HGB Ep. 603 - Margam Castle

This Month in History - The Battle of Sedan (Suh-dawn)

In the month of September, on the 2nd, in 1870, Emperor Napoleon III surrendered to the Prussians during the Battle of Sedan. Napoleon III ruled France from December 1852 to September 1870. He rose to power after a coup and referendum in 1851 and was the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte I. The Battle of Sedan was a pivotal and decisive battle of the Franco-Prussian War. The war began in July of 1870 and France expected a quick victory. However on September 1st, the Prussian army surrounded Napoleon and his troops which numbered over 100,000 soldiers. The Prussians used superior organizational skills and employed exceptional artillery expertise during the intense battle. The following day, realizing there was no way for escape, Emperor Napoleon III surrendered. This event led to the collapse of the Second French Empire, thus ending the Bonaparte Dynasty, and resulted in Prussia's eventual victory and proclamation of the German Empire. 

Margam Castle (Suggested by: Lyn Beasley)

The visually stunning Margam Castle is located in Margam, Wales and while the 269,000 square foot structure resembles a castle, it really is technically just a country house. A very large country house. The reason it is referred to as a castle though is because it was made to look like a castle complete with an octagonal tower, turrets and battlements. While this was never a fortification, there are hill forts that dot the landscape, as do burial cairns. And what really makes this site remarkable is the nearby Margam Abbey, which lies in partial ruins. There are several spirits that call the castle home. Join us for the history and hauntings of Margam Castle. 

The area here has over 4,000 years of continuous habitation. The history here dates back to pre-historic times with relics dating to the Bronze and Iron Age and there is evidence of Roman and Celtic occupation. Margam started off as the cwmwd (koom wood) of Tir Iarll (Teer Yar-thll), in ancient times. A hill fort named Mynydd-y-Castell (Munith uh Cass-tell) was built here and there are still remains of that here. After the Norman invasion of Wales, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, and Lord of Glamorgan, gave the land to the Cistercians. The name Margam came with the founding of the Margam Abbey by the Cistercians in 1147. Prolific abbot and mystic St. Bernard of Clairvaux (Clair Voe) greatly expanded the Cistercian Order and this abbey played a significant part in getting his writing out there. He also revived Benedictine monastic life and advised multiple popes. King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in the 1530s and so in 1536, Margam Abbey was sold to Sir Rice Mansel. The abbey church would be retained as a parish church and it continues to be that today. The other buildings of the monastery would be sold off and some fell into ruins, like the twelve-sided Chapter House. 

Eventually the Talbot family would have possession of the Margam property through the female descended line of the Mansels. The Talbot family were a branch of the Earls of Shrewsbury. One of the monastery buildings was opened as the Margam Stones Museum. This is a little building next to the abbey church and contains 30 inscribed stones and crosses dating back to sixth-century Wales. These had served as milestones on Roman roads. One of the crosses is the Cross of Cobelin, which features a carved hunting scene. An effigy of a 14th century knight dressed in chain mail is here as well and he has a small dragon at the foot of his shield. And there is a grotesque gargoyle designed to void rainwater down its back. 

Margam would become an important part of the industrial base because it had a good harbor, named for the Talbot family, Port Talbot, and there were coal deposits. Coal mining in the parish took off in the late 18th century. Port Talbot would become a community of industrial workers. Margam would then be a suburb of Port Talbot. Urbanization would change the landscape, but Margam County Park preserved the history and the land. A deer herd that is here was thought to have been brought by the Romans. The park and estate covers 850 acres. The main part of the property is, of course, the castle. The castle is described as a "late Georgian country house," but it has many of the elements of a castle. This was the second estate built here. Despite owning the estates of Penrice and Oxwich, Sir Rhys Mansel built another estate here at Margam in the 1530s and this eventually was demolished. The Margam Castle that stands today was built for Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot and was designed by Thomas Hopper in the Tudor Revival style. Christopher was born in 1803 and everyone called him Kit. He loved to race yachts and was an accomplished musician. Kit collected art and was very good at chess. And he loved architecture and when it came to designing his home, he knew what he wanted. Talbot asked the architect Hopper to borrow elements from the family's ancestral home Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire and Melbury House in Dorset. Construction was started in 1830 and was completed in 1835. The castle's exterior was made from ashlar stone taken from the nearby Pyle quarry and features an elaborate Gothic porch, oriel and lancet windows, groups of chimney stacks, an octagonal tower and irregular gables and turrets and heraldic decor. 

The interior has a stunning, immense staircase hall that really has to be seen because words don't do it justice. A fire gutted the building in 1977, but its grandeur remains. Originally, the family rooms were set around a small courtyard on the west side of the terrace and people entered through an elaborate porch on the north side. The large quantity of windows that surround the octagonal tower, stream light down onto the staircase and reveals all the amazing plasterwork. Kit and his wife, Charlotte, filled the home with their four children. He passed away in 1890 as the richest commoner in Wales and the estate passed onto his daughter Emily Charlotte Talbot because his only son had died in 1876 due to a hunting accident. Emily made vast improvements to the property. When she died, her will gave the castle to her nephew, but it was adminstered through trustees who decided to auction off all the contents in 1941 and the estate itself was sold off in 1942. This property had been occupied by Sir Ryhs Mansel’s direct male descendants for six generations over 200 years. The castle was used by the military during World War II and then it was empty. Today, the castle and park is owned and administered by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council.   

One of the unique extra structures, other than those left from the abbey, is the Orangery, which predates the current castle. We had never heard of an Orangery until a week ago when we watched the Thursday Murder Club on Netflix - and if you haven't watched that you should - and the place where the murder club meets is the Orangery of the historic estate where it was filmed. Or at least its supposed to be. The producers had it built. The Orangery lives up to its name because it housed a large collection of orange, lemon and citron trees that were inherited by Thomas Talbot. Construction on the Orangery started in 1787 and was completed in 1793 and measures 327 feet long, making it the longest in Britain. Architect Anthony Keck designed it. The collection of citrus trees predates that though with a gardener’s catalogue from 1727 listing more than 70 plants at the property. The Orangery has a row of 27 round-headed windows on the south side. It was heated by coal fires with chimneys that ran along the back wall. An east pavilion housed marble statues and busts, only one of which remains in the Orangery today. It's a life size 
statue of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus. A collection of orange trees was maintained up until World War II. They were put outside and died during the winter weather. The Orangery was restored and reopened by the Queen during her Silver Jubilee visit in June 1977. 

William Henry Fox Talbot was a member of the family and he visited Margam often. We'll call him Henry. He was a scientist and inventor and one of his focuses was photography and he was a pioneer in that field. One of the processes he came up with was the salted paper, which produced positive prints from negatives and, obviously, used ordinary table salt to blot and dry a wet sheet of writing paper that had a strong solution of silver nitrate on the other side. The paper darkened and then was exposed to light  and a stronger solution of salt was used to stop exposure. It's chemistry, so way over our heads but it worked well. He also came up with calotype, which was paper coated with silver iodide. The term is Greek for beautiful impression. The silver chloride made paper sensitive to darkening when exposed to light. A draw back was that the exposure had to last for at least an hour. Imagine sitting that long for a picture. We've only seen examples with buildings because, uh yeah, whose sitting that long without moving? The castle was something that he used as a subject in many of his photographic experiments. And speaking of Margam and photography, this is the location of the earliest known Welsh photograph, which was a daguerreotype taken by Reverend Calvert Richard Jones on March 9, 1841. 

Visitors and guides and investigators claim that there are strange things that happen at the castle. There are several spirits here. Some of them are children, which are heard running around and giggling. Full-bodied apparitions of children in Victorian dress are seen. A security guard had just let in a group of investigators and sent them off to an upper floor when he had an experience with the children ghosts. He was standing by himself, looking out a window when he heard children running and giggling outside the room where he was standing. he looked out into the hallway, even though he knew that the ghost hunting group was all adults. Of course, there was nobody there. A day history tour was being conducted and a couple who brought their young son with them was doing the tour and about halfway through the tour, they noticed that there son was missing. Panic ensued as everyone searched the castle for him and when he was finally found, his parents asked him what he was doing and why he had left the group and he told them that he was playing with the other kids. Of which there were none. 

Shadow figures are also seen and one of these figures is very tall and likes to hang out in the nursery. The nursery is said to be the most active spot in the castle. The Tapestry Room has strange noises and weird night anomalies. The ghost of a blacksmith is seen on the castle grounds. Emily Talbot has been seen walking around in the master bedroom and is said to be the lady in white seen on the stairs at times. Many of the ghost stories about the castle started to be reported during World War II by the soldiers who were being treated at the castle. They saw spirits inside and out on the grounds. 

The most active ghost in the castle, the spirit of Robert Scott who had been a gamekeeper that worked at the Castle for many years. A poacher had been on the grounds one day and when Robert confronted him, the poacher murdered him. This left the spirit of Robert very angry and that comes out through poltergeist like activity. One of his favorite things to do is to throw rocks at people. His full-bodied apparition is seen climbing the Gothic staircase. Psychic investigators that have come through claim that Robert is full of rage. 

Ghost Hunters International investigated many years ago and they claimed to capture on camera the floating figure of a monk wearing a white habit. They also had a monk identify itself as Brother Tom. They saw a shadow figure that they thought might be Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot. They heard the footsteps of a woman, perhaps Emily and these were in the master bedroom. And they got an EVP featuring a male voice ordering them to get out. Ghost hunter and author Peter Underwood wrote in the 1950s about a ghostly monk being seen many times in and around the ruins of Margam Abbey. The sightings were usually in the late afternoon or early evening.

The website There Be Ghosts wrote, "During a visit to Margam in 2016, my wife and I chatted with a park guide who told us the monk had been seen more recently in 2005. Apparently, a man walking his dog late one afternoon saw the monk walk out of and through the solid wood door on the south side of the church. As the man stood stupefied, with his dog cowering, the monk walked a short distance and then physically dissolved. The man’s dog was so traumatized by the encounter that it couldn’t be consoled for several days."

Amy from Amy's Crypt goes into haunted locations all around the world and like us, she rarely is scared by a place. But she says of Margam Castle that this is one of the scariest places she has ever investigated. Her partner Jared had a rock thrown at him while he was standing and looking out a window. And then he heard a very loud bang coming from down the hall. A little later there is a distant audible scream that Diane heard before Jared said he just heard a scream. Later, Amy and Jared went upstairs and they heard what sounded like children and then they heard a tap sound. Amy and Jared did an ESTES session on the grand staircase and they got a female voice that said, "I'm here" and then immediately "She's here" and when Amy asked who is she, Jared heard "Legion." Then Jared heard "Follow me" and Amy asked to follow where and the answer was "Up there" and then "here." Amy thought she saw some movement above her and she could hear something. When she asked if there was someone up there, Jared said "A lot" and when she asked who was making that noise, Jared said "People." A little later Amy was asking more about who was there and Jared answered "I was stationed." Then there was a bang and when Amy asked what made that noise Jared said "I'm close." There were two taps on the stairs behind Jared and he said "They're scaring him." Jared complained several times that his leg muscles were twitching during the ESTES method and it was really interesting because they showed that the camera caught some of this twitching and Amy said that this has happened before at other places and she wondered if it had something to do with going into a trance-like state. They got out a spirit box and immediately it sounded like a child yelling "Mommy." Later they asked how many children were in the house and the answer was seven.

Adelaide's Haunted Horizons has investigated the castle and Alison told Amy that her group felt the same way as Amy. This was one of the few places that has really scared them. The group was investigated in one of the further away rooms near the nursery and the group heard disembodied footsteps and the swishing of a dress outside the room. Inside the room they heard the audible sound of heavy breathing. The atmosphere felt very tense and then they heard the sound of a large stone being thrown and they found this near them. A security guard came in a little later and the group was away from the room and telling him what they had experienced when they all heard these loud booming noises coming from the nursery area. Alison described the sounds as very unnerving and they had no idea what had caused them. They also say on their website, "We conducted a brief ghost box session and appeared to get a couple of interesting responses, not least a voice (almost electronic) saying ‘Bastard’.  Why interesting?  Because it sounded like Kag’s voice, as if she was being mimicked. (This is one of their team members.) We soon moved to the bottom of the staircase, but apart from a couple of loud thuds from upstairs, whatever was in the building seemed less talkative now.  We did get one interesting noise that I am unsure how to describe. If you watch the video, I will let you make up your own mind on what it is as we have no idea!  Even our security man, Dave, who joined us at the end, had never heard this before.  We didn’t hear it audibly."

Project Fear investigated as well. They had rocks thrown at them. They left a team member alone at the castle, while the rest went to the Abbey. Supposedly, Robert Scott is seen at the abbey as are figures that look like monks. Light anomalies are also seen. The team member at the castle was sitting on the stairs and there was a very audible sound like something being dragged. Near the Abbey, the thermal camera showed something weird in the field and they found out that it was a statue, but its one of the creepiest statues I've ever seen like a mother wailing over a child with this wide gaping maw. We found more information on the castle's website, "This was created by Glynn Williams. ‘The Shout’ (made in 1982), is a depiction of a desperate kneeling mother holding the body of her dead child. From the information we have found it was completed as a memorial to the victims of the war in Lebanon, the shocking images of which had been broadcast at the time on TV. He also completed a similar sculpture called the ‘Mother of the Dead’. The strength of the Shout sculpture – the feeling it conveys – are evidenced by the fact that it was moved to a secluded location in the park as visitors found it too disturbing when initially placed in a more prominent position." They used a Spirit Box and asked who it is that people keep seeing out there. Could it be a monk named Tom? And then "shoot" came through the box making them think it was Robert Scott. The guy in the castle heard a bunch of footsteps running up the stairs after he went upstairs and it scared the crap out of him. He shouted over the walkie-talkie for the other group to return. It was very dramatic, but we could understand how it would be really freaky to be alone in that castle. They tried talking to whoever this was later and they got a "No" about communication. However, it did later indicate that it was Robert. When asked if he was the one trying to scare them out of the castle, he answered "no." Now interestingly, Chelsea and Dakota were in the Nursery with a Spirit Box and it said "seven." Now they assumed it was referencing the 7-foot tall shadow figure that has been seen in there, but we watched this after Amy's Crypt and they got seven as the number for the children. 

Margam Castle  is one of the most magnificent buildings around. It's a bummer that the interior suffered a bad fire, but it still looks amazing and it had such a creepy, Gothic feel to it, that the movie Da Vinci's Demons was filmed here and interior sets were built that were left behind. People claim this is one of the most haunted places in Britain. Is Margam Castle haunted? That is for you to decide!

HGB Ep. 514 - White Hart Hotels

Moment in Oddity - Bat Bombs (Suggested by: Jared Rang)

Back in 1942, there was a secret government project taking place in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The United States was preparing for World War II. The government proposed a particularly unusual idea for bomb delivery on Japan. The method considered was bat bombs. No, I didn't say bath bombs, I said bat bombs. The idea was to collect bats, secure bombs to their bodies and release them over Japan. The bats would then roost inside buildings since they prefer dark places and then the bombs would explode. A test of the experiment was conducted in 1943. Army officers collected bats from the Carlsbad Caverns. The animals were cooled to induce sleep and then strapped with the incendiary bombs. They were subsequently flown into the sky over the New Mexico air base and released. The warm sun woke the unfortunate creatures and they then roosted in the air control towers, hangers and other buildings on the base. The 15 minute fuses on the bombs then performed as expected, setting fires to all the structures. Despite the bats near perfect execution of the government's classified plan, the project was cancelled. It was deemed impossible to trust bomb delivery by the cave dwelling residents. There have been many methodologies employed in warfare preparation, but using bomb banded bats to incinerate your enemies certainly is odd.

This Month in History - The Rock and Bullwinkle Show Premiered

In the month of November, on the 19th, in 1959, 'The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends' premiered. Many of us are familiar with the animated series that always had Bullwinkle stating, (("Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat" with Rocky's response being, "Again?")). The American television series ran from 1959 to 1964 and featured Bullwinkle the moose and Rocky the squirrel as its main characters. The cartoon experienced various name changes through the years and was titled 'The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show' once in syndication. Produced by Jay Ward Productions, the cartoon followed the structure of a variety show. The primary antagonists were two Russian spies, Boris and Natasha along with side stories featuring 'Dudley Do-Right', 'Peabody's Improbable History' and 'Fractured Fairy Tales'. Like many cartoons of the time, the show appealed to both children and adults. The episodes were known for their cultural and topical satire as well as puns and droll sense of humor. It was one of the earliest cartoons to outsource its animation leaving the show with a raw, unfinished look in comparison to its competitors. However, 'The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show' has been held in high regard by television viewers as well as critics. Over the years there have been film adaptations of the cartoon and its assorted segments, the latest of which is a reboot that premiered on Amazon Prime in 2018.

White Hart Hotels (Suggested by: Ali Pittaway)

The White Hart Stag was once the personal badge of the king, and businesses and people would display it to show their allegiance. Today, there are still dozens of inns in the United Kingdom that bear the name White Hart. Each of them is unique, but all are very historic having stood for over hundreds of years. Many of them are reputedly haunted. Join us as we venture around the United Kingdom and explore the history and hauntings of the White Hart Hotels.

First, let's talk about the name White Hart. The name White Hart is popular for a reason. Hart is an archaic word for a stag. White Hart was the personal badge of Richard II and this depicts a white stag with a gold crown around its neck. The term is also connected to Herne the Hunter in English folklore. Herne was apparently the ghost of a former Windsor Forest keeper who had horns and liked to haunt a particular oak tree, shake chains and make cattle produce blood rather than milk. An illustration of Herne by George Cruikshank from 1843, depicts the figure on a horse, riding with hounds and an owl at his side. The legend of Herne was made famous by Shakespeare and no stories seem to predate that time period. There are some who believe that Herne was derived from the European folklore about the Wild Huntsman, a Gaulish deity known as Cernunnos. That figure is associated with stags as well, but really strangely, it is also connected to horned serpents and usually carries a bag of grain and wears a metal neck ring called a torc. We lost count of the number of inns with the name White Hart in the United Kingdom because there are so many. The oldest being the one in Witley, Surrey that is Elizabethan in style and stands on the site of an Anglo-Saxon Inn and probably was a royal hunting lodge at one time.

Moreton, Essex

Moreton is a rural parish in Essex in the Epping Forest with its main economy being agriculture. The village has been here for at least 2000 years and The White Hart here dates back to the Medieval times. The oldest parts of the building have been dated to 1460, but no one is sure who built it or owned it early on. The first recorded landlord was named Henry Pinder. He owned the license in 1649. Another license holder was blacksmith William Pain. In 1914, the license holder was Sidney Skepelhorn and his family held it for most of the 20th century. Like most pubs, this one was open for twenty hours out of every day and was quite dark inside because of frosted windows and dark interior wood with a mustard yellow ceiling. Not a very pretty color, but it made sense as smoke from cigarettes, pipes and the fire would have yellowed the ceiling anyway. The pub was split into sections and there was a well furnished parlor, small private rooms and a public bar. The bar itself had privacy doors, and customers would open a slot on the door to make their order.

In 1991 it was reported that a man saw the silhouette of a young woman wearing a long dress was seen through the window of the kitchen door. He thought this was his wife and so he opened the door and the figure disappeared. The man was startled and he ran up to his room where he found his wife sleeping. This wasn't the only time the female apparition was seen and people believe that she was a woman who died in the building from an accident in the 1920s. That is when the ghost first started to be reported.

Exeter, Devon

Exeter is what we would call in America the county seat of Devon. Devon is full of historic pubs and one of these is the White Hart Hotel. This just happens to be the most haunted pub in Devon. Exeter was once a religious center during the Middle Ages. During the 11th century, the Exeter Cathedral was built. But even before that, this was a Roman town. So this city dates back to 55 AD. The White Hart in Exeter is located at 66 South Street and is part of Marston's Inns. This is close to the city center. Today it offers 55 en-suite rooms for rent and an ale house with selections from Marston's five breweries. The White Hart here dates to the 1400s, but its backstory is murky. Some historians believe this was a resting place for monks that eventually became a coaching inn. It was thought to be the home of William Wynard between 1418 to 1442. He built the Wynard's Hospital and Chapel. The home became the Blue Boar Inn and then the White Hart Inn that had a stable where horses and carriages could be kept. In the 1970s, an extended part of the building was added.

The most well known haunting here is a female spirit that wears a long black cape and wanders the courtyard. The face of a small boy has been seen in the bar. The most bizarre legend is about a basilisk or a Cockatrice, which is described as being half rooster and half lizard that lurks in a well. Stories claim that the creature killed two workmen by breathing on them. And another man was almost killed. This took place in 1649 when a man named Roger Creek owned the inn. The well needed repairs and he hired a man named Paul Penrose to climb down to do the work. The minute Penrose hit the bottom of the well, he died. Another workman named William Johnson was sent down next and he too died when he reached the bottom. It was thought that some kind of uncommon stench had overcome them. Another man went down to help his workmates and he was nearly overcome, but pulled back up before that happened. He was the one who reported the strong smell and that it closed up his lungs. It probably was some kind of marsh gas or was it?

Coggeshall, Essex

The White Hart in Coggeshall in Essex is part of Greene King Inns. Coggeshall comes from an early Saxon settlement and is located along the River Blackwater. Coggeshall Abbey was built in 1140 and eventually became home to the Cistercian monks and they raised sheep whose wool was high-quality and made the town prosperous. This eventually gave way to cloth trade with both silk and lace. In the late 1800s, brewing became a big industry in the village as well. The White Hart was built in the 15th century as a coaching inn. Today, there are 20 rooms and a traditional pub. People who have stayed here claim to hear mysterious tapping on the walls in their rooms, rooms go ice cold and the lights flash and guests feel like they are being watched by something unseen. The spirits of monks have been seen dancing in the fields nearby and the blows of a ghostly axe have been heard. This sound is attributed to a 16th century woodcutter named Robin. Two child spirits wander the halls and it is thought that they died in a fire at the inn. 

The landlord Grant Beechey told Mirror Online, "We have a lady who won't stay in room two. She said she felt someone touch her in the night or felt something happen in the night. She won't stay there now. She still stays with us, she stays every week but she won't stay in room two. There have been quite a few incidents told to us by various residents, about two specific rooms; room two and room 19. These guests come back regularly to stay in those rooms. Whatever it is that is there brings them back time and time again. Room 19, which is the one most people come back to, is in the oldest part of the building. We have people who come and stay in room 19 and the story I've heard from people most often is about a poltergeist, a moving scenario where things appear, don't appear, get moved and that type of thing. I had a report from one of our chefs who was here on a short-term basis that he'd felt he wasn't alone in the kitchen when he was certainly alone. He wasn't disturbed by it but he had that feeling he wasn't alone, and there was something going on. He just said he thought there was someone there with him. Certainly some of the corridors in the older part of the hotel have a look and feel about them."

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is located in the East Midlands and was originally inhabited by a Celtic tribe before the Roman occupation. The Romans called this Lindum Colonia and that is how Lincoln was derived. The birthplace and home of Sir Isaac Newton is here. The White Hart Hotel here is in the center of what was medieval Lincoln and sits between a cathedral and castle. An inn has sat on this site since the 15th century. The oldest part of this hotel dates back to 1710. The Prince of Wales had lunch here in 1925. This White Hart has a variety of en-suite rooms and also has the Antlers Restaurant and the Colonnade Cocktail Lounge and was just refurbished, literally just reopening a couple of weeks ago.

Guests have claimed to hear the sound of people running up and down the corridor when there is no one in the hallway. Disembodied voices sometimes accompany the sound of running. One guest in particular went to the front desk and complained about the sound. He returned to his room and just as he climbed back into bed, the sounds started again. He angrily got out of bed and reached for the doorknob when it suddenly twisted on its own and the door began to rattle violently. The guest flung the door open and ran to the receptionist and reported what happened again, adding that now his door had been affected. This is when the receptionist informed that guest that he was actually the only guest at the inn. On top of that and even more chilling is that the doors don't have handles on the outside, only on the inside. If the knob was turning, it was coming from inside the room. 

There are a couple of possibilities for what haunts the inn. A maid was killed many years ago by a regular patron to the bar. He had taken a liking to her, but she rebuffed him, so he ambushed her one day in the middle of the corridor on the first floor and stabbed her several times in the face and she bled to death. People claim to hear the ghost of the maid screaming and sobbing at night and the crime actually plays out in a residual way sometimes with the maid being seen on her knees and throwing her arms up as if shielding herself from something. Another ghost was also a murder victim, a highwayman that was killed in the stables by a coachman. A restaurant is now located where the stables had been and the highwayman's ghost has been seen flitting through the restaurant covering his face with his cloak. And there is the spirit of an elderly woman who wears a period dress and walks down the corridors of the lower floors and she disappears after being seen. Staff also claim to feel as though something is following them that they can't see.

St. Albans

St. Albans is located in Hertfordshire and was named for the first British saint, Alban. A legend claims that he sheltered a Christian priest who was running for his life. Alban was so impressed by the priest that he converted to Christianity. When the pursuers arrived at Alban's home, he took the priest's cloak and pretended to be him. These men took him away and tortured him trying to get him to renounce his faith and he refused. he was eventually executed and his head is said to have rolled down a hill and where it settled, a well sprang up. The town of St. Albans dates back to the Iron Age. The Romans invaded in 43 AD. Battles from the War of the Roses occurred nearby. St. Albans became a site of Christian pilgrimage, a market town and a first coaching stop on the route to London. This made it a good spot for inns and the White Hart here was built in 1470. Most early visitors were coming to the Abbey, but eventually it became a general coaching inn. Oak paneling was added in the 1600s and remains today. 

St. Albans is said to be a pretty haunted town in general with stories of monks haunting the nearby Abbey and child spirits running through the Market Place. One of the ghost stories connected to the inn dates to 1820. Apparently a woman bought the cheap seats on the top of a coach and somehow broke her neck on the entrance gate. People have seen her spirit in period clothing near the entrance. This story actually inspired Charles Dickens to share it in the Pickwick Papers. The bar is haunted by the spirit of a monk from the Abbey who comes in and pours himself a beer. A 12-year-old girl died in a fire at the inn in 1832 and her spirit hangs out near the back stairs. She even appeared in a local shop and asked about her parents John and Margaret and when the local records were checked, it was discovered that the young daughter of the publicans had died in a fire.

West Bromwich

West Bromwich is a market town in the West Midlands. This town became a center for brick making and coal mining. The White Hart here is no longer open, having been one of more than 50 pubs that have closed down in the town. The pub dates to the 1850s when it was under the license of a man named John Charley. From the 1870s to the early 1880s, the White Hart became the changing room for the new West Bromwich Albion football club. The players would leap over the pub wall to access the pitch. It eventually would be renamed Drunken Duck in 2001 and then closed a few years later. The former pub now runs as a daycare center. People in the building claimed to hear disembodied footsteps and this was connected to the removal of a hand of glory that was discovered in the attic. And what is a hand of glory? It is the dried and pickled hand of a hanged man, usually the offending hand. Superstition attributed power to these items, particularly when used in conjunction with a candle made from the fat of the hanged man's corpse. A hand of glory could unlock any door it came across and it could render people near it motionless. 

Walsall, Staffordshire

Walsall means the "Valley of the Welsh." The town saw real growth during the Industrial Revolution. This was originally a home that was built in the 17th century and then it became the pub, but that shut down in the 1990s and the building was converted into eight flats. A hand of glory comes up in this White Hart too. This is the mummified arm of a child and it too was in the attic. The spirit of the child is said to haunt the inn and it usually indicates its presence with hand prints in the dust. There is also the spirit of a woman seen in Victorian clothing who is thought to have been a maid at the inn who took her own life. 

West Mersea, Essex

West Mersea is in Essex and has several remnants from Roman occupation that still exist from Roman buildings to mosaics to a burial mound just north of the town. The town was founded as far back as 1086 when it is first found in recorded history. The White Hart here is located in the heart of the village and offers six rooms and a pub and has that cool half-timbered look on the outside. There are nearby beaches and boardwalks. The pub dates to the 15th century with a short closure from 2013 to 2022 when it fell into a bit of disrepair. Piers Baker bought the property in 2021 and set about refurbishing it and reopened in 2022. Apparently in the 1880s, the main performer at the pub was a coastguard named Billy the Dancer who would tap dance on a board. The haunting here involves a dog ghost that delivery men claim likes to dart under feet. Workmen at the inn have also claimed that an unseen dog has moved against them when they have worked in the cellar. There must have been sightings too because it is said that this is a Labrador Retriever. A legend tells the story of a woman who fell through the ice while crossing the river and she now walks near the White Hart in ghostly form, perhaps seeking her husband.

Sturminster Newton, Dorset

Sturminster Newton is home to the White Hart Alehouse. This was believed to have been built in 1708. This only runs as a pub now with six real ales and ten craft beers and pub food. People claim that a female spirit haunts the bar area. 

Padstow, Cornwall

Padstow is a fishing port in Cornwall. The White Hart building here dates to the 16th century and was once owned by a woman named Mrs. Binick who advertised the main house as a "very good accustomed Inn with a Large Malt House thereunto adjoining." That Malt House was capable of making 1000 bushels Cornish, which is an old measure from Cornwall that equated around 16 gallons. So that was a lot of liquor! By 1871, it was producing 3000 bushels a season. People did die at the inn. One in 1871 that caused the innkeeper at the time to discontinue letting rooms. And then in 1911, a Bessie Jane Reynolds died at the age of 66 at the inn. In 1995, Patricia Rose Jacoby purchased The White Hart. Previously, she had been a London fashionista who dressed Princess Diana. She was having a drink in the pub and mentioned how much she loved the place and the then owner told her it was for sale. She scooped it right up and began extensive renovations. She then started a Bed and Breakfast business and converted the Malt House to The Garden Room and Apartment. Pat passed away in 2019 and her son inherited the business and continues to run it today under the name "The Malt House." A legend claims that a priest named Wilfred died here and now haunts the place with disembodied footsteps that walk up and down the stairs and a loud rasping sound that comes from one of the rooms.

Manningtree, Essex

Manningtree claims to be the smallest town in England and has a name that probably means "many trees." The wool trade was strong here in the 15th century and the shipping trade became more prominent in the 18th century. But probably what this little town is most known for is being the center of the work of the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins. Hopkins claimed that he heard several townswomen talking with each other about meeting the devil. He took his accusations to the authorities in 1644 and those women were executed as witches. That Witchfinder General designation was self-appointed. Parliament never recognized Hopkins as that. Despite not having government backing, Hopkins and his buddy John Stearne sent more people to hang for being witches than any of the other English witch-hunters in the previous 160 years. Somehow this man was described as the "Celebrated Witch-finder" even into the early 1800s. Based on our research, it seems that Hopkins was in this business for the money.

The White Hart Inn in this town has been closed for several years now. The building dates to the 17th century and was a meeting place for Matthew Hopkins and John Stearne and the people from Manningtree who had accusations against their neighbors who they thought were witches. After the accusation was made, it had to be investigated. That's the way it was done from the time that witchcraft was criminalized in England in 1563. Professor of History at the University of Essex, Alison Rowlands, wrote of this, "So what you do, if you want to bring an accusation against somebody, you would go to a Justice of the Peace and bring the charge and they would then start investigating it, and it’s at that point that first of all John Stearne is brought into the procedure, because the local people here, they ask John Stearne, who also lives in Manningtree, to take their complaints to the JPs. And then the JPs ask him to help some of the investigations and then Matthew Hopkins gets involved as well. Now, it’s almost certainly the case that Hopkins and Stearne and the accusers and the JPs met in pubs, because that’s where men of standing got together - in a meeting room in an inn. So I think any kind of local-ish pub that would have been around in the 17th century, you could probably make that case for." This place must have made an impression on Hopkins because people claim that his spirit is here. He can be heard walking and talking in the building and has been seen as well. Hopkins died very young, at the age of 28 in 1647.

Edinburgh, Lothian

The White Hart Inn in Edinburgh is said to be the city's most haunted pub. This one was built in 1740 and has held a continuous license for over 500 years. The cellar dates to 1516. The White Hart was built in the Grassmarket that stands in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. This is where livestock was bought and sold and executions were conducted. People would rent out the top floor for the best view. Some executions included Maggie Dickson or "Half Hangit Maggie" in 1724, over 100 Covenanters between 1661 and 1668 at a time called "The Killing Times," and the last person hanged was James Andrew in 1784. In 1916, the inn was almost destroyed when the Germans dropped 23 bombs on the city with one dropping just outside the inn. Sightings of detached legs and dark ghostly figures have been reported in the cellar area. Barrels down there get moved around. An unseen hand likes to turn off the beer pumps. And a shadowy figure appears by the door behind the bar. People claim that their hair gets pulled too. There are a couple of resident ghosts here. One is named Sally Beggs and she was apparently found dead in the street outside the inn. She haunts the main bar area. The other is thought to be named Jack and appears to be disfigured and wears a cloak over his shoulders. He tends to haunt the Keg Room.

Cross, Somerset

Cross is a small village located in Compton Bishop, England. British comedian Frankie Howerd had lived here in Wavering Down, which is now a museum and tourist attraction. The White Hart in Cross is on Old Coach Road. This inn dates back to the 17th century. Mike and Gina bought the pub in 2019 and refurbished it. They made the Good Beer Guide in 2021 and 2022. Judge George Jeffreys was known as The Hanging Judge and he was severe and biased. During the Bloody Assizes, which were a series of trials that took place after the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685, Judge Jeffreys held some trials at this White Hart and several local men were condemned to hang. The Judge would continue to go onto greater things until he finally was imprisoned at the Tower of London where he died in 1689. Interestingly, Jeffreys was terrified of what the public would do to him so the Tower of London became a sanctuary for him because it was said that the mobs outside intended "to show him that same mercy he had ever shown to others." A plaque outside of the inn claims that it is haunted by one of the judges "victims." People claim to hear disembodied footsteps that are very loud and small items move on their own.  

Bristol

Bristol was a starting place for many voyages to the New World from Britain because it was a major port. It was founded around 1000 AD. The White Hart outside of Bristol is a beautiful country pub with parts that date back to the 12th century. This had been part of St. James Priory. Two brothers bought the building in the 1600s and converted it into an inn. The brothers eventually fought with each other over land and one killed the other, brutally murdering him and hiding his body in the cellar. The dead brother was thought to be named George and he haunts the place now. Landlords leave a vase of flowers on the bar to appease him. One of the landlords said, "We’ve witnessed quite a few spooky incidents since taking over the pub five years ago and we’ve heard tales from the past involving George too. On several occasions bottles of alcohol that were firmly in place on the shelf behind us have fallen off for no reason whatsoever, which always gives us quite a fright. And an old landlord once came in and told me how a barrel of Fosters kept disconnecting itself in the cellar despite the fact he was making it tighter and tighter each time, and there was nobody down there. I’ve also seen the figure of an old man wearing a tweed suit and red V-neck jumper sitting by the women’s toilets in my peripheral vision, but there was nobody there. And no, I hadn't been drinking." 

Menheniot, Cornwall

Menheniot is a village located in Cornwall and was a former mining area. The White Hart Inn here was a 17th century coaching inn. Today it offers 9 rooms and a full cooked breakfast every morning and there is real ale in the lounge and public bar areas. The inn has traditional slate floors and beamed ceilings. A beer garden is also available. Ali had worked here when she emailed us in 2016 and she shared, "The scent of a woman's perfume has been smelt in various places when there is no one in the hotel (notably in the kitchen & going up the staircase) there are shadows seen going across the bar and restaurant, the bedrooms all have separate bathrooms and bedrooms (like self contained apartments) and every member of staff has had experience of leaving a room/walking into a room and the TV just switches on. I have had a heavy sigh in my ear with no one around me (after closing time no drinkers no guests no other staff) several of us have swapped stories about something that concerns us (its like a dream during the day kind of like a vision of an old lady just screaming in our faces) there are 3 of us that i know have had these and its re occurring. There's a more worrying darker than dark shadow at the top of the stairs when you turn the lights off and do a walk around to lock up there's like a black mist that's darker than the dark because you can see it....even the owners have had experiences but this isn't something we talk about often, its very much a culture of we all see and hear and smell things.....but we don't talk to each other about it, but just know that we aren't the only ones to experience it. The hotel allows dogs but no one with a dog has ever stayed in room 2. The dogs go bezerk i mean full on crazy barking, growling, so the owners take them out the building and they have to go in other rooms."

Clearly, these White Hart Inns are located in some beautiful and interesting towns. Nearly all sound like great places to get a brew and some pub food. And possibly experience some unexplained activity. Are these White Hart Hotels haunted? That is for you to decide!

HGB Ep. 447 - The British Museum

Moment in Oddity - The Two Headed Boy of Bengal

There's a small village in Bengal, India, where a little boy was born in 1783. The midwife assisting the birth was so shocked by the child's appearance that she tried to kill him by throwing the boy into the fire. The baby had two heads. Fortunately, the baby survived with some burns in one eye and ear. Although the parents were shocked, they began to see their baby as a money making opportunity, so they decided to head to Calcutta so their son could be put on exhibit. The young child became very popular garnering requests for private showings by India's noblemen, civil servants and city officials. If this wasn't sad enough, his parents used to cover their son with sheets for long periods of time to keep those who hadn't paid to view the boy from having a peek. Now, although the boy was described as two headed, he did not have two heads growing out of a single neck. Instead, the second skull sat inverted on top of the main skull. The second head had a few irregularities. The ears were malformed, the tongue was small and the lower jaw was diminutive but other than that, both heads were the same size and were covered with black hair at their junction. Although they were fused, the heads did react independently from each other. When the boy laughed or cried the upper head didn't always respond and there were times recorded that when the child slept, the second head would be awake actively viewing their surroundings. Despite being unusual, the boy did not seem to suffer any ill affects from the parasitic twin. One day at the age of 4 the boy's mother left him alone while she fetched water. When she returned, she found her son deceased from a cobra bite. Eventually the boy's corpse was dissected and was found to have two completely independent brains. These types of parasitic twins are known as craniopagus parasiticus, and are an extremely rare type of parasitic twinning that occurs in about 2 to 3 in 5 million births. Typically the twins do not survive birth. Though the boy did die young, the fact that he survived to the age of 4 with this rare form of parasitic twinning only to meet his demise due to a cobra bite, certainly is odd.

This Month in History - Lewis and Clark Expedition Experiences Only Death

In the month of August, on the 20th, in 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition suffers its only death. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had gathered together 35 men to form the Corps of Discovery to explore into the western part of the United States to prepare for Westward Expansion. They were three months into the voyage when Sergeant Charles Floyd became ill for several days. He seemed to get better for awhile, but on August 15th, came down with what they described as a "violent colic...[and] he was sick all night." By the night of August 19th, the young man was close to death and Clark sat up with him trying to make him comfortable. Sergeant Floyd died the next afternoon and the Corps buried him on a high bluff they named Floyds Bluff in his honor. The bluff overlooked a stream that they named Floyds River as well. Modern physicians believe that based on the symptoms described by Lewis and Clark, Sergeant Floyd had acute appendicitis. This was the only death the Corps of Discovery suffered throughout the two year expedition.

The British Museum

The British Museum in London is a site to behold with over thirteen million objects in its vast collections from around the world. Over 17,000 people visit the 14-acre complex every single day, making it the most popular attraction in Great Britain. There is no doubt with the relics and other objects that are here, that a ghost or two might be hanging out due to attachments and such. And keeping in mind that some of these collections should probably be repatriated to their home countries, it's no wonder that spirits may be at unrest. Join us as we explore the history, collections and hauntings at the British Museum!

The British Museum was the first national museum of its kind, meaning it was not owned by a monarchy or private collector. Originally founded in 1753 by an Act of Parliament, the doors officially opened in 1759. The creation of this museum was inspired by a man named Sir Hans Sloane, a London-based doctor and scientist who had a vast collection of curiosities, books, manuscripts, dried plants, drawings and international antiquities. When he died in 1753, he bequeathed it to King George II for the nation of Great Britain. A 17th-century mansion named Montagu House was chosen to house the museum. The house had been built by a Frenchman called Pouget and was the grandest private residence in London at the time. This was the first public building to be electrically lit. Only the well connected were able to get tickets to see the collections until 1830 when the museum was completely opened to the public. It was also around that time that the Montagu House was demolished to make way for the British Museum visitors see today. 

Some of the key artifacts that the museum acquired in the 19th century include the colossal bust of Ramesses II, marble sculptures from the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities and the Rosetta Stone. These all laid the foundations for many of the 94 collections at the museum like the Egyptian, Ancient Near Eastern, Animals, Africa and Charles Towneley collection. It was becoming apparent that Montagu House was too small to hold the many objects being acquired by the museum and it was getting too crowded with people as well. This pushed a building committee to form to expand the museum. Architect Sir Robert Smirke, who specialized in the neoclassical style, was assigned the task of designing an addition to the museum on the eastern side and a main building to replace the Montagu House, which was demolished. What came out of Smirke's work was a monumental Greek Revival building with four wings, 43 Greek temple columns, large steps and triangular pediment constructed from concrete, cast-iron framing, London stock brick, Haytor granite and Portland stone. Bits and pieces of the museum opened over time. The King's Library Gallery in the East Wing, which held King George III's collection which included more than 65,000 books, was opened in 1827, although the whole wing wasn't completed until 1831. The West Wing was completed in 1846 and the South Wing in 1847. The forecourt opened in 1852 and the rest of the museum opened to the general public in 1857. The main quadrangle building won the Royal Institute of British Architects' Gold Medal.

All throughout the construction, the museum continued to acquire objects and even started its first overseas excavations in 1840. This was in Asia Minor and recovered the remains of the tombs of the rulers of ancient Lycia. There were more excavations in Assyria and eventually Ashurbanipal's great library of cuneiform tablets was discovered. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the 4th-century BC Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, was discovered by Charles Newton in 1857. By 1900, the museum again needed more space so property was bought around the museum, houses were demolished and new wings were built. The North Wing opened in 1914 and a conservation laboratory was added in 1920. This latter development was due to damage that some objects suffered after being moved to protect them during World War I. Objects would again be moved during World War II to protect valuable collections from air raids. The Duveen Gallery was indeed heavily damaged by bombing. This was repaired and much of the museum was restored as collections were brought back after the Blitz. There was more expansion in the 1970s and purpose-built galleries were added in 2000. Queen Elizabeth II Great Court opened in 2000, which includes the Reading Room that is open to anyone for reading, and is the largest covered square in Europe. Today the museum has expanded to include the Natural History Museum with 70 million objects and the British Library with 150 million objects. The British Museum has over 13 million objects.

Some of the interesting artifacts here include:

The Gebelein predynastic mummies, which are six naturally mummified bodies that date to 3400 BC. Two were identified as male and one as female, with the others being of undetermined sex. The mummies were found lying on their left sides in the fetal position.

The Battlefield Palette is known by several other names: the Vultures Palette, the Giraffes Palette, or the Lion Palette. Archaeologists believe that this may be the earliest battle scene representation on a ceremonial or ornamental cosmetic palette from ancient Egypt. This dates to around 3100 BC.

Several of the original casing stones from the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

One of the oldest papyri from ancient Egypt.

The Coffin of King Nubkheperre Intef from Thebes dating to 1570 BC.

Fragment of the beard of the Great Sphinx of Giza.

Book of the Dead of Nedjmet with painted offering-vignettes and columns of Hieroglyphic text. Nedjmet was the wife of High Priest of Amun at Thebes.

Brass head of an Ooni of Ife, which was a king in Nigeria. This was actually found by accident.

Bronze statue of the Buddhist goddess Tara found in Sri Lanka.

Chess pieces found on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland that are made from walrus ivory and whales' teeth that date to between 1150 and 1200 AD.

The Nereid Monument is from Turkey and it looks like they brought back the whole thing. This looks like a Greek temple with the columns and between the columns are statues of the Nereids, which were mythical sea-nymphs and daughters of the sea-god Nereus. This dates to around 390-380 BC. 

The Mausoleum of Halikarnassos from Turkey was a tomb built for a king and was regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This mausoleum stood 131 feet tall and had colossal free-standing statues and marble relief slabs and the pyramid roof was crowned by a four-horse chariot.

One of the Rothschilds left his collection to the museum and it is known as the Waddesdon Bequest. One of the pieces that caught our attention is the Holy Thorn Reliquary. This was fashioned in Paris in 1400 and was made to display a thorn from the crown worn by Jesus at the crucifixion. The thorn is behind a crystal window. Baron Rothschild got it in 1860 and it had been part of the Holy Roman Emperor's Imperial Treasury at one time. There's also this cheeky little guy known as the Huntsman Automaton. He was crafted by Wolf Christoff Ritter of Nuremberg in the early 1600s and is quite rare as most of these didn't survive because they were a part of German drinking parties. These were trick wine cups. There was a mechanism that would propel the cup across a table on three hidden wheels in the base and whomever the automaton stopped in front of, was expected to remove the head and chug the wine inside the body. Way more interesting than beer pong! The Assyria: Nimrud Collection features carved stone panels depicting the king and his subjects doing various activities, but what interested us about this is that one panel features the king engaging in ritual scenes with protective demons. At least that's the way the museum puts it, "protective." Okay, and where's our weird Bible people. Another room is the Assyria: Nineveh Collection. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire and the place God sent Jonah to preach and Jonah decided he didn't want to do that, so God sent a storm that nearly took out the ship he was on and the crew threw him overboard when they realized he was the issue and he ended up in the belly of a giant fish for three days. The stone panels in this collection feature scenes of the transporting of huge sculptures of human-headed winged bulls called lamassu and were located at the entrances of the palace. If you've listened to The Ghost in You Podcast episode about angels, these lamassu actually depict what cherabim probably look like. They had two wings and four faces: one was a lion, another an ox, another an eagle and the last a human.

The Enlightenment Room would be of particular interest to us and our listeners. There is a lot of cool stuff in here that highlights the seven major disciplines of the Enlightenment: the natural world, the birth of archaeology, art and civilization, classifying the world, ancient scripts, ritual and religion, and trade and discovery. The Enlightenment Period was from 1715 to 1789 and people tended to collect sacred objects like charms, amulets and statuary representing ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Indian religions and they also collected items that were used in occult and magical practices. Several artifacts displayed here once belonged to alchemist and occultist John Dee. Dee lived during the Elizabethan period. He was born in 1527 and eventually became an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I, who allowed him to choose her coronation date. He had one of the largest libraries in England, coined the term "British Empire," studied mathematics, astrology, alchemy, divination, Hermeticism and the Enochian language. That last bit is said to be an angelic language. He claimed to have conversations with angels and kept journals full of these dialogues. Dee's items that are here at the museum include his Magic Mirror, Magic Discs, and Crystal Ball. The Magic Mirror is made out of obsidian and came out of Mexico sometime between 1527 and 1530. This sinister looking black mirror was said to have been used by an Aztec priest to conjure visions. Dee used it to talk to angels and pulled it out for many seances. The crystal ball is made from rock crystal and measures only 2 inches in diameter and was also used for talking to angels via scrying. There are also three Magical discs that were made in the late sixteenth-century from wax. There are engravings on these discs that include symbols and inscriptions and Dee called one of them the "Seal of God."

We thought we'd have a little fun and put the term "ghost" into the collections search and we were certainly shocked to find that 333 objects popped up. There were books, clothing, amulets and the number one objects for this word were drawings, most of them Asian. Another common item that came up were these netsukes from Japan. These are little statuettes, many of which are pretty creepy looking. Most seem to date to the early 19th century or Edo Period. We looked up netsuke and they are defined as miniature sculpture that originated in the 17th century in Japan and were initially a simply-carved button fastener on the cords of an inro box. They went on to become these ornately sculpted objects. An inro box is a Japanese case for holding small objects and usually worn around the waist of a kimono. Another item that caught our attention was Number 10 of 32 issues from Volume II of an illustrated periodical of eight pages entitled "The New Casket." How would that not catch our attention? But the headline was what really did it, "The Headless Horseman" and the wood engraved illustration features two men on horses looking like they are talking to each other, but one is holding his head under one arm. This dates to Saturday, March 10th, 1832.

The British Museum has every reason to be haunted. There are hundreds of objects connected to death, the remains of 6,000 people and statues of demons and gods. Stories of hauntings are plentiful. Museum staff and visitors have reported doors opening and closing on their own, dramatic temperature drops, music from another era playing, many times ancient in origin and alarms go off on their own for no reason. A Dutch couple was in the Clocks and Watches gallery and took a picture of a model ship dating to the 16th century from Germany. They saw in the picture a reflection in the glass case of a female little person who was missing clumps of hair and wearing a 16th century dress. When they turned around, there was no one there. When they asked a woman at the information desk about this development, she directed them to the Spiritualist Association of Great Britain. A picture of what was described as a "mummified Mexican baby boy hovering in mid-air" has been taken. Flying pebbles have struck people on the forehead. 

The CCTV revealed a weird occurrence one evening when a security guard closed and bolted a set of double doors. Another security guard radioed him that the doors were open and still needed to be locked. The first security guard was incensed as he knew he had locked them, but when he returned, they were wide open. He locked them again and told the other security guard that he knew he locked those doors. They checked the footage and sure enough, they saw the doors moving on their own.

Phil Heary had been a guide at the museum for nearly 30 years and he had plenty of experiences. He told the MS Amlin website that the upper Egyptian gallery always made him feel very uneasy and the temperature plummeted many times in there for no reason. He related, "One occasion I will never forget was in the early 1990s when, during a visit by Prince Charles and the then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, I was asked to prepare the gallery before the dignitaries arrived. Heary remembers the room feeling as cold as a freezer, his breath making clouds in the air. And there was a foul smell, he said, which made his stomach turn. When another colleague joined him, the gallery suddenly returned to normal. Soon afterwards, Prince Charles and Mubarak arrived on their tour, oblivious to the eerie goings-on."

An American-born artist named Noah Angell put together an audio guide called Ghost Stories of the British Museum after interviewing several curators, security guards and museum guides. He told The Economist about some of these stories, "In one story, a security guard found himself inexplicably captivated by a 19th-century wooden Congolese sculpture of a dog. Sensing that the sculpture had inanimate powers, he pointed his finger towards it—and fire alarms in the gallery allegedly went off on cue. Other tales include ones of haunted stairwells, a crying caryatid from the Elgin Marbles, and secret powers from statues of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet." A security guard watching live CCTV footage in 2014 featuring a stairwell near the upper Egyptian Gallery told Angell that he saw huge orbs of light moving in the air and he described them as hovering "completely static in mid-air for three or four seconds. They would chase each other around in circles and zip off into the distance.” He called a couple of other guards to check it out and they found nothing in the stairwell while at the same time, this security guard was still seeing the orbs on the camera.

Angell shared another story from 2004 about an encounter that got violent. A security guard was locking up doors, but he had some trouble when he got to Gallery 42 with ancient Anglo-Saxon artifacts on display. One of the artifacts here is the Sutton Hoo helmet, thought to have been worn by a mighty seventh-century king of East Anglia called Raedwald. The doors would not push closed, so he shoved them hard. Angell said, "When he did, he felt very distinctly that someone’s wrist came out from between the two doors, caught him in his sternum and knocked him a metre or so onto his backside." This was witnessed by another guard. A psychic medium came through the area and explained why there is activity in this gallery. There had been a conversion of the Medieval Christian Relics Gallery into the Islamic Gallery and apparently some spirit keepers told the psychic the following, “Whoever was looking after that, whoever was linked to those objects, maybe more than one person, has got the hump, because you swapped Christianity for Islam, and in the Medieval world, in those times, that was the devil. Because you represent the people who work here [you] are responsible. That’s why the doors closed on you, and that’s why your man was thrown. That’s what it is – you’ve replaced Christianity, you have replaced it with something that’s a devil to us. You displaced us for that.”

A female security guard was down in the storage rooms in the basement, turning off lights when she felt like someone was standing behind her and this is way weird, but she told Angell, "I felt them reach into my body, and grab me by the spine. It sent the most intense chills up and down my spine; my legs went to jelly." A male security guard went down to check out the rooms after she related what happened to her because he thought the story was bull. Same thing happened to him. He described it as something unseen grabbing his spine.

Another weird experience connected to the Egyptian collections is connected to a photo taken of a child. This was in front of a large tableau of hieroglyphics and a large black mass is seen in the picture that seems to be rising out of the floor. The tourists showed the picture to a guard who was quite freaked out by it. Jim Peters, a Collections Manager said, "There was a time when the cleaners refused to clean the cases in the mummy gallery because the mummies would move. So they refused. They genuinely believed that the mummies were moving, and refused to go in there. So, the museum had to do something about it, and get different people in.” The museum tried to explain these occurrences as the cleaners just being a little too aggressive in their cleaning and causing a static charge that caused the cloth to move, making it look like the mummies were moving.

One of the more well known haunted objects at the museum has been dubbed "The Unlucky Mummy." This is actually a coffin lid or mummy board, rather than a mummy. Archaeologists believe it once belonged to a woman of high status who lived sometime between 950-900 BC. The mummy lid was excavated in Thebes and bought by four Englishmen, all of whom died in unfortunate circumstances. That had people calling this object cursed. In the early 20th century, journalist William Thomas Stead wrote about the curse in an article and even regaled his fellow passengers on the Titanic with stories about the Unlucky Mummy. And we all know what happened there. Was this object the real reason the disaster happened?

Museums present us all with some moral issues. These are places where we can learn from and experience the past. On the other hand many places in the world have been vandalized and taken from, so that we can have these objects to put on display and perhaps that has led to some disturbed spirits in these museums. Is the British Museum one of these haunted museums? That is for you to decide!

HGB Ep. 396 - Westminster Abbey

Moment in Oddity - Rivers of Mercury in Tombs

In 2016, archaeologist Sergio Gomez representing Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History found liquid mercury in three chambers of the Feathered Serpent Pyramid. Liquid mercury is a rare find in tombs. When mercury is found in Mesoamerican tombs, it is in the form of cinnabar, which is a powdery red pigment. Mercury in a liquid form would have been rare at this time as the cinnabar needs to be crushed and heated to a high temperature and then the vapor collected, which is the liquid mercury. Mercury was found in Egyptian tombs dating to about 1500 BC and it is believed that the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, who had the terra cotta soldiers built for his tomb also had rivers of mercury in his tomb. Sergio Gomez believes that the mercury in the tomb in Mexico was there as a representation of the geography of the underworld. The mercury would have indicated where lakes and rivers were in the realm of the dead. There are some who think that leaders like China's emperor would drink the mercury thinking that it led to long life or even immortality. Clearly they didn't realize the toxicity of mercury. The humidity and lack of oxygen in the tombs helped to preserve the mercury in liquid form. Flowing rivers of mercury in tombs, certainly are odd!

This Month in History - Woodstock Starts

In the month of August, on the 15th, in 1969, Woodstock began. Woodstock was a three day concert billed as "An Aquarian Experience: 3 Days of Peace and Music" that was hosted in a field near Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm at Bethel, New York. The event almost didn't happen with multiple venue changes as promoters scrambled to find somewhere willing to host the concert. Bad weather turned the field into a giant mud pit. There were 32 rock bands and singers that participated including Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Crosby, Stills Nash & Young, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Iron Butterfly, Joan Baez, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Grateful Dead. More than 400,000 people showed up for the event. This was a defining event for the counterculture. This was a concert to promote peace and it was remarkably peaceful considering its size. There were two deaths during the three days along with two births and 742 drug overdoses.

Westminster Abbey (Suggested by: Leah Barnes and her sister Liz) 

Westminster Abbey is an iconic structure that has stood for hundreds of years. More than 3300 people are buried here, seventeen of which are monarchs and this location has hosted royal weddings and every coronation since 1066 AD. There are hundreds of memorials, statues and art pieces inside this once stronghold of the Catholic Church that is now a Protestant and British symbol recognized throughout the world. Not surprisingly, there may be a few ghosts lurking in the shadows. Join us as we share the history and hauntings of Westminster Abbey!

Starting in the 6th century, a Benedictine monastery was built here. King Serbert of the East Saxons had just converted to Christianity and he had it dedicated to St. Peter and consecrated by the first Bishop of London, Mellitus. A legend claims that St. Peter dedicated his own church himself. He appeared as a cloaked stranger and asked a fisherman to row him across the river. As they neared the church it lit up with a celestial brilliance and angels appeared in the sky singing. Then St. Peter anointed the church's walls with holy water. And yeah, that probably didn't happen, but the monastery here would be an anchor for 500 years.

The first version of the Abbey dates back to 1065 AD. Only parts of it still exist within the present Abbey. That first structure was an enlargement of the small Benedictine monastery that was re-endowed by King Edward and dedicated to St. Peter the Apostle. There was a cathedral on the eastern side of London that was known as East Minster, so this church became West Minster. King Edward died a few days after it was consecrated and he was buried in front of the High Altar. Harold would be crowned king, but that didn't last long as he was defeated by William the Conqueror and he would be the first monarch to be coronated in Westminster Abbey. This happened on Christmas Day in 1066 and that started a tradition of coronations that continues today. The parts of this original Abbey that remain today are the large supporting columns of the undercroft, some of the round arches and the Pyx Chamber in the cloisters. The undercroft was where the monks had their quarters.

After 200 years, it was decided to rebuild the Abbey and this was undertaken by King Henry III who wanted Westminster Abbey to represent the Gothic style of architecture. This new church was consecrated on October 13, 1269. The next thing King Henry III did was to move the body of Edward the Confessor into a grander tomb behind the High Altar. Over the years, this tomb has been joined by the burial of several medieval kings like Henry III, Edward I, Edward III, Richard II and Henry V. There are many memorials in the Abbey made up of 600 monuments and wall tablets. The ancient coronation chair is still here, which is remarkable considering its age. But its not the only real old item still at the Abbey. Britain's oldest door is here in the Abbey in the passage leading to the Chapter House and dates to 1050 AD. It was one of the things that King Henry III retained in the rebuild and scientists who have studied the door believe it came from a tree that grew in eastern England, maybe from Essex. The door is constructed in a unique way, not typical of the medieval period, with five vertical oak planks held together with three horizontal battens and iron straps in a flush manner. It is thought that it was originally nine feet high, but has been cut down to 6.5 feet and the rounded arch at the top was removed. There is still cow hide that is part of the door and an old legend claimed that it was human skin that had been flayed from someone robbing the church and it was nailed to the door.

King Henry VII was the first of the Tudors and he added the Lady Chapel to the Abbey, which is a magnificent space. For people who don't know, many cathedrals have a Lady Chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The most spectacular part of this space is the ceiling. This is described as fan-vaulting and we've never seen anything like it, but it really does look like lace fans that have been carved, coming out of the ceiling. The floor is black and white checkered with carved wooden seats lining the walls. Banners of the current Knights Grand Cross line the walls above the chairs. There is lots of stained glass in here too with the Battle of Britain memorial window, along with other themed windows. Speaking of the stained glass, there had once been many medieval pieces in the Abbey, but little of that remains. A few can be seen in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries. The King's tomb is here and was designed by Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano who crowned the tomb with gilt bronze effigies of the king and his wife. The tomb is encircled by a bronze screen made by Thomas Ducheman. The chapel was consecrated on February 19, 1516. There are fifteen kings and queens buried in here as well, including Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I and from the Stuart line, William and Mary and Queen Anne.

In 1540, King Henry VIII dissolved the Catholic hold on the Abbey and set-up a bishop, the first of who was Thomas Thirlby. Westminster Abbey was made a cathedral by an Act of Parliament in 1550 and Queen Elizabeth I refounded the church as a Collegiate Church, which is a Church of England outside of the jurisdiction of the diocese and under the direction of the monarch. The Westminster School is here as well. And speaking of Elizabeth I, her tomb is creepy as hell with her likeness carved into the marble that makes it look as though she is lying down on her tomb with her eyes open. There is a bejeweled crown on her head. 

The two western towers were designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and built between 1722 and 1745 out of Portland stone in the Gothic Revival style. An earthquake in 1750 damaged one of the piers on the north side of the Abbey and crushed several houses and the Abbey suffered damage during the Blitz on November 15, 1940. There was also damage by some bombs in 1941. Notable things connected to the Abbey in our lifetimes are the wedding of Prince Andrew and Fergie in 1986, the funeral of Princess Diane in 1997, Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in the Abbey in 2011 and Pope Benedict XVI was the first pope to set foot in the Abbey and he did that in 2010.

There are ten change ringing bells that were cast in 1971 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. The first bells here were installed in the mid 1200s. King Henry III ordered that a bell be made for the Abbey bigger than any bell that had been made before and this was joined by a small bell that was in tune with the great bell. By 1255, there were five bells in use. Eventually there would be six bells and that number would remain constant until the twentieth century. A bell from 1310 is on display in the Jubilee gallery. The bells are rung during coronations, major church festivals, saints' days, Royal and Abbey anniversaries, civic events, special occasions and chimed daily prior to evening service. The tenor bell is tolled upon the death of a member of the Royal family. The Westminster Abbey Company of Ringers are responsible for ringing the bells. When the bells ring out in a peal, there are 5,000 changes without a break.

The Nave is at the western end of the Abbey and took 150 years to complete. It was completed in 1517 and features the graves and memorials of many famous people. One of those people is Sir Isaac Newton and his burial is right in front of a decorated screen leading into the Quire. The Quire has stalls for the choir, who sing daily during choral services. And that makes sense because quire is just another spelling for choir. Other stalls in here are for clergy. There is a black and white checkered floor that dates to 1677. Another famous person interred here is Geoffrey Chaucer and his burial would be the start of Poets' Corner, which houses the burials of other poets, writers and musicians like William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling and Thomas Hardy who Diane has an affinity for. Abolitionist William Wilberforce was buried here in 1833 and Charles Darwin was buried here in 1882. Stephen Hawking's ashes were interred on June 15, 2018. The majority of interments at the Abbey are of cremated remains. The Deans of Westminster decide who gets buried. There are also memorials dedicated to C.S. Lewis, Sir Winston Churchill and President F.D. Roosevelt. The western window is stained glass featuring Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and fourteen prophets. There are beautiful Waterford crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and glass doors were installed in 1990 and have various inscriptions and shields.

Clearly, Westminster Abbey is not only a location of significant historical value, but this is a graveyard. A burial ground for well known creators and royalty. So it's not surprising there are many ghost stories to go with this location. John Bradshaw presided at the trial of King Charles I and ordered his execution. He was buried here and his spirit is probably at unrest because of something King Charles II did. He disinterred the bodies of all those responsible for the death of Monarchs and Bradshaw was one of those people. His decomposing body was taken to the Tyburn Gallows and hung up. His head came off and stuck on a spike outside of Westminster Hall to serve as a warning. People claim to see him walking Westminster Abbey's Triforium where he had an office. This usually takes place on the anniversary of Charles I execution.

There is a statue of Daniel Pulteney in the South Cloisters that is holding a book and visitors sometimes think they see it turn a page.There is a Tomb to the Unknown Warrior here. This is dedicated to soldiers who died during World War I and was dedicated on November 11, 1920. An unidentified soldier was given a royal funeral and buried beneath a marble stone from Belgium. Soil was brought from the battlefields of France as well. Visitors have sometimes spotted a see-through soldier standing near the tomb with his head bowed before he dematerializes. 

One of the specters that has been seen here many times belongs to Father Benedictus. He was a monk and even though he is now a spirit, many people think he is still alive because he appears very solid and carries on conversations. Many times he is seen floating off the ground and that is for a good reason. Over time, the floor of the abbey has lowered, so it Father Benedictus is walking on where the floor had originally been. He usually appears in the evenings around five or six. One of the first recorded interactions with the monk came in 1900 and the story goes that a group of visitors saw him and watched him for twenty-five minutes before he backed into a wall and disappeared into the fabric there. Two Americans were visiting the abbey in 1932 when they got lost. It was close to closing time and they feared they wouldn't be able to work their way back out of the hallways when they ran into a helpful monk. He helped them find their way and told them he was Father Benedictus as they left. The next day they decided to return to thank him for his help and when they asked after him they were told that no monks were living in the Abbey.

A woman named Lilian Carpenter was in the Abbey one evening when she saw the solitary figure of someone in the robe of a Benedictine monk. He had his head bowed as he walked as though in prayer and she immediately wondered if this was the ghost she had heard about because no Benedictine monks should be here. The spirit made its way through the deanery and into the Nave before passing under the organ screen. Lilian followed it and saw it go into the Quire and as it entered a stall, it faded away. In the Quire, she knew she had seen a spirit because the figure was floating eighteen inches above the black and white pavement. The floor hadn't been at that height since the Reformation.

The On The Tudor Trail Blog shared an experience a reader named Katherine had here in 2009, "I had gotten there early and had to wait about half an hour. Eventually they opened. I paid my admission fee and was actually the first visitor in that morning. Those who have been there know you enter through the north transept door and are kind of channeled around up through Henry VII’s Chapel, back down again, out through the cloisters, then back through the nave and out the west door. I usually just follow the flow as it goes to all the places I want to go to anyway. That morning though I wanted to see Frances Brandon Grey’s tomb. She is buried in St. Edmund’s Chapel on the south side of the Abbey, just east of the south transept. I had found the tomb on a previous visit, but had neglected to write down the inscription on it. I decided to do that first, so I went directly there. St. Edmund’s Chapel is very small and nobody famous (e.g. anybody whose name would be known to the general public) is buried in it. Like most Abbey chapels, it has gates that can be shut to close the chapel. The best way I can describe the gates is that they look like the saloon doors in every western movie you’ve ever seen — two small doors that could pushed open to enter. Unlike the saloon doors though, they aren’t on springs. Instead they could be pushed all the way back to lock on the wall so they would stay opened. When I got there, they were already open. I found Frances’s tomb again against the far wall of the chapel from the doors, wrote down the inscription, and then spent some time studying the decoration and design. I was there for maybe 10 minutes total. During that time I believe only two people came in. Both stayed only seconds before wandering out again. When I was ready to leave, I turned around to walk to the door and noticed that the gate that was closest to me was closed. And even as I watched, the other gate lifted up from the wall and very slowly started closing! I was too astounded by this to even move. I just stood and stared at it for about fifteen seconds or so until it was completely closed. The hair on the back of my neck and on my arms was standing up. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so creeped out by anything in my life. Finally I scooted over to the gates and pulled them both open. Fortunately they weren’t locked — I’m sure I would have screamed bloody murder if they had been! I wasn’t about to stay around long enough to try to lock the doors back in place. I just rushed out and made sure I didn’t go near there again during that visit. I can’t say I really believe in ghosts. I’m pretty much an open-minded skeptic on the subject. But I did make sure before I left the Abbey to stop and light a candle for poor Frances. I doubt she gets many visitors."

Leah and Liz's experiences: "My twin sister and I are definite believers of the paranormal, with my sister being more of an empath than I, but it doesn’t make me any less of an enthusiast. We visited England and Scotland back in March 2017. This was the first time we had ever been overseas, and man, was this the trip of a lifetime. We got to visit so many beautiful palaces and castles during our trip, including Hampton Court and Westminster Abbey. While we were visiting Westminster Abbey, (which by the way, is MIND BLOWING!) we were walking down to the older portion of the abbey and walked into what used to be a prayer room/classroom and my sister instantly felt a presence. A very OLD presence. She said it was probably the oldest spirit she’d ever encountered, older than old from her words. She felt a sense of immense peace and clarity in that moment, and she said, "It’s a monk. It’s definitely a monk.'"

We love it when listeners have personal experiences at some of these historical locations that we feature because it makes the ghost stories more real. Many people have had unexplained experiences here. Is Westminster Abbey haunted? That is for you to decide!

Ep. 386 - Bishop's Stortford

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Moment in Oddity - Knocking On Wood (Suggested by: Mary Bright and Memory Burcalow)

The superstition of knocking on wood has very interesting origins. There is an ancient belief that Hamadryads or Dryads live inside trees. Hamadryads are creatures found in Greek mythology that live in trees. These nymphs are born bonded to a specific tree and will be with that tree until the tree dies. It was believed that the gods would punish people who harmed trees for this reason. The Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus lists eight hamadryads who were the daughters of Oxylus and Hamadryas and these were Karya associated with walnut or hazelnut, Ptelea associated with elm, Ampelos associated with vines, Balanos associated with oak, Morea associated with mulberry, Kraneia associated with dogwood, Aigeiros associated with black poplar and Syke associated with fig. The Cracker Butterfly is part of the genus Hamadryas, which is named for these nymphs, and it is fitting as this butterfly spends all its time on trees and its coloring causes it to completely blend into the tree. Ancient priests and priestesses would knock on trees to summon hamadryads when they needed help. This could be help with getting rid of evil or sometimes the Dryads would fulfill wishes. Perhaps like rubbing a lamp to get three wishes from a genie? So if you knock on wood out of superstition, just know that you might be summoning a tree spirit and that, certainly is odd!

This Month in History - Operation Chastise and Bouncing Bombs

In the month of May, on the 16th, in 1943, Royal Air Force Lancaster bombers hit Nazi German industry hard by destroying two huge dams in Operation Chastise. These bombers accomplished this feat by using bombs designed by Sir Barnes Neville Wallis who was an English scientist and engineer. These bombs were called bouncing bombs and what they did was bounce across water towards a target and this bouncing action kept them from getting caught in torpedo nets and other obstacles. The bomb has backspin, which causes it to bounce on the water several times before dropping under water and going off near the target. The official name for the particular bouncing bombs used during this raid was Upkeep. The RAF bombers dropped the Upkeep bombs close to the surface of the lake at the Mohne and Edersee dams, flooding the Ruhr Valley. Two hydroelectric power stations were destroyed, along with mines and factories. It would take months for the Nazis to get production back to normal. They tried to frame the attack as a minor inconvenience, but it boosted British Morale and had they used a thousand bombers, they would have had even more success. Sir Wallis was disappointed that there were not follow up attacks to keep the dams from being repaired.

Bishop's Stortford

Many of the buildings and homes in Bishop's Stortford have changed very little since medieval and Tudor times. This is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England with a history dating back to Roman occupation and Norman conquest. Many locations claim to have ghosts from churches to pubs to hotels and so much more. Join us as we explore the history and hauntings of Bishop's Stortford!

Early on, the area where Bishop's Stortford would be established was a small Roman settlement that was mostly used as a stop along a well-traveled road. After the Roman Empire fell, the Saxons moved into the area. The village would first be mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 with the name Esterteford. This was named for the Steorta family that built a manor here and ruled over the area. That manor was sold in 1060 to the Bishop of London who was named William. Putting Bishop with Steorta gave the town the new name of Bishop's Stortford. The nearby river would take on the name River Stort as well. The Normans would build Waytemore Castle shortly thereafter, but the castle would not survive as King John had it destroyed in 1208 and now only a mound remains, as this was one of those motte and bailey designed castles. There are many tunnels that seemed to have run from the castle to various places in the town and these were once opened for historical tours until demmed unsafe. During medieval times, Bishop's Stortford became a market town and remains that today. The corn exchange brought malting, which brought brewing and the river canal was used to transport all kinds of goods from coal to timber to food supplies.

Death was a common occurrence in the town. Three plagues swept through starting with the Bubonic Plague in 1349, which killed half the town. This was followed in 1582 by the Black Death and then the Great Plague of London in 1665. Bishop's Stortford managed to avoid most of the bombing raids of the World Wars, but there was a prisoner-of-war camp in the town. Fires have swept through and there have been the tragedies that all towns face. Many places in the town claim to have spirits and the center of the town seems to be a hotspot. Let's explore a few of them! 

St. Mary's Catholic School

One of the most famous ghosts in the village is the Grey Lady and she is literally everywhere. We've never heard of a ghost getting around this much. This first stop is where many people believe she originates from and the legend behind her is that she is a nun who jumped from an attic window after she was disgraced, but no one knows what that means. We would imagine if the story is true that she more than likely was pregnant. This originally was a convent founded by five nuns from Belgium in 1896 and is located at the top of Windhill on Bell's Lane. These nuns had a goal of establishing a school, but the people of the village were suspicious of the women and their unusual dress. They bought Windhill Lodge and carted all their belongings up the hill. They started with nine pupils. This original building serves as administration offices today and another building built later is the school. Interestingly, even though the origins of the Grey Lady are traced to here, there are no stories of hauntings here. None that they are talking about.

St. Michael's Church

St. Michael's Church is located at 1 Windhill and is at the center of the town. This is a beautiful church with many medieval touches that give it a castle-like look and it has a churchyard. The first priest in Bishop's Stortford was John De Stratherne and he arrived in 1332. The Normans built the first church here, which eventually fell into disrepair and was pulled down in the late 1330s. The 1400s would see this new church built in the perpendicular style of English Gothic with lots of windows and bigger than most parish churches. As we have covered on other episodes, Henry VIII began a war of sorts on the Roman Catholic Church and pronounced himself head of the Church of England. He sent Thomas Cromwell out to dissolve monasteries and bring the wealth that the Catholic church had been accruing by buying up land and renting it out, back to the nobility. St. Michael's was used as a barracks by Cromwell's men for a time. The church had to be fumigated after the men finally left. The churchyard harbors spirits. People report seeing a mysterious figure in black and this has taken place for a couple centuries, all the way up to the mid-1980s. A woman was walking by the churchyard early one morning when she saw a woman wearing a long dress walking amongst the tombstones. She at first thought the woman was visiting the graveyard, until she disappeared.

Boar's Head Inn

Across from the church is The Boar's Head Inn, located at Number 30 on High Street. This was built in 1420 and when the church was transferred over to an Anglican church, Queen Elizabeth I ordered the Rood Loft to be taken down that had been built under her sister Mary's reign. Wood from this was used at the Boar's Head Inn and a huge wooden beam that goes across the fireplace is one of those pieces. This is thought to have been the Church House for St. Michael's and used for the brewing of Church ales. Now before you get to thinking that the church was getting into an early form of craft brewing, the term ales was used for any festive gathering or fund-raising event. During a church ales, a warden would beg for or buy malts and then sell it to the public to raise funds for the church. The Boar;s Head has records showing that it paid rent to the church, which makes sense because the church owned a ton of property here. The pub was built in the Tudor style and features exposed timber framework. The inn  has changed hands many times over the years and was almost destroyed in a fire in 1991.

The Grey Lady is such a strong presence here that the pub has been exorcised multiple times. There are those who say that she is harmless and that there are other malevolent entities here. During a Ouija Board session, people felt that they communicated with the Grey Lady and she told them that her name was Sarah and that she had been raped and murdered by the squire's son several centuries before and the date that this occurred was the day of the seance. A grey misty vapor has been seen in the pub and an entire bar full of patrons witnessed the Grey Lady float through. Other paranormal activity includes chairs being dragged across the floor, trash cans in the back rattle on their own, loud bangs are heard on the doors and a dog refused to go down into the cellar. A man is thought to haunt the cellar, but no one knows his identity. An apparition of a woman has been seen many times sitting at the bar. And Ruth Stratton who wrote Haunted Hertfordshire: A Ghostly Gazateer claims that a ghost people call "Captain" is possibly Captain Winter who had owned the Windhill House. 

Windhill House

Captain Winter raised a band of yeomanry and he gave permission for them to camp on the grounds of Windhill House. This was in the early 1800s when there was a fear that Napoleon might invade England. The Captain decided to test the soldiers one night to see how alert they were and this turned out to be a bad idea. One of the soliders was so alarmed that he fired his musket and killed the Captain. The property is now business offices and occupied by Pellys Solicitors. People have claimed to see the ghost of Captain Winter on this property too as well as a phantom army marching around.

The George Hotel

The George Hotel is another place where the Grey Lady is seen. This hotel just recently came under new ownership and was also renovated. The George Hotel is thought to be the oldest inn in the town. The original foundation was built at the end of the 14th century and Thomas Petworth may have been the first owner, as he was running it in 1417. The Hawkins family were the next owners and they held onto it for 300 years. During the 15th century they held their manorial courts here. The central location made it a prime spot for people to stay. King Charles I ‘dyned at ye George’ in 1629. This was such a big moment for the little town that the bells were rung at St. Michael’s Church in honor of the occasion. King Charles II visited often because he loved the races at the Newmarket and The George was the place he stayed with his entourage.

William Layer of Cambridgeshire became the owner of the George after the Hawkins family. He leased the George to Thomas Doncaster and Philip Mills along with an adjacent barn. The barn was eventually demolished after 1800. Five cottages were added to the property and when the original building was expanded, these cottages became part of that and the hotel was raised to three stories. It became the Bishop Stortford Excise Office and a terminus for stagecoaches coming from London. In the early 1800s, the hotel became a masonic lodge followed by an auction house in the 19th and early 20th century. Today, it is a hotel sitting above a popular Italian restaurant called Prezzo.

Guests and staff claim to have had strange experiences here from doors that open and close on their own, strange noises, beer taps and water taps that turn on by themselves and the feeling of being watched. The Grey Lady is here and seems to like Room 27 the best. Could it be because of the mysterious cupboard set into the wall? This is something that hasn't been opened for reputedly 200 years and the reason why is because the handle is stuck and no one wants to force it since the building is historically protected. According Jenni Kemp's "Haunted Bishop's Stortford," there are some who believe this opens onto a balcony where a murderer hid before jumping out of the cupboard and murdering a woman in the room. But we would think that a balcony would be visible from outside? The feeling in the room can be malevolent and a grey mist is sometimes seen, which is why the Grey Lady is thought to be here. She has appeared to a few as a full-bodied apparition, usually standing over the bed with her arms raised. Many guests have left this room in the middle of the night out of fear, including a military officer who felt safer sleeping in his car.

The Star Inn Pub

The Star Inn probably dates back to at least 1636 and was a timber-frame structure that is now covered with bricks. John Ward was the first owner and in 1808, a brewer named Hawkes and Co. The small pub garden here was once a stable yard that became a car park and then finally the garden. Unexplained activity here includes noises and knocking in the small bar of the Star Inn. The Grey lady has also been seen here. A person cleaning the place ran into the Grey Lady and fled, never to return. Right outside the pub, a male apparition was seen walking, three feet in the air!

Black Lion Inn

Across the road from The Star Inn Pub is the The Black Lion Inn, which was used for coffin storage during Tudor times. The Black Lion gets its name from the emblem of Edward III’s wife, Queen Philippa, the daughter of the Count of Hainault, which was a province in Belgium. The word black was ominous in the life of Philippa. She was a victim of the Black Death in 1369 as was her daughter Joan. Her son, Edward, Prince of Wales, was known as the Black Prince. Bishop Bonner held prisoners here that were accused of heresy and these prisoners would cross the bridge from here to the bishop’s Court House for their hearing. Local builder Joseph Glasscock bought the Black Lion in 1899 and removed every inch of the plaster that covered over the interior timber work. The two story building attached was once a stable.  There are a couple of ghosts here. A ghost haunts Room 6 and once joined a man in bed. There is also a mischievous little girl ghost dressed in Victorian clothing that has been seen and guests and employees have heard what they think are her footsteps. She likes to turn off the lights and hide people's keys.

Cooper's Department Store

Across from the Black Lion Inn is Cooper's Department Store. This timber framed building is basically the Sears of Bishop's Stortford, if there was still a Sears. Residents can find everything for the garden, gifts, glassware and tools. They also might find some ghosts because this is a very old building. The hanging judge Bishop Bonner's nephew owned a house that was once part of the building that houses the store. There is plaster ceiling decor that dates back to the early 16th century at the entrance of Coopers, giving a glimpse into its past. This store had been called Maslens in the 1980s and employees complained about poltergeist activity. There are thought to be three spirits here: an angry woman who is hostile, a male spirit in a brown uniform and our Grey Lady who is spotted as an apparition that disappears into walls. The angry ghost is blamed for throwing tools when the building was being renovated. She also gashed the fresh plaster. Human bones were discovered in a cupboard during the refurb and it was thought that perhaps burying them would tamp down the hauntings, but that has not been the case.

The Oxfam Shop, Tissimans and Pearsons Department Store

The Oxfam Shop is another haunted shop in town. The basement is the most haunted location in the building and a woman working there claims that she felt a tap on her shoulder and when she turned around, no one was there. That seems tame, as do the stories of stock being moved around down in the basement, but the story of an ominous shadow figure on the stairway scares many people. Pearson's Department Store had been located at Numbers 15 and 17 on North Street and this was yet another favorite of the Grey Lady. A woman claimed to see her in the basement stockroom as a grey misty figure. And yet another haunted shop is Tissimans, which is a men's clothing store dating back to 1601. The building itself dates back as far as 1360, so Tissimans claims to be the oldest men's clothing store in the world and had served the Royal Family. That was until it closed in 2013. Tissimans had been something else at its start. They did more than dress the living, they dressed the dead. This was also the local undertaker and had been named Slaters. The Grey Lady had been seen there on many occasions. Mr. Tissiman himself claimed to see the apparition multiple times, usually at night. There were also the claims of the smell of smoke in the building.

The Cock Inn

The Cock Inn dates back to 1540. There were four inns on this corner and this is the only one to remain, making it the oldest one here. The building is timber-framed with three gables and crooked windows. This became a tavern in 1620 under the name The Black Lion and was renamed Vernon's Head in 1749. That name was for Admiral Edward Vernon who captured all the military installations at the port of Portobelo in the West Indies in 1739. Many pubs renamed themselves in his honor. That was right after the event. It took The Cock Inn ten years before they did that. The pub eventually took on its current name. This inn was the place for the average person. The rich and nobels stayed elsewhere, while The Cock Inn was for servants and employees. Funny thing, the more elite Crown Inn or Red Lion Inn that were on this corner, no longer exist. The notorious highwayman, Dick Turpin, stayed here in between bouts of robbing wealthy travelers along the nearby road. Wanted posters at the time read, "Wanted. Knowne highwayman and rogue, Dick Turpin. For robberie and grievous offence upoune travellers on ye London to Cambridge coach. He has been espied in company at ye Cock Inn." Ironically, on the south side of the building, there was a courthouse and jail. Coal merchants moved in and there was a shop here until the 1960s when it was demolished to make room for more road.

The publicans daughter was playing in the cellar one day when it suddenly became very cold around her. The cellar door then banged shut loudly and locked itself, leaving the poor girl locked in the cellar. She screamed for a bit before she was finally heard and rescued. The culprit is said to be a mischievous little girl ghost named Emilie. Strange lights have been seen as well as shadow figures and a man in Civil War clothing has been seen. A young female ghost is seen crying and people believe she is waiting for her husband's return. Renovations in the 1970s escalated the haunting activity and employees would come in to find table overturned, lamps broken and the energy in the place began to feel malevolent. The bad energy seemed to leave when they started decorating with beautiful fresh flowers in vases everywhere.

The Police Station

The police station opened in 1940 at Basbow Lane across from St. Michel's Church. Supernatural activity started to be reported in the 1970s. Two officers were hanging out in the cell block and enjoying good conversation as they had been told that there were no prisoners in any of the cells. There easy evening ended at 3am when they both jumped at the very loud slamming of a cell door. They both jumped up and ran to the cells and found cell door number 2 vibrating as though it had just slammed. There was no one anywhere in the cell block. The magistrate's court is in this building too. A few weeks after this incident an officer called two of his colleagues to return back to the station from a call because he felt that there were intruders in the courtroom that was above where he was sitting. There had been a crash and some bangs, which led him to believe there were multiple people. The group went up to the courtroom and looked through the window and saw that all the tables and chairs had been turned over. All the doors were locked. There was no one in the building. They could not figure out how the furniture got that way other than that something unseen had done it. 

Many police officers claim to hear disembodied footsteps and doors lock and unlock themselves. Two police officers were playing cards one night when they heard footsteps coming down the back stairs. They turned to see who was coming, but no one ever showed up. A female police officer had similar experiences when manning the front desk. She started thinking that some of the male officers were playing tricks on her, so she would hide behind something to jump out...and she would wait...and wait and no one ever appeared. And probably the strangest story occurred during a refurbishment. The constable noticed that the lights had been left on in the men's and women's bathrooms. He tried to go into them to turn off the lights and they were both locked. He talked to the contractors the next morning to make sure they turned the lights off when they were done with their work. The men looked confused and took the constable into the bathrooms to show him that the lights had bare wires that had no power and were not hooked up. What has caused this place to be named the most haunted police station in England? It was built on a former slum property where much suffering probably happened.

The Grey Lady was said to pop up at a cottage on Basbow Lane and a grey mass was seen at Basbow Lane car park. A White Lady passes across from an old cemetery on the east side of Cemetery Road to the new cemetery. The disembodied sounds of horses and carriages are heard in various place. Some times the coaches are seen riding along the lanes in a spectral form. The shrieking lady runs along Water Lane. The mound that was once Waytemore Castle has given up its literal skeletons, mainly of children and babies, leading many to believe a hospital was once in the castle. Prisoners were kept in the dungeon. The energy is malevolent near the mound. Some even think the Grey Lady had actually been burned at the stake here. 

Most interactions with the Grey Lady have been negative in nature, but sometimes she is not in a bad mood which makes people wonder if there is more than one Grey Lady. Is there even a Grey Lady? Are these locations in Bishop's Stortford haunted? That is for you to decide!