Haunted Nation by Steve Johnson Britain
has often been called ‘The Most Haunted Country In The World’. Why this
should be so is unclear. Perhaps it is in recognition of these islands’
colourful history, replete with myths and legends stretching back thousands
of years. Ghost stories have always been popular and the British Isles
seem to have more than their fair share. The World’s Oldest Ghosts? The Treasurer’s House in the historic city of York, in northern England, lies a short distance from the city’s beautiful Minster. The Minster is a major tourist attraction and a discovery made there would seem to verify what is possibly one of the world’s most famous true ghost stories.
In
1953, Harry Martindale was installing a new central heating system at the
Treasurer’s House. This entailed him going down into the basement and knocking
a hole through one of the cellar walls. He set his ladder against the wall
and began climbing up to where he intended to work. Amazingly,
each of the soldiers was only visible from the knees up!
Once
the column had passed through the opposite wall of the cellar, Harry scrambled
to his feet and rushed from the basement. The House’s curator met him and
noticed his petrified state. The Most Haunted House
In Britain? Chingle Hall in Lancashire, northern England, has been declared ‘The Most Haunted House In Britain’. Over the years, there have been reports of inexplicable noises and actual sightings of ghosts at the old house.
Chingle
Hall, built in 1260, is the oldest brick house in Britain. It is said to
be the birthplace of John Wall, a catholic martyr who was executed in 1679
and his head buried somewhere in or around the Hall.
A Haunted Castle
The
appropriately named Chillingham Castle lies in the English county of Northumberland.
For over 700 years, the castle has been the ancestral home of the influential
Grey family and has been the subject of many battles, particularly in the
16th century.
Having
such a colourful history, you might expect the castle to be haunted by
the ghosts of soldiers or those who were involved with the many armed struggles
that took place there, but the castle’s most famous ghosts are those of
the ‘Grey Lady’ and the ‘Radiant Boy’.
The Haunted RectoryBorley
Rectory in Suffolk, southern England was built on the site of a Benedictine
monastery. It seems that Borley and Chingle Hall are racing neck and neck
for the title, ‘The Most Haunted House In Britain’.
Indeed,
Borley’s history is as tragic as Chingle. Whilst still a monastery, it
is said that a young monk and a nun fell in love and attempted to elope.
Unfortunately they were caught and the monk was hanged. The nun was walled
up alive in the building’s masonry. From
the 1920s, people have reported seeing the ghost of a nun in the area.
Objects have also been seen to move by themselves and there is a remarkable
photograph of a brick that appears to be hanging in mid-air.
In
1930, the Reverend Lionel Foyster and his family moved into the house.
After reporting over two thousand separate paranormal incidents, the family
fled five years later. They claimed that writing appeared on walls on several
occasions and ghostly figures were often seen moving through the grounds
at night. One
thing is for certain, over the years thousands of sightings of apparitions,
moving objects, even photographs of dark figures in the grounds of the
rectory support Borley Rectory’s claim of being The Most Haunted House
In Britain.
© S Johnson 2001
MY PERSONAL GHOST STORIES I think I have seen and felt a few ghosts/spirits myself over the years. One particular episode can be found here. When I was a child, I saw a hooded, monk-like figure in my bedroom one night. It was standing behind my bedroom door and apparently looking at me. I tried to cry out, but my voice wouldn't work. I hid beneath the bedclothes and when I peeked out a few minutes later, the figure had vanished. A few years later, in a different house, I saw a man standing in my bedroom, facing the opposite wall. Although it was dark, I could make out that he had short, dark hair and was wearing what appeared to be a tank top (sleeveless jersey). Again, I hid beneath the covers and when I plucked up courage to look again, the figure was no longer there. A few nights after the events that took place in the 'Our Night of Terror' episode, more strange things happened. Lights turned on and off by themselves. I had been cooking some sausages under the grill and when they were done, I turned off the grill and took out the grill pan. I was called away from the kitchen for a few seconds and when I returned, the sausages were back under the grill and the grill was once again lit. A bottle of vinegar also moved from one place to another when we weren't looking. More recently, I have seen a bizarre, spider-like form floating around the bedroom. It appeared to be moving with purpose, checking out my bookshelves, and when I sat up, it moved through the wall and disappeared. I have no idea what it was, but it inspired a scene in my book, Mercury Rapids: The Thoth Imperative. I set up a night vision camera in the bedroom and caught what appeared to be an orb moving upwards. Six hours of recording and one stinking orb to show for it! Grrrr...
My latest sighting occurred around Halloween
2003. My son and I share a bedroom and he had a rubber skeleton dangling from
the ceiling. I awoke at night to see what looked like the figure of a miner
checking out my son's rubber skeleton. He was wearing heavy-looking clothes and
a miner's helmet, complete with modern-looking lamp. He was outlined by a
strange, bluish glow. He reached out a hand towards the toy hanging from the
ceiling. I sat up, amazed by what I was seeing. I think I even spoke aloud,
saying something like: "What the...?" The figure didn't appear to notice me, but
merely drifted backwards a few feet and vanished.
My friend and his family recently visited the National Railway Museum in York. When he showed me the photo, I noticed the profusion of 'orbs' in the shot....
I have decided that orbs are nothing more
than dust, moisture, insects, reflections etc. caught by a digital camera's CCD.
If anybody knows of any orbs that defy this explanation, drop me a line! A James Bond Ghost Story! (although this isn't set in Britain, I found it fascinating nevertheless!)
I have just acquired the DVD of the James
Bond film, License To Kill. The documentary on the making of the film contains a
very interesting story about how one area where they filmed was supposedly
haunted.
© 2005 Steven Johnson |
Updated 16th August, 2012