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Wednesday, 31 March 2004
Kershaw House
Kershaw House is a beautiful country house that draws as much attention for its architectural interest as for the fine inn and restaurant that are based here. The house and gardens are Grade I listed in recognition of the fact that they are a unique piece of architectural heritage. The site, which was formerly known as `Kerkshaugh', from the Anglo-Saxon meaning church copse, is mentioned in local records as far back as 1307. The house itself was started in 1605, in the reign of James I, with the west wing and the front entrance with its superb rose window being added in 1640. James Murgatroyd carried out this later building work and many of the features of the building are similar to other properties he constructed in the area, including East Riddlesden Hall. His initials can be seen on the date stone, which is located on the front porch.
During the Civil War, due to its precarious location close to the Lancashire border, Kershaw House alternated its possession between the Royalist Cavaliers and Cromwell's Roundheads and the priest hole in the west wing probably saw a lot of use during this time. There is also a story of two nuns who were attempting to seek refuge here and were beheaded in the grounds. It is said that they can be seen driving their carriage up the hill towards the house on 9th November each year.
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 11:22 AM GMT
Carrickfergus Castle
Carrickfergus is one of the best Castles in Ireland and is generally considered to be the oldest stone Castle in the land. It certainly ranks amongst the best Castles in the British Isles and has a long and distinguished history and can in many ways be considered the Edinburgh or Dover of Ireland.
The great keep and inner ward were constructed by John de Courcy, an Anglo-Norman who conquered most of Ulster in 1177 and ruled as a kind of King until 1204 when he was ousted by Hugh de Lacy. The keep was most likely built during the 1180s to a fairly standard keep design with a forebuilding entrance. It is very solidly built and is by far the best example of a Norman keep in Ireland.
King John arrived at Carrickfergus in 1210 and took the Castle over making it the seat of the English administration in Ulster, which it remained for more than 700 years. A second phase of building happened at this stage with the construction of the middle ward (now partially vanished) and an enlargement of the keep. In 1227 Hugh de Lacy was back at Carrickfergus where he remained until his death in 1242. It is likely that de Lacy finished off the Castle adding the outer ward and the gatehouse with its drum towers.
During the Scottish invasion of 1315-16, Edward Bruce (the brother of Robert) laid siege to Carrickfergus Castle and town. The town, which had walls (a fragment of which still remains) feel quickly, but the siege of the Castle lasted for a lot longer, the inhabitants of the Castle resorting to eating some Scottish prisoners.
Sorley Boy MacDonnell also ran amuck in Carrickfergus in revenge for the massacre of his family. The O'Neills laid siege to the Castle in the 1380s.
Carrickfergus played a pivotal role in the Williamite wars which culminated in the Battle of the Boyne and thus influenced the rest of Irish history to the current date. William landed at Carrickfergus and one of his general's, Schomberg, took the Castle in 1690. William stayed at the Castle shortly before riding for the Boyne and the fateful meeting with James II which decided the future of the British Isles and in particular Ireland.
In 1760 the Castle was captured for the final time, by the French under Thurot. After this the Castle began to fulfill the not unusual role of town gaol. In 1928 it became the property of the Department of Works and today is one of their top attractions in Northern Ireland and is more than worth a day trip out from Belfast or a diversion before you head around the Antrim coast.
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 11:14 AM GMT
Chough Hotel
click here to see the previous paranormal investigation photos
http://www.ukghostinvestigators.org.uk/gallery/inv_chough
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 11:10 AM GMT
Mary Kings Close
Ghost story Mary Kings close
Mary King's Close (in Scotland, `close' can mean a narrow street) lies beneath the City Chambers on Edinburgh's Royal Mile. When the city was ravaged by the plague in 1645, the close was boarded up in an attempt to halt the spread of the disease.
However, in a desperate attempt to contain the plague, the authorities are believed to have sealed in some of the residents of the close who were already dying of the plague.
After 40 years, due to chronic over-crowding in the city, the Close was reopened. New families moved in, ignoring rumours of the ghosts of the plague victims.
However, there soon followed reports of apparitions, including the disembodied head of an old man, a child's head and even headless animals.
The most persistent rumour of a ghost was that of a young girl, a spectre many visitors, with no prior knowledge of the ghost or even the reputation of the close, have reported seeing. Tartan TV reporter Brian Hanegan discovers she is described as five or six years old, small, dirty, and with pustules on her face and has been dubbed `Annie'.
In the 1980s, a Japanese psychic claimed to have been filled with acute pain and anguish on entering the close, and had felt a tug on her jacket. This was little Annie, who beseeched the psychic to get her something to keep her company, since she had been separated 300 years before from her family and all her toys.
The psychic duly bought her a tartan Barbie doll, which now has pride of place in the close. Since then, several other visitors have chosen to leave gifts of sweets or toys for the little ghost, and now the fireplace and window are filled with them.
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 11:01 AM GMT
Greengate Brewery
The history of J.W. Lees dates back to 1828, when John Lees , a retired cotton manufacturer, bought the site of the present brewery premises in Middleton Junction and started brewing ales there.
As the North West grew into the nation's industrial heartland, the brewery achieved a reputation for the quality of it beers.
After John Lees death in 1852, John and Thomas, his two sons carried on the business. They were instrumental in adding many more licensed premises to those already existing, and in vastly increasing the output of the brewery. Thomas Lees died in 1854 and until 1869, his brother John managed the business. The Brewery then came into the hands of Thomas Lees' sons John William and Thomas.
In 1876 a new Brewhouse had to be built to cope with the demand, No expense was spared and in those days the brewery was considered one of the most modern in the North of England. In 1878 Thomas died and John Willie the younger brother and sole surviving grandson of the Founder took over the sole management of the Company. The name was changed to J. W. Lees & Company and bears this name to this day.
John William or John Willie Lees as he became known was in the service of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company prior to entering the Brewery business. He took an active part in the township of Middleton and was Alderman of the Borough for many years and Mayor of Middleton in 1888 and 1890. After his death in 1907 the business carried on under the trustees of his will, Emma Lees (his widow), Ezra Hollingworth and his 3 nephews which included Dick Lees-Jones .
In 1936 the Brewery became a private limited Company. Subsequently in 1955, the Company was re-incorporated under the Chairmanship of Mr. R.W.T. Lees-Jones.
Richard & Christopher Lees-Jones, Dick Lees-Jones' two sons joined the Brewery in the late 50's and are the company's current Chairman and Vice Chairman.
J.W.Lees is today one of the few remaining independent family brewery companies in the country. We are proud of this distinction in these days of continued mergers of breweries large and small, This independence gives us the opportunity to incorporate and develop long term new ideas in the traditional process and art of brewing.
The sixth generation descendants of John Lees, William, Simon, Christina and Michael Lees-Jones all joined J.W. Lees in the 1990's, confirming the continuing family tradition in the Brewery.
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 10:58 AM GMT
Margate Thearte Royal
A Multihaunted Theatre
The Theatre Royal, Addington Street, Margate, Kent, is perhaps southern England's most haunted theatre. Opened originally in 1787, heir to over 200 years of tradition and holding slightly under two thousand patrons, this theatre. has been associated with many famous actors. Its most famous manager was Miss Sarah J Thorne, who guided its fortunes until 1894. Something of a martinet, Sarah Thorne made her theatre celebrated in the south of England, but from around 1894, the playhouse began to decline. Over the years it suffered a number of vicissitudes and was turned into a furniture store. It was reopened as a theatre in 1930 and subsequently it has been in turn a cinema, a theatre, and a bingo hall.
Fred Archer was probably the first to make a national story about the hauntings at the Theatre Royal, Margate. According to the local papers a progressive series of hauntings began in 1918, when the ghost of Sarah Thorne was first seen. Miss Thorne, incidentally, is believed to have come back to protest at the modern usage of the theatre, such as bingo and other gambling games. So frightening was her wraith to some witnesses that the police were called in to investigate, but they found nothing untoward.
Archer says that the theatre "where there is a trapdoor leading to what was a smuggler's cave" probably boasts the most diverse psychic happenings in. the theatrical world: "an orange-coloured ball of light"; "a scream which starts backstage and seems to travel across the stage and finally exits through the stagedoor" ; and "the appearance of a ghost in one of the boxes who draws back the curtains if they are closed."
The latter phenomenon was witnessed by Macqueen Pope, who believed this spectre to be an actor who had committed suicide by throwing himself from the box into the orchestra pit sometime in the early 1900's. Joseph Braddock dates the suicide to late Georgian or early Victorian times:
An actor from a company playing at the theatre was dismissed for some reason, and on the next evening he bought himself a box for the performance. During the course of the play he committed suicide by throwing himself out of the box into the orchestra pit. Some time during the first decade of our century the wraith of a man was seen sitting in the box so often that the management was obliged to withdraw the box from sale, leaving it permanently curtained, until finally it was bricked up.
This, however, would predate the building of the Theatre Royal on the Addington Street site. Alternatively, the story as Braddock heard it could have referred to the eighteenth-century site of Margate's theatre tradition, and was perhaps a transference of the myth.
Modern testimony of the theatre's hauntings comes from Alfred Charles Tanner, who was interviewed about his sightings in 1966 by Dr. A. R. G. Owen, the distinguished Cambridge parapsychologist, and Victor Sims.
Tanner, it appears, was working during January 1966 on the redecoration of the Theatre Royal when he encountered the ghostly happenings. In order that the redecoration should not interrupt the daytime bingo, Tanner had agreed to work through the night. His first night's work passed without incident dent, but during his second work stint he heard a series of sounds coming from the stage - as if someone were whispering. He stopped work for a few minutes to investigate, but could find no reason for the noises. Working on, he heard the natural creakings of the floorboards. Then, however, he heard the sounds of footsteps just in front of the stage and moving toward him.
As he turned around to see who was there, the footsteps stopped. No one was to be seen. Suddenly, testifies Tanner, he heard the door of the box office bang violently. Again no one was to be seen. The decorator was entirely alone in the old theatre Tanner resumed painting in the hope that the unusual noises he had heard were "natural." Just as he was getting himself calm again, the phantom footsteps started once more. They came up behind him and halted when he turned. But this time there was something more eerie. Tanner heard an extremely heavy thump on the floor between the front row of seats and the stage-as though a heavy object had fallen there. Charles Tanner looked across at the spot: "I swear I saw the dust rising, just as it would if a real object had hit the carpet." Of course no object was visible, but could this have been the materialised impact of the ghostly suicide's cadaver hitting the floor?
On the following night, Tanner was at work again when he was interrupted once more. This time he saw "a semi-transparent globular object measuring about ten inches across" moving across the stage from left to right. The globe latterly formed the shape of a head before it disappeared. This time Tanner saw curtains by the exit door being moved by an unseen hand.
The next working night Charles Tanner, who now had an assistant, Lawrence Rodgers, was haunted again. Both heard a curious bang from the dress circle. This time the police were called, but no intruders were found.
Certain aspects of these hauntings - the slow movement of the curtains and the bangs and footfalls are typical of poltergeists, as set down by parapsychologists A. R. G. Owen and Raymond Bayliss. But the "face" remains more of an unaccounted mystery.
Following the theories of G. W. Lambert, some persons have said that the "ghostly noises" had something to do with seismic disturbances. But can earthquakes cause localisation of phenomena in the theatre at Margate? Can it localise noises to one position only within a building? Hardly.
Certainly the ghosts at the Theatre Royal, Margate, are best explained as poltergeists, with hallucination as a side effect in the case of the curtains and the "face"- almost as a form of mediumistic talent in terror. Above all the "atmosphere" of this theatre seems to be the most charged in Britain for psychic happenings.
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 10:51 AM GMT
Dornoch Castle
Dornoch Castle, also known as Bishop's Palace, was connected with the original Dornoch Cathedral and was the seat of the Bishops of Caithness. A disagreement over the wardship of the young Earl of Caithness, a minor with power, led to the cathedral and the town being burned by the Master of Caithness, with help from Sutherland of Skelbo, Lord Duffus, and MacKay of Strathnaver, in 1570. The castle itself was besieged for a month before surrendering on terms and the provision of three hostages, who were consequently murdered.
The tower itself suffered serious damage, and all records were destroyed. In 1557 Bishop Robert Stewart gave the castle the Earl of Sutherland, his brother-in-law. The building remained in a semi-ruinous state until partly restored and extended for use as a courthouse and jail in 1814. When a new jail was built later that century, the castle became the Sheriff's residence. Miss Marion MacKenzie, daughter of Sheriff Mackenzie who was Sheriff for over 50 years, lived in the castle until 1912. It then passed into private hands in 1922 with the new owner taking the precaution of having the Castle exorcised.
The oldest part is the five storey keep with crow stepped gables and open rounds on three angles. The fourth is occupied by the conical roof of the round stair tower, which was added in the 16th century. At its base a moulded doorway has replaced the original first floor entrance on the south side. The only other surviving part of the Castle is a large chimney, know as the Bishop's Chimney, which once served the kitchens.
Tradition tells us that during the Reformation, the Cathedral clergy hid the Church valuables, including a solid gold plate, in an underground passage connecting the Castle and Cathedral. Both ends were then sealed. When the golden plate and the Church valuables are found, the end will be nigh for the House of Sutherland.
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 10:46 AM GMT
SS Great Britain
The wrought iron steamship ss Great Britain was built in 1843 in the Great Western Dockyard, Bristol, under the superintendence of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his colleagues Thomas Guppy, Christopher Claxton, and William Patterson, all members of the Great Western Steamship Company.
She is widely recognised as one of the technological fore-runners of much modern shipping and she is seen by many as exemplifying the industry and inventiveness of the Victorian era,and symbolising the birth of international passenger travel and world communications.
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 10:42 AM GMT
Saturday, 20 March 2004
Kirkstone Pass Inn
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 3:43 PM GMT
Updated: Wednesday, 31 March 2004 10:27 AM GMT
Hellfire Caves
The Caves at West Wycombe are Unique.
They were originally excavated in the 1750's on the site of an ancient quarry by Sir Francis Dashwood (who later became Lord le Despencer) in order to provide work for unemployed farm workers following a succession of harvest failures.
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It is thought that his inspiration for the design of the Caves came from his grand tour of Europe and the Ottoman Empire. On his return Sir Francis Dashwood founded the Hellfire Club and became a leading member of the Dilettanti Society and the Divan Club.
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The Hellfire Club originally met at Medmenham Abbey on the River Thames. After this burnt down accidentally they reputedly then held many of their meetings in the Caves, some three hundred feet underground and half a mile from the entrance!
Benjamin Franklin, the American statesman, was a very close friend of Sir Francis and stayed with him often at West Wycombe.
He clearly visited the caves as in 1772
The magnificent Banqueting Hall is a huge cavern. To consider that the Caves were dug by hand and without the aid of any machines is awe inspiring to say the least.
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Walking through the Hall instantly conjours up images of grand parties that must have been held here in the past. You can almost feel the eyes of past revellers watching you as you soak up the atmosphere of the stunning cave system.
You could say that the Caves are the ultimate of all follies.
Like many of the follies and temples built by Sir Francis Dashwood at West Wycombe, the Caves get their form from inspiration gathered abroad whilst exploring 18th Century Europe.
As was the fashion at the time the layout of the Caves are supposedly a representation of many things. As well as the catacombs of Rome, The River Styx and Inner Temple, there is the Triangle which is said to owe its shape to a part of a woman's anatomy...
It's up to you to decide which bit!
The Caves were neglected from the end of the 18th century until the 1950's.
It was the late Sir Francis Dashwood Bt., 11th Baronet, who opened up the Caves for the public in their present form, including much structural work and the provision of the lighting system.
In the 1950's you could buy a candle for a sixpence and explore the Caves on your own.
In the 1750's the miners were originally paid a shilling a day for their work.
During the excavation and restoration work some original coins were discovered in the Caves. These can now be seen in the Banqueting Hall.
According to legend the River Styx separates the real world from the Underworld.
Originaly, a boat would have been required to get any further into the Caves in order to reach the Inner Temple. Now, a bridge has been built so you do not have to get your feet wet!
Ghosts and the Caves
There are likely to be many people who would have had reason to haunt the Caves, but none so more than Sir Paul Whitehead.
As the steward of the Hellfire Club, Whitehead was devoted to Sir Francis. He asked in his last will and testament that on his death an urn would be placed in a corner of the Dashwood Mausoleum (directly above the Caves) so that his heart may be placed inside and remain with the Dashwoods forever.
This would have been the case - until 1829 - when, sadly, the heart was stolen by an Australian soldier.
Posted by mosthaunted2
at 3:38 PM GMT
Updated: Wednesday, 31 March 2004 10:28 AM GMT
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