Haunted Worcestershire E-Book

Anthony Poulton-Smith

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

Seitenzahl: 240

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

Anthony Poulton-Smith takes the reader on a fascinating A-Z tour of the haunted hotspots of Worcestershire. Contained within the pages of this book are strange tales of spectral sightings, active poltergeists and restless spirits appearing in streets, inns, churches, estates, public buildings and private homes across the area. They include tales from Worcester, Bewdley, Droitwich, Bromsgrove, Tenbury Wells and Stourport-on-Severn. This new collection of stories, a product of both historical accounts and numerous interviews conducted with local witnesses, is sure to appeal to all those intrigued by Worcestershire's haunted heritage.

Leseprobe

HAUNTED

WORCESTERSHIRE

HAUNTED

WORCESTERSHIRE

ANTHONY POULTON-SMITH

First published 2009

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2013

All rights reserved

© Anthony Poulton-Smith, 2009, 2013

The right of Anthony Poulton-Smith to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 5257 6

Original typesetting by The History Press

CONTENTS

Author’s Note

Introduction

A–Z of Haunted Worcestershire

Bibliography

AUTHOR’S NOTE

My second literary excursion into the subject of ghosts has been every bit as pleasurable as my first (detailed in Black Country Ghosts). When reading the following narratives you will note there are recurring references to three particular eras in the history of Worcestershire – the Roman occupation, the English Civil War, and the days of the stagecoach. While there has been many undoubted links between Worcestershire and the English Civil War, this does not explain why there are so many hauntings from this short period of time – no more than ten years covering the whole conflict.

These stories were related by a county of warm and friendly individuals who can certainly be relied upon to make a welcoming cup of tea or coffee. While many a comfortable overnight room prevented long hours being wasted journeying from my native Staffordshire.

To those who provided a tale, a lead (or a cuppa!) goes my heartfelt thanks, for without you this would have been a very short book indeed. Thanks also to the libraries and librarians and staff at the record offices, who showed considerable patience in assisting with my endeavours. My gratitude also goes to those who corrected a traditional tale and pointed out the errors and inaccuracies, and also to the many who pointed a very lost author in the right direction. For those who allowed me to photograph their homes, churches, roads, pubs, businesses, fields and gardens; the many who gave up precious moments of their busy lives either in person or by tying up their telephone line; and to all those who contributed by revealing some of their most personal experiences I shall always be most grateful.

This book contains over 120 different sightings and experiences. Thus it occurs to me that, from a personal perspective, I am missing out on a whole world which is just waiting to be written down. If these are just the ones that I have found out about for this book, imagine how many more are out there awaiting my discovery. Indeed if I could detect or even talk to these memories of times gone by directly, it would produce a number of sequels – so watch this space!

INTRODUCTION

Having produced a book on the ghosts of the Black Country, I was anxious to continue to explore the unexplained phenomena elsewhere. It did not take much thought before deciding that Worcestershire should be my next target.

Anyone who has read my earlier book on ghosts will know I have yet to be convinced of their existence; my personal experiences are limited to a mere split second. Driving along a trunk road at about 9 p.m. one very autumnal weekday I was about to enter the outskirts of Lichfield. Being well-acquainted with the road I was already allowing the car to slow in anticipation of the reduced speed limits when the headlights fell on a region of mist lying across the road. At this time of year a bank of mist in this particular spot was almost predictable, the natural landscape had created a small seasonal brook, effectively little more than a drainage ditch. There are a couple of long-established buildings on one side of the road and nothing but agricultural land on the other, thus I was surprised to see a coachman driving his team of horses at breakneck speed across the road.

If such apparitions are memories of past events then we would expect to find an old road around here. Yet there has not been a road across here for the last 2,000 years, and the image was only dating from about 200 years ago. Furthermore, if this was a glimpse of the old stagecoach days, they would have been travelling at a speed not yet attained by the fastest modern train service! Having always dismissed the comments of others as misinterpretations of their personal experiences this occurrence forced me to rethink. Hence I concluded, rightly or wrongly, that I was mistaken – particularly since researching this and the previous book on ghosts has shown me that many feel it is necessary to be attuned to such phenomena.

Irrespective of my opinions there are many who have some wondrous stories to tell from personal experience. Narratives of events which have affected their lives to some degree are related from a unique and highly personal perspective and have provided me with the opportunity to meet many friendly and engaging individuals. Thus I travelled in search of more stories and pointed the car to the south-west in the direction of Worcester and the Malverns. Having crossed swords with the county a number of times in my life, including when writing Worcestershire Place Names and Ley Lines Across the Midlands, I already had some knowledge of the ghosts reported within the shire. It did not take long to find great diversity in the reports, be they well known and reported previously or brand new stories never before seen in print.

As with most regions, there are a number of reports from public houses. Whether this is due to the strength or volume of the drink consumed is uncertain. Maybe the reason is simply because these places are frequented by a good cross-section of the locals and often after dark. Public houses can often be among the oldest established properties in an area, along with churches which are another popular locale, which has long made them frequently mentioned when giving directions. Other obvious haunted locations include castles and stately homes. Again they have been occupied and have stood for a very long time. However, we also find very recent buildings, notably new homes, where phenomena have appeared which cannot possibly have anything to do with the present building.

Not only is every kind of building is covered within this book, but people and creatures from every walk of life; from aristocrats to the lowliest servant, the elderly, children, men, women, the most faithful pet and the wildest animal.

Not all the tales are told by those who were frightened by their experience, indeed few of the experiences can be considered to have been malevolent. Many of those I spoke to were indifferent, some even considered it amusing, and a few remain sceptical of what they had seen. Yet the majority agreed they were simply unable to give any other explanation for what they had seen, heard or felt other than it being a ghost.

Anthony Poulton-Smith, 2009

A–Z OF HAUNTED WORCESTERSHIRE

ABBERLEY

Manor Arms

Visiting the delightful Manor Arms hotel was one of the highlights of my journey across the county. The main body of the pub dates from 1580, while the area away from the main bar area is even older. It was once the local court (the police station was opposite across the village square), a name telling of its former importance. Peter, who has owned the property for several years now, explained there was a tunnel linking the court house and police station, allowing criminals to be transported without fear of them being freed by their friends.

The ghost here is the Grey Lady, so-called for the drab colouring of her flowing garments. While the hotel is the centre of the attention, she also wanders elsewhere in the village, routinely crossing the village square on her walks. Just who she is and what connects her to Abberley and the Manor Arms is unknown. Her clothes date her to somewhere around the Stuart or Georgian periods of English history, yet this has not helped to uncover any likely identity. She does not appear forlorn or anxious – unlike many ghostly ladies – indeed she appears blissfully unaware of modern life, calmly walking around the village without a care in the world.

One day in 2006 a couple stopped at the hotel for a night. They were given room number six, the Manor Suite. The next morning they hurried downstairs, anxious to show Peter two digital photographs they had taken mere moments apart. While in the room they had been aware, as had previous occupiers of the room, of an inexplicable chill. They had noticed a bizarre mist forming over the four-poster bed, a ball of eddying wisps about 18in in diameter, and had taken two photographs of it. When they examined the images later they discovered that, while the image was present both times the photographs were taken, it only appeared on the digital image once, the second was completely clear.

Was the spirit of Abberley suddenly camera shy?

ABBERTON

Bransil Castle

The old moat of Bransil Castle is reputedly guarded by a ghostly crow. This large, long-lived black bird defends the castle against all-comers until the rightful owner, as seen through its eyes, is found.

The Manor Arms remains the focal point of Abberley.

Built in the fifteenth century, although known as a castle, it is effectively a manor house with a gatehouse and a moat. Originally the property of Lord Beauchamp of Powick, it passed down the line until it came to a Mr Reed of Herefordshire, who took steps to claim the title, but died before his right to the peerage could be considered.

Next in line was Mrs Sheldon, sister of the deceased, then her son and ultimately his wife who lived at Abberton. Along with the potential title and lands came possession of a small box. The box held the remains of the first Lord Beauchamp and was also the repository for his spirit.

At the castle the bird continued to guard the moat and the fabled chest of money reputedly hidden therein. It was said that only the rightful heir to the title and the lands could claim and get their hands on the treasure, providing they also held the spirit of Lord Beauchamp. Today, the moat has been filled in and the remains of the building have been steadily crumbling for over two centuries, leaving little standing.

If the crow still protects the treasure it has the perfect disguise, blending in with the other crows, rooks and ravens seen in the English countryside every day. Furthermore, it seems the bird is still doing its job as well as ever, for no trace of the treasure has ever been discovered.

ALVECHURCH

Bordesley Hall

This story from the ancient estate of Bordesley Hall, in the very north of the county, was related by John Haynes, the owner and a man who has been associated with the place as long as anyone. Today the original building has been surrounded by an array of newer buildings and offices, providing quality business premises in as lovely surroundings as any employee could wish to find.

To find the beginnings of Bordesley Park we have to travel back 800 years, when the land was owned by the Abbey of Bordesley and the annual rent was paid to the Rector of Alvechurch. All was quiet until the sixteenth century, when the Abbey was ravaged under the orders of Henry VIII, a period of English history known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries – a title which hides the simple fact that the King was wresting power from the Catholic Church and holding it himself as he broke away from Rome and the papacy.

The modern story of the park starts in 1561 when Lord Windsor marked out 1,000 acres. This was effectively one large farm and by the time it had passed into the hands of the Foleys, the Dugdales, and Mr Wiggin it was a sizable and profitable farm. It was during this period that the present house was built. In 1941 the final owner, Mr Patrick, broke the land up into smaller parcels and sold it off. This eventually resulted in the business centre we see today.

This long history has resulted in various unexplained events and a number of evenings have been arranged to investigate and experience these phenomena. John Haynes himself was one of a group, consisting of seven men and four women, which returned to Bordesley Hall one evening. The rooms are sizable and occupied by various businesses, and it was when they were in the Rose Garden room that the first incident was reported. A number of the group claimed to be psychic and could detect visitors from beyond the grave; these were in addition to the medium, who lead the group in the search for the often reported White Lady.

John Haynes, who was acting as caretaker on this particular evening, had joined the party but remained away from the main group, being seated towards the rear of the 30m by 20m room. One of the men called out there was a presence by the door. John looked around but could see nothing except a man seated just in front of him about 3m to his left and another 4m away to his right. He ignored the claim as nobody else seemed to agree until another cried out that he, too, could sense a presence. As before John looked around and could see nothing but the same two men. It was then that he had a brainwave and decided to conduct a head count. At the beginning there had been seven men and four women, however now there was an extra man. He checked and rechecked his count and then realised the man to his right, by the door, had vanished.

John kept this information to himself and continued on the tour with the group. They formed a ring and ‘reached out’ to any watching presence again and again around the ground floor, but to no avail, and so headed to the first floor and formed a ring. As they did so a palpable icy chill passed through the area, although no door or window was open and the night was virtually still. As they seated themselves John was astonished to see a number of green glowing lights appear in the centre of the circle. These were no ordinary lights, being described as beautiful and similar to the soft luminescence of the light from optical fibres. Saying nothing, John turned his head from side to side to see if it was a trick of the light or a reflection, but this was not possible for the lights did not move. Furthermore, as he leaned to the side and allowed the head of the man alongside him to pass into his field of view the lights were obstructed.

Bordesley Hall, Alvechurch is now a business centre.

As he watched, the green points of light became blurred and moved across to one side of the circle. Obscured from John’s view he could not see what had become of the lights, but the man they had come to rest in front of was showing distress. He resisted calls for the circle to be broken but called out again and again that there was something at his throat. Eventually the lights returned to the centre of the circle and the man became calm once more. As the lights blinked out, leaving the place in darkness, they discussed what had happened. John, who had not yet said anything of what he had seen, listened as half the party reported seeing lights while the remainder saw nothing. The medium, who had remained silent throughout, informed them that either a man had hanged himself in that room or someone had witnessed a hanging while standing in that room.

As they continued on the tour John was reminded of a colleague who claimed to have heard music while locking up. Indeed several times he had searched room after room for the supposed radio which had been left on after everyone had left, without success. It was then that the medium asked if anyone else could hear a piano playing. Three or four others said they, too, could hear an unrecognised tune being picked out on a piano.

Earlier that day the medium had been taken on a tour of the estate around the main building. She had stopped at one corner and said she sensed rotting flesh, not human flesh, but that of a horse. Furthermore she also said she could sense a man in jodhpurs leading a horse out of the thicket. She seemed unsurprised to hear this had been a cemetery for animals, mostly favoured pets, and had been untouched for so long it was, and still is, hidden beneath a well-nigh impenetrable blanket of vegetation.

Alongside the pet cemetery had once stood a tree, a Cedar of Lebanon, which had been planted to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Blenheim. That tree had crashed to the ground in a storm and a new one had been planted in its place. After the second tree had failed to grow, a third tree was planted which grew at a ferocious pace, doubling its size inside a few short years. It had been planted by Henton Morrow, who had rediscovered the process of producing a form of iron by a particular smelting process. Four years later the tree was dead and, almost to the day, so was the man who had ceremoniously planted it. The medium, who could have had no knowledge of the planter of the tree or his association with metals, said she saw vats with molten metal pouring from them.

As they started to return to the house the medium reported a tunnel was beneath the ground. John knew of the tunnel, but what was known only to very few was that this tunnel was not connected to the present building but to the previous one which had occupied the ground adjacent and at an angle to the modern building. Crossing the tunnel’s course she stated she felt an association with the Duke of Marlborough. John Churchill was created Duke of Marlborough following his victory at the Battle of Blenheim – another link to the tree.

Finally they re-entered the building and returned to the reason for them being there, a presence which many staff have reported feeling watching over them. While some mentioned they could sense a presence of the White Lady, the medium disagreed. She said the visitor was a man; he had a military bearing and was wearing a tall and somewhat inelegant hat.

Almost nothing that the medium had reported could have been researched, for nothing has been written down and was previously known to only a very few. Was she tuned in to the events of Bordesley Hall? That decision is left to the individual.

ASTWOOD BANK

Astwood Court

Not one but two ghosts reside at Astwood Court, one of whom is possibly trying to identify themselves.

This house was once the seat of the Culpeper family and, roughly carved into the wainscot is the name of John Culpeper and what may be interpreted as a finger pointing to the floor; tradition has it this points to his final resting place beneath the stone floor of Astwood Court. However, historians insist the family, and particularly John, are recorded as being interred at Hollingbourne in Kent. The ghost of Astwood has, however, often been seen, tripping lightly from the house to the garden and always making for one particular pear tree.

Another ghost has also left her mark. In the earliest days of the nineteenth century a table was moved from where it had stood against a wall for years. This revealed the side of the table where the imprint of a woman’s fingers could be seen. It is said this mark was left by the woman after her death when she was already haunting the place. Enraged by her hauntings being completely ignored she struck the table, thus leaving the imprint, and was never seen or heard from again.

We must assume that she was ignored deliberately, for if she was simply not seen or heard how would anyone know when she had given up and left, or even that she had been there in the first place?

White Lion

The White Lion has not one; not two, but at least three and possibly four quite separate apparitions.

Anthony, proprietor of the White Lion, has allowed investigations by a local paranormal group armed with an array of instruments: thermometers to measure temperature range and change, audio equipment to pick up any sounds, cameras to hopefully show what the eyes missed, and lasers to measure dimensions with unerring accuracy. While technology would deal with the physical evidence, experienced psychic investigators employed their own particular skills to detect any presence undetectable by the usual five senses. Their results provided some explanation for what had been witnessed in the 200-year-old former coaching house, said to be the result of ‘an angry presence’.

What was once the courtyard and stables for the horse-drawn traffic of the day, has been enclosed and utilised as the function room. By the time the last guest has left after a party or reception here the hour is often late and, quite understandably, some of the clearing up is left until the next morning. However, the following day some of the tables, which the previous night still held glasses and bottles, were clear and everything had been placed neatly on the floor. On another occasion a glass shade on a light had been heard crashing to the floor seconds after someone had left the room. There has also been activity behind the bar. Glasses have fallen from shelves overnight and several members of staff have reported passing through a ‘cloud’ of intense cold, the feeling was momentary but decidedly real. Even worse was when another glass shade broke away from a light in the area behind the bar, narrowly missing the boss by a matter of inches.

This was not Anthony’s first unnerving experience at the White Lion, indeed the first occurred within a week of him taking over the pub. In those days the pub was quite run down, cold and in need of extensive decoration. Undaunted, even relishing the challenge, Anthony went to bed on only the third or fourth night at the pub and soon dropped off to sleep. Throughout his life Anthony’s ability to sleep through almost anything is legendary, and in his own words, ‘I can sleep at the end of the runway and not be wakened by the jets passing overhead.’ So it was somewhat surprising when, at around 3 a.m. that night, he was suddenly awakened by a cold breeze blowing strongly enough to disturb and pass underneath the quilt on the bed. There was no alarm system installed and, fearing someone had left a door or window open (or perhaps worse still there had been a break-in), he rushed downstairs to check. He found no window unlatched, no door unbolted or unlocked and no reason for any movement of air – indeed outside the night was calm and by no means cold.

As he settled into his new home and heard more recollections of the unexplained, Anthony decided to investigate further. He discovered different people were able to detect apparitions, spectres and hauntings by way of the different senses. There were those who saw the image – sight; others reported footsteps and banging – hearing; some felt the cold – touch; and others detected a presence by smell. It is this last olfactory sense which Anthony was particularly interested in because it was relevant to his own experiences. On several occasions he detected the unmistakable aroma of boiled milk, although others standing in the same place could smell nothing. His investigations found a number of reports and recommendations of how to preserve milk in the era before refrigeration by having it boiled – a crude form of pasteurisation.

However, the most unusual story has two chapters, the first shortly after they had settled in and were entertaining friends and relations from their former home town of Hartlebury. In those days licensing laws regulated the opening hours and, at this time, the gathering was a private one and the doors were closed to the general public until the evening. One young girl needed the toilet but refused to go. Her reluctance was thought to be due to being in an unfamiliar place and the bathroom being a scary large room with its ever-present echoes and plumbing noises. However she insisted she was not scared of the room but of the woman in there and she was well versed in ‘the dangers of strangers’. Thus an adult relative accompanied her to ease her worries and, as expected, found the ladies’ toilet empty. Reassuring her that there was nobody there she was somewhat unnerved to hear the girl insist there was a woman in there and she even pointed to her – yet she could neither see (nor otherwise sense) anything at all. When they returned to the others the adult told the story out of earshot of the children, but it was soon dismissed as the result of an over-active childhood imagination and forgotten.

The White Lion at Astwood Bank.

By the time of the second chapter of this tale the pub had been decorated and was no longer the gloomy building they had purchased. It was another gathering of friends and family from Hartlebury, this time a different crowd who were celebrating a birthday of one of their number and no children were present. Indeed just about everyone there had passed the ‘merry’ and ‘tipsy’ stages when a young (and anonymous) woman, then aged approximately twenty, paid a visit to the same ladies’ toilet. Whilst in there she saw a woman walk into and past the stalls, look around her, then leave again. The woman was not particularly old, maybe in her fifties, but seemed ‘not all there’ having an almost misty appearance. When she returned to the crowd the young woman was visibly shaken and told of what she had just witnessed, refuting suggestions she was so drunk she had imagined it. However, proprietor Anthony and his immediate family recalled the similar story being told by the young girl some months earlier.

It was these earlier events which resulted in the experts being called in to investigate the White Lion At the time of writing only the function room had been examined in detail, so any idea of whom or what has been sensed elsewhere is unknown.

BEOLEY

The Murderer

At the dawn of the nineteenth century a certain house in Beoley was believed to be under the influence of a ghost – said to be the spirit of a murderer who was executed for his crimes some years earlier and who remained here looking for his revenge.

A series of inexplicable events terrified all who stayed here, leading to the house being left empty until something was done to settle the problem. Salvation arrived in the form of the clergy, who met at the house to exorcise the spirit. Banishment could only be achieved by having somewhere to send it. For reasons not readily apparent, the men of the cloth decided to rid themselves of their problem by causing him to be chained to the bed of the Red Sea for a period of fifty years.

It may have rid them of their problem during their lifetimes, yet they either ignored or could not be bothered about the result of their actions after the fifty years were up. Thus half a century later, almost to the day, the ghost returned, determined to exact revenge on anyone he could. The new occupants were subjected to doors slamming, banging on floors and ceilings, and a terrible coldness whenever he passed.

However, he had not reckoned with the tenacity of those now in residence. They set out to chase him from their home. Stamping on floors they tried to drive him through the trapdoor into the cheese room, where they thought he would be trapped.

The Parson

The clergy of Beoley have played an important part in the village’s history. So much so that one former holder of the office was apparently reluctant to release his hold on the parish, even in death.