strange happenings have occurred in Screen 4, including customers complaining of strange noises coming from overhead and even the feeling of ‘phantom’ hands on their legs. Unfortunately, these are not due to the latest development in movie technology. Other unusual occurrences include the crash bar of an exit door being pushed down by invisible hands, followed by the door being thrown open violently as if something was in a hurry to get out. One particular seat in the theatre seems to have a mind of its own, as the cushion refuses to stay upright. If it is pushed up on Seat 8 in Row ‘A’ then it will remain there until no one is looking at it, whereupon it will return to the down position.

The haunting of Screen 4 has also affected the cleaners, who have been pelted with apples and sweets. Once an apple even appeared in the middle of an aisle, despite the theatre having just been cleaned. The apple was fresh and had a single bite taken out of it. One cleaner was especially upset when they returned to the theatre they had just spent an hour and a half cleaning, only to discover that it was once more full of litter. One of the previous managers was also made aware of the strange nature of Screen 4 when he distinctly heard the sound of rattling chains in the theatre. The theatre is also a cold one, with temperatures never rising above 5°C; the other theatres maintain a warm 24°C.

Cineworld in the Aspects Centre. (Author’s Collection)

One night a security guard was locking up when he saw a figure in the foyer. Before he could challenge the intruder he watched as it walked across the foyer and out into the car park … through the locked doors. This is not the only ghostly figure seen in the cinema; the ladies’ toilet has one of its own. On numerous occasions a figure has been seen in the mirror, frightening one customer so much that she locked herself in a cubicle and refused to come out, especially when she saw a man’s feet under the door. Another witness was a young girl who was heard screaming after being frightened by ‘the man in the mirror’. One witness reported that the figure appeared to be wearing monks’ clothing. Conveniently the toilets stand next to Screen 4.

The area where Aspects Leisure Centre stands has a long history and has seen various uses over the centuries. The centre is built on land that once contained the Augustinian Newnham Priory, which was founded in the second half of the twelfth century, during the reign of Henry II (1154-1189). The end of the priory came during the Dissolution in 1539, with the final axe falling in 1625 when the surviving building was burned to the ground. Just to the south of the centre stood Priory Mill, and in 1897 the old mill pool was modified to form Newnham Swimming Baths. In 1980, Newnham swimming pool closed and was replaced by the Aspects Leisure Centre.

Three pieces of information that could have some bearing on these supernatural events at the centre involve an usherette, an elderly visitor and a wall. The former revealed that her nephew had hanged himself from a tree in the area where the centre now stands. The elderly, regular visitor recalled that when the swimming pool was still there, the lockers would open by themselves and then bang shut violently, always at the same time of night. This is interesting as the Screen 4 events normally occur between 11.30 p.m. and 7.30 a.m., and one event did involve a banging door. The final relevant piece of information relates to the remains of an ancient wall which lies behind the centre, and the fact that a number of bodies were found during the centre’s construction, possibly indicating a burial site. Only a proper investigation will help reveal whether these are directly related to the strange events at the centre.

Location: 52.133300, -0.445500

Grid Reference: TL 0650 4947

Barkers Lane

In 1955, two young children went to stay for a weekend with their grandmother, Mrs Beatrice Conquest, who lived in Barkers Lane. Just before they returned home, Mrs Conquest thought it would be a good idea for them to have a bath. Her granddaughter, Jennifer, had finished her bath, was dry and had gone to the bedroom to get dressed while Mrs Conquest helped her grandson, Robin, to get dry. Suddenly Beatrice heard a loud slapping sound and knew that Robin had been hit. The boy thought it was his sister so he spun round with every intention of hitting her back … but there was no one there.

Location: 52.137400, -0.432900

Grid Reference: TL 0735 4994

Barkers Lane looking north. (Author’s Collection)

Battison Street

Just to the west of St Paul’s Square lies Battison Street (named after a family of burgesses in the sixteenth century). In 1975, a report appeared in the Bedfordshire Journal claiming that a house on Battison Street was being haunted by a ghostly couple. Mary Dorney had lived in the semi-detached house for less than a year and during that time she had witnessed the spectral lovers on numerous occasions. The couple consisted of a man wearing plus fours and a woman in a floral nightdress, both of whom would be seen strolling round the back room of the house during the night.

The ghosts were blamed for turning off the television when anyone left the room during the day. People who entered the back room would comment on how cold and clammy the atmosphere felt.

Location: 52.134700, -0.472700

Grid Reference: TL 0462 4960

The view north along Battison Street. (Author’s Collection)

Bedford Castle

It is said that, to this day, if you stand on the mound of Bedford Castle at night you can still hear the creaking of the gallows where eighty victims were hanged.

The earliest castle on the site was built soon after the Norman Conquest of 1066, by Ralf de Tallebosc. Later, the original wooden structure was replaced by a stone castle built during the reign of William II, most likely being granted to Hugh de Beauchamp. During the 1100s, the ownership of the castle came into dispute. When Simon de Beauchamp died in 1137, he left the castle to his daughter and heir, but the following year it was in the possession of Miles de Beauchamp, a son of Robert de Beauchamp – who is presumed to be a younger brother of the deceased Simon. Miles was supposed to be holding the castle in trust for the king, but when he was ordered to surrender it to Hugh de Pauper, Earl of Bedford, who by arrangement was to be married to Simon de Beauchamp’s daughter, he refused. Miles provisioned the castle for a siege and shortly after it was surrounded by the army of King Stephen (1135-1154). An assault on the castle failed due to the strength of the fortifications, so they decided to starve the garrison into surrender. Eventually Miles surrendered and the castle was seized, but not for long – Miles soon returned and drove out the intruders. The castle again came under siege during the reign of Henry II, but it was short-lived and Miles remained in possession until his death.

The mound of Bedford Castle. (Author’s Collection)

By 1215, the castle was held by William de Beauchamp (the great-nephew of Miles). That year, the barons revolted against King John and the castle at Northampton came under siege. After the siege, the barons marched to Bedford Castle and were welcomed by William. A foreign mercenary named Falkes de Breauté, a favourite of King John, heard of this and besieged Bedford Castle when William was absent. After seven days help had failed to arrive and the garrison surrendered. The castle was then granted to Falkes by the king. Falkes occupied the castle for nine years, during which time he plundered the surrounding countryside. In 1217, he attacked St Albans and captured many prisoners. This led him to be excommunicated, but on professing repentance he was absolved. In June 1224, over thirty charges were levied against him at the Assize of the Justices Itinerant at Dunstable for his mistreatment of the thirty-two freemen of Luton, for damaging an abbot’s property, and other offences. Falkes, who did not attend the hearing, was fined at the rate of £100 per charge. When he heard of this he sent a message to his brother William de Breauté, whom he had left in charge of the castle, to seize the justices and carry them in chains to Bedford. All of the justices escaped with the exception of Henry of Braybrook. Henry’s wife had an audience with the king (Henry III) at Northampton who, after hearing what had occurred, took counsel with his retinue – and they all agreed that the castle should be attacked.