Southern England

From Oxfordshire down to the southern coast of England and beyond to the Isle of Wight, west to Cornwall and up through Devon and Somerset, this section of the United Kingdom is filled with mysticism and legends of old. From the pretty villages of the Isle of Wight to the brooding moors of Exmoor, Dartmoor and Bodmin, the area holds stories of ghostly happenings and events that can only be classified as paranormal.

My own favourite spot in this part of the world is Somerset, particularly the wonderful town of Glastonbury. I could walk for hours in the ancient dignity and grace of the ruined Glastonbury Abbey, absorbing an atmosphere that exists nowhere else on Earth. To walk up the Tor to the tower dedicated to St Michael and look out over the Vale of Avalon is an incomparable experience.

The ABC Cinema, Plymouth

The ABC Cinema in Plymouth is one of the few buildings that were left standing in the town after the heavy bombing of the Second World War. It stands on the site of the original Theatre Royal, which burned down in the early 1900s.

Over the years there have been numerous reports of a presence within the cinema. These have mainly been centred around Screen 2. The majority have involved the sighting of a female figure dressed in a red skirt and jacket. She has been seen by both employees and customers, but when the lights go on, she is not there. The sightings apparently increase when a horror film is shown and the complex has had problems with the sound system, though it is not known whether these are related.

The haunting is thought to be connected to the days when the Theatre Royal was Plymouth’s major theatre and an actress committed suicide there by hanging herself in her dressing room.

Torbay Investigators of the Paranormal (TIP) recently conducted two overnight investigations at the cinema and recorded light orbs and irregular magnetic fields. A local medium who was with them picked up the name ‘Winnie’ or ‘Minnie’. Further investigations are scheduled with a Plymouth group called Magic2K.

The ABC Cinema, Derry’s Cross, Plymouth, Devon PL1 2SW; Tel: (01752) 663300

The Angel Hotel

Lymington is a small market town on the estuary of the Boldre river. Its dockyards once provided more ships to the Royal Navy than Portsmouth, but now there are just a few slipways left and the harbour is mainly used by private yachts and the Isle of Wight ferry.

The thirteenth-century Angel Hotel was the favourite inn of the shipbuilders and sailors of the town. It was once known as the George, but the name was changed around 1768, possibly for political reasons, as a George was on the throne at the time.

At that time the hotel was a coaching inn and local people would often gather to watch the Royal Mail coach leave for Southampton and London. One of the hotel’s ghosts is that of a coachman. He can often be seen in the early morning standing at the kitchen window looking out into the yard as though keeping watch over the loading of the Royal Mails.

The hotel is also haunted by a tall grey-haired man in a naval-style coat with brass buttons fastened up to the neck. He has been seen on many occasions, usually late at night. He may be the ghost of an officer who stayed at the hotel the night before he was due to appear in court. He never made it to the courtroom because he committed suicide in the hotel bedroom first.

The second floor of the hotel is haunted by the ghost of a blonde girl dressed in white, though very little is known about her.

In the 1960s, a couple staying in one of the rooms adjoining the old Assembly Hall heard a piano being played in the middle of the night. The next day they complained to the hotel manager about the noise, but he explained that the piano which had stood in the Assembly Hall had been so badly damaged that it had been taken away just the day before. The couple would not believe it until they were taken into the room and saw for themselves that there was no earthly piano there.

The Angel Hotel, 108 High Street, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9AP; Tel: (01590) 672050; Fax: (01590) 671661

Battle Abbey

Battle Abbey was built on the site of the famous Battle of Hastings, which took place when William of Normandy invaded Britain in 1066. The two armies did not actually fight at Hastings, but at a place north of the town, which is now named Battle. The Saxons occupied the higher ground and the battle raged inconclusively for several hours until the Normans pretended to flee and the Saxons broke ranks to pursue them, whereupon the Normans turned back and cut them down. King William later built an abbey on the site to atone for the loss of life during the conquest.

Some of the original abbey is still visible today, though parts were turned into a country house following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. The parkland of the abbey includes the ground believed to be the site of the battle.

Several ghosts linger on there. In the huge Common House, constructed as a dining-room for visiting dignitaries, the ghosts of an elderly man in a brown monk’s habit, a Norman knight and a young boy have been seen. Another knight is said to walk across the battlefield and one appears on horseback on 14 October, the anniversary of the battle. The ground also seems to bleed after a storm, though a more prosaic explanation for this is iron oxide in the soil.

In and around the grounds mysterious footsteps have been heard and on different occasions a lady in a red Elizabethan dress and another lady in grey have been seen. Horses’ hooves have been heard by the magnificent arched gatehouse and people often feel uncomfortable there.

A black monk has been seen in several places, including the Guest House, Monks’ Walk and outside the abbey. Even the ghost of King Harold has apparently put in an appearance on the anniversary of the battle, complete with an arrow jutting from his eye!

Battle Abbey, Battle, East Sussex TN33 0AD; Tel: (01424) 773792; Fax: (01424) 775059; Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk. Open from the beginning of January to the end of March.

The Brushmaker’s Arms

The Brushmaker’s Arms is a traditional pub with a large garden. It got its name because in the past it served as a base for brushmakers in the Vale of Upham.

One regular guest was a brushmaker called Mr Chickett. He was famed for the quality of his brushes and reputed to make a very good living. Rumour also had it that he carried all his money with him and slept with it under his pillow. Inevitably one night when he was staying at the inn he was robbed and murdered. Ever since, his shadowy figure has been seen roaming the inn as though hunting for something – probably his lost fortune. Sometimes he cannot be seen but dogs seem to be aware of his presence.

The Brushmaker’s Arms, Shoe Lane, Upham, Nr Winchester, Hants SO32 1JJ; Tel: (01489) 860231. Food served. Folk music monthly on Thursday evenings.

Corfe Castle

The ruins of Corfe Castle stand on a hill off the A351 Wareham–Swanage road to the north-west of Corfe Castle village. A Roman fort once occupied this spot, then in the ninth century a wooden castle was built. It was rebuilt from stone in the eleventh century and became royal property from the time of William the Conqueror. In the thirteenth century King John greatly enhanced it with a new hall, chapel and outbuildings. Henry III later extended it with more walls, towers and gatehouses. At that time it was an important stronghold guarding a gap in the Purbeck Hills. In 1572 Elizabeth I sold it to her dancing master, Sir Christopher Hatton, and in 1635 it became the property of Sir John Bankes, the Lord Chief Justice.

During the Civil War the castle was besieged twice by Parliamentarians. In 1643, Lady Bankes, Sir John’s widow, successfully defended it, but in February 1646, the treachery of an insider led to Parliamentarian troops entering the castle disguised as Royalist reinforcements. The castle fell and Parliament ordered it to be slighted, leaving it the ruin that can be seen today.

It is said that Corfe Castle was the inspiration for Kirrin Castle in Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books.

Strange lights have been seen at the castle at night and it is said that they are carried by the ghosts of Civil War soldiers. A headless woman has been seen walking on the hill near the castle gateway.

Corfe Castle, The Square, Corfe Castle, Wareham, Dorset BH20 5EZ; Tel: (01929) 481294 (general), (01929) 480609 (learning centre), (01929) 480921 (shop), (01929) 481332 (tea-room); Fax: (01929) 477067; E-mail: corfecastle@nationaltrust.; Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk.Open daily, apart from 25 and 26 December. Parts of the grounds may be closed in high winds.

There is a visitor centre, Castle View, on the A351 north of the castle, which includes interactive displays and a schools room. Guided tours are often available. Free parking is available at Castle View.

The Swanage Railway operates a steam train service from the Norden Park and Ride just outside Corfe Castle to Swanage, stopping at the castle.

Dimbola Lodge Museum

Dimbola Lodge at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight is the former home of the pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–79). After living for many years in Ceylon, she moved to London on her husband Charles’ retirement in 1848 and became part of Kensington’s artistic community, which included the Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson. In 1860, while visiting Tennyson at his home at Farringford House (see page 173), she bought two adjacent cottages from a local fisherman, Jacob Long, linked them by means of a Gothic tower – which dominates the Freshwater skyline to this day – and named the new house Dimbola after her family’s tea plantation in Ceylon. She lived there for the next 15 years and it was there that she was given a camera by her daughter and son-in-law and began her photographic career, converting the fowl-house into a studio and the coal-house into a dark room and producing over 3,000 photographs.

Her main interest was portraits and she produced some striking and definitive images of eminent Victorian writers, artists and scientists, including Tennyson, Darwin and Thackeray, who lived locally, and Lewis Carroll, Robert Browning, Edward Lear and Ellen Terry.

The Cameron family returned to Ceylon in 1875 and many years later Dimbola Lodge was again divided in two parts, named Dimbola and Cameron House. By 1993, Dimbola had become a private residence and holiday flats, and Cameron House was unoccupied and threatened with demolition. Fortunately the Julia Margaret Cameron Trust was able to buy first Cameron House and then Dimbola and restore the Lodge. It has since been Grade II listed and now houses a museum and galleries, a bookshop and a tea room specializing in vegetarian food. It hosts both historical and contemporary photographic exhibitions.

There was a major retrospective of Julia Margaret Cameron’s work at the National Portrait Gallery, London, recently.

It is said that the photographer herself still haunts Dimbola Lodge wearing her favourite brown taffeta dress. People have reported a strange smell in the gift shop, which is supposed to be that of the chemicals that she used to fix her photographs. It is also said to appear when her favourite classical music is played in the tea room. Visitors have also reported seeing phantom maids on the stairs and other ghostly figures around the house and grounds.

Dimbola Lodge Museum, Terrace Lane, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight PO40 9QE; Tel: (01983) 756814; Website: www.dimbola.co.uk

Dozmary Pool

Dozmary Pool, meaning ‘Drop of Sea’, is a moorland lake to the south of Bolventor on Bodmin Moor. According to legend it was bottomless and had a whirlpool in the centre and a tunnel connecting it to the sea, but in 1869 it dried up completely, which quashed that idea. However, it is still home to many tales of the supernatural.

It is claimed that Dozmary Pool is the lake into which Sir Bedivere threw King Arthur’s sword Excalibur after the king was mortally wounded. The Lady of the Lake, guardian of Excalibur, reached up a hand and caught the sword, holding it aloft for a moment before drawing it beneath the water, where it remains to this day.

The site is also linked with local legends of a man called Jan Tregeagle. He was an early seventeenth-century magistrate famed for his cruelty. He was rumoured to have murdered his wife and children, sold his soul to the Devil and made his fortune by robbing an orphan of his estate. After his death some of the people he had swindled went to court to try to get back their land. At the end of the trial the judge was about to sum up when a final witness was called: Jan Treageagle himself. The court laughed, but was horrified when a shadowy figure began to appear in the witness box. Undeterred, the judge calmly questioned the ghost, who testified that he had indeed swindled the defendants.

After the trial, Jan was reluctant to go back to hell and the vicar decided that he should be kept busy in the area instead. He was set to emptying Dozmary Pool with a leaking limpet shell while the dogs of hell watched over him, waiting to drag him back to hell if he stopped working. After a while he couldn’t stand it any longer and escaped, only to be set other impossible tasks. He ended up at Porthcurno Cove, sweeping the sand to the Mill Bay every day only to see the tide turn and sweep it all back again. It is said that he is still there and his screams of frustration can be heard on the howling wind.

Dozmary Pool lies two miles from Jamaica Inn, off a minor road from the A30.

Dunster Castle

Dunster Castle, near Minehead, stands on a wooded hill with views over Exmoor and the Bristol Channel. It has subtropical terraced and woodland gardens and is home to the national collection of strawberry trees and England’s oldest lemon tree.

There has been a castle here since Norman times and in 1617 a manor house was added to the site. It was redesigned by Anthony Salvin in the nineteenth century. The castle has had a relatively peaceful history, though it was besieged by Parliamentarian troops for six months during the Civil War.

Many supernatural events have taken place in and around the castle. The shop, which was originally part of the seventeenth-century stable block, is haunted by a man dressed in green. Stock falls over inexplicably there, doors open and close, and unopened boxes of stock have been ruined by a sticky brown gunge which somehow gets inside them.

The former servants’ hall also has an eerie reputation. An alarm engineer working there recently claimed to feel a strange presence and flatly refused to stay there by himself, even though it was only a five-minute job. On another occasion a night watchman was having a short break in the servants’ hall when he heard footsteps coming from the room above. Thinking someone had broken in, he went up to the room with his dog, Pardoe, only to find that no one was there. As for Pardoe, he raised his hackles and would not enter the room at all.

One of the strangest things ever to be seen at the house appeared in the modern ‘blue kitchen’, which was formerly the butler’s pantry and silver-cleaning rooms. A young lad on work experience was left on his own to mop the floor there but fled after seeing a naked foot materialize out of thin air! Apparently it was almost transparent but looked as though it was covered in a white powder.

The most haunted room in the house, however, is the Leather Gallery, so called because of the leather hangings which depict the story of Antony and Cleopatra. Male voices have been heard there at night on several occasions, together with footsteps and banging doors. Workmen in the area have felt so uneasy and sick that they have left the job part way through. A cleaner was polishing the floorboards there one morning with an electric polishing machine when the room turned very cold and she saw the shadowy figure of a man in old-fashioned military uniform standing in the doorway to the corridor. She was frightened, but the figure was cutting off her escape route, so she decided that the noise from the polishing machine would scare off any ghost and carried on working! Within about 30 seconds the temperature of the room had returned to normal and the figure had disappeared. A medium who once visited the house said that the ghost was a Royalist soldier called Richard who had apparently died in the castle grounds from a puncture wound above his right eye.

A tall distinguished looking gentleman in grey has also been seen leaving the Leather Gallery and walking into the King Charles room and a lady in grey has been seen on the oak staircase.

Dunster Castle, Mill Lane, Dunster, Minehead, Somerset TA24 6SL; Tel: (01643) 821314 (general), (01643) 823004 (info line), (01643) 821626 (shop), Fax: (01643) 823000; E-mail: dunstercastle@nationaltrust.; Website; www.nationaltrust.org.uk. Open daily apart from 25 and 26 December. Evening ghost tours are available. Pre-booking is recommended.

The Farringford Hotel

Farringford House is an eighteenth-century house set in 33 acres of parkland near Freshwater on the Isle of Wight, with views towards the Solent and Afton Downs. Now a hotel, it was the home of Victorian Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92), for nearly 40 years.

Lord Tennyson’s poetry was widely praised, but his life was plagued by financial instability and he was engaged for 14 years before he was finally able to marry Emily Sellwood in 1850. He moved to the Isle of Wight from Twickenham in 1853.

Emily Tennyson loved Farringford so much that she has never left. She has been seen walking on the lawn and is said to haunt the hotel bedroom that was the former nursery, looking after children who stay at the hotel. The sound of a rocking cradle has been heard there on several occasions.

As for the poet himself, he has been seen smoking a pipe in a chair in the library, where he wrote many of his most famous works, as well as walking on Tennyson Down, the nearby hill named after him. In order to get to the downs he had a special bridge built from his back garden, because the front lawns of his house were often filled with sightseers hoping for a glimpse of him. It is still there today.

The ghost of a horse-drawn carriage has also been seen in the grounds and on the road outside Farringford.

The Farringford Hotel, Bedbury Lane, Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight PO40 9PE; Tel: (01983) 752500; Website: www.farringford.co.uk

The George Hotel

The George Hotel in the heart of Crawley is a former coaching inn which dates back to 1615. Though it retains its traditional features, it is now a modern hotel with facilities for conferences, seminars, weddings and other functions. It offers traditional food in the 1615 restaurant and a selection of bar meals in the George bar, which is a favourite haunt of both locals and guests.

An ancient gallows sign stands on the high street outside the hotel door, but as far as is known the hotel is not haunted by a convicted criminal, but by a night watchman. At one time the hotel was being plagued by a thief and staff laid a trap to catch him by leaving out poisoned wine for him to drink. However, the night watchman drank it and died as a result. After that the hotel had no more trouble with articles going missing, but no one seems to know whether that was because the night watchman was the thief or because the real thief had been frightened off!

Apparently the night watchman did sleep in the broom cupboard when he was supposed to have been on duty, and now the cupboard doors often open by themselves, even when they have been locked. Doors to the bedrooms in the old wing have been known to do the same thing. Perhaps from time to time the night watchman is still doing his rounds.

The George Hotel, High Street, Crawley, Nr Gatwick, West Sussex RH10 1BS; Tel: (01293) 524215; Website: www.corushotels.com/thegeorge.There is parking for up to 80 cars.

Hastings Castle

Hastings Castle, on West Hill in the town centre, is an eleventh-century earthwork motte and bailey fortress founded by William the Conqueror. Today only the thirteenth-century remains of the East Gatehouse, the curtain wall and the Collegiate Church of St Mary-in-the-Castle are still standing. The rest of the castle was destroyed, along with Hastings harbour, in storms during the thirteenth century. After the destruction of the harbour, Hastings lost its military importance and was reduced to a fishing village. The remains of the castle fell into decay and for centuries the site was used for farming, but during Victorian times it became a tourist attraction and during World War II was used in the training of commandos.

There are many legends about the castle. The most famous ghost is that of Thomas à Becket, who is said to haunt the ruins whenever he is not haunting Canterbury cathedral. He may have once been Dean of the church.

Near the entrance to the ‘Whispering Dungeons’, so called because prisoners could be overheard by guards standing several yards away, a nun in a brown habit has been seen digging. She has also been seen near the outer wall at the eastern end of the castle and has even been caught on camera by visitors.

The area to the east of the castle was known as the Ladies’ Parlour and when tournaments were held there a distinguished lady was always present. Rumour has it that a lady in a shimmering white gown can still be seen there on moonlit nights. The sound of ghostly music, perhaps from the tournaments, has also been heard at the castle. In November 2000 a large crowd watching a firework display on the seafront was surprised to hear the sound of trumpets ringing out from the empty castle. It is also said that on certain days when the castle is viewed from the sea it is reflected in all its original glory.

A sad story connected with the castle is that of a middle-aged Victorian woman who had an illegitimate child with a local fisherman who then deserted her. Her ghost can be seen from time to time in the castle ruins, dressed in brown and holding a baby in her arms. After a few moments she suddenly walks to the cliff edge and throws herself off.

Hastings Castle, Castle Hill Road, West Hill, Hastings, East Sussex. Open daily. Parking is by the side of the road.

While you are visiting the castle you can experience ‘The 1066 Story’, a 16-minute sound and light presentation on the history of the castle and the Battle of Hastings.

The Hill House

The Hill House is a friendly bed and breakfast in Ross-on-Wye. Set on a hillside with spectacular views over the Wye Valley, the Black Mountains and the Forest of Dean, it is surrounded by over four acres of private woodland. The Wye Valley Walk and Herefordshire Trail are nearby and supper, a sauna, a bar, open fires, locally sourced organic food and the services of a qualified massage therapist are all available to guests.

The rooms are very individual – the Dryad Suite has a seven-foot four-poster bed and a wood-burning stove, for example – and are haunted by an old gentleman in a frock coat and tricorn hat and a beautiful lady dressed in white. Many guests have written about their experiences with the ghosts in the special visitors’ ghost book.

The Hill House, Howle Hill, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR9 5ST; Tel: (01989) 562033; E-mail: thehillhouse2000@hotmail.com; Website: www.thehowlinghillhouse.com. Bikes are available for hire.

The Holt Hotel

The Holt Hotel in Oxfordshire is a beautifully refurbished coaching inn dating back to 1475. Its 82 en-suite rooms range from singles to four-poster bedrooms with jacuzzi.

The Holt has always been a popular hotel, but the clientèle has not always been the most salubrious. In the seventeenth century the highwayman Claude Duval often frequented the inn and was once so impolite as to murder the landlord and his wife.

Duval was the head of a notorious gang of highwaymen. He had been born in Normandy and come to Britain as a footman to the Duke of Richmond after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Prosperity had increased following the Civil War and so had travel. The poor state of the roads, however, restricted coaches to a crawl and they were tempting targets for highwaymen. Duval quickly became wealthy and also gained a reputation for politeness to his victims, especially the ladies. He is said to have danced with a lady passenger in front of her husband and to have returned a silver feeding bottle to a mother when her baby began to cry. When he was finally arrested in January 1670 in London and sentenced to be hanged, many distinguished ladies begged for him to be pardoned. However, the sentence was duly carried out. Now it is said that Duval’s ghost has returned to his former base at the Holt Hotel.

The Holt Hotel, Oxford Road, Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire OX25 5QQ; Tel: (01869) 340259; Fax: (01869) 340865; E-mail: info@holthotel.co.uk; Website: www.holthotel-oxford.co.uk

The New Inn

The New Inn in Pembridge, Herefordshire, is actually one of the oldest in the area. The beautiful fourteenth-century timber-framed building was originally a farmhouse. It stood next to the village’s open market and this was probably what led to it becoming an inn, as the farmer would have brewed ale for the merchants. By the seventeenth century it had become a public house and for many years was known as ‘the inn without a name’ and (paradoxically) ‘Cooke’s Public House’. For a while the local court was held there and according to tradition the 1461 treaty by which Edward IV ascended the throne was ratified there. It was also used as a prison for a time.

Two ghosts apparently haunt the New Inn. One is a young girl who gazes out of the window and is said to be waiting for her lover to return from battle. She only appears to women. By an intriguing coincidence, the other ghost is a red-coated soldier who is sometimes seen carrying a sword and sometimes beating a drum.

The New Inn, Market Square, Pembridge, Nr Leominster, Herefordshire HR6 9DZ; Tel: (01636) 388427. A wide range of food is served in the restaurant.

Newquay

Cornwall – a county of mysticism and legend! A wealth of ghosts haunt the crags and moors, whilst the sleepy fishing villages along the coast are home to many a haunting tale of smugglers past.

I spent many summers of my youth in Newquay indulging my passion for surfboarding, a second love after football. Newquay has always been close to my heart, although my one abiding memory is not such a good one, and there is certainly nothing paranormal about it. I was surfing off the beach one day when I fell off my surfboard. Then I committed the cardinal error of turning around to see where it had gone. It found me! And I lost my two front teeth!

More scary still are the ghostly goings on at Trerice Manor, a sixteenth-century manor house near Newquay. When the north wing was restored in the 1980s, workmen reported smelling a whiff of perfume and hearing a swishing sound along the floorboards as if made by crinoline. Since then a Grey Lady has sometimes been seen gliding along the gallery before disappearing down the stone staircase. Could this be related to the suicide of a young servant girl who had been seduced by a former owner, the Lord of Arundell, known as the ‘wicked lord’?

Trerice Manor, Kestle Mill, Nr Newquay, Cornwall TR8 4PG; Tel: (01637) 875404; Fax: (01637) 879300; Website: trerice@nationaltrust.org.uk. Open March–October daily except Saturday. Also features flowering gardens, apple orchard, shop, tearoom, plant sales and museum of the history of the lawnmower.

Nunney

The pretty village of Nunney, near Frome in Somerset, is dominated by the ruins of Nunney Castle, which was built in 1373 in the French style and is surrounded by a small moat popular with local anglers.

During the Civil War the castle was besieged by Parliamentarians and severely damaged by cannon fire. Inside the castle one of the Royalist women was accused of being a witch because she had been having an affair with the Parliamentarian village priest. When the Parliamentarians seized the castle, she was thrown into the village stream in the traditional test for witchcraft. When she floated, she was deemed guilty and was put to death by the castle walls. Her spirit is said to wander the village to this day.

The other ghost commonly seen in Nunney is far more modern. He is a man in his thirties who can be found on the A361 between Nunney and Frome dressed in a sports jacket and flannel trousers and hitching a lift to Critchill. Several drivers have stopped to pick him up only to find that he has vanished into thin air – sometimes after getting into the car! It’s been suggested that the ghost was acting to avenge his own death, which happened when he was knocked off his bike by a careless driver and could be heard cursing all motorists before he died.

Nunney Castle, Nunney, Nr Frome, Somerset; Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk.Open daily.

DEREK’S TIP

If your group is planning to split up in order to conduct lone vigils, do make sure that everybody is equipped with some form of communication, i.e. walkie-talkie or mobile phone, and do make sure that as many people as possible carry a camera of sorts.

Okehampton Castle

Okehampton Castle, the largest in Devon, is a stone motte and bailey fortress near the northern edge of Dartmoor. Founded by Baldwin de Brionne, Sheriff of Devon, in the eleventh century, it was abandoned in 1539 after its then owner, the Marquis of Exeter, was found guilty of conspiracy and executed by Henry VIII. Now it is a ruin.

Legend has it that the castle is haunted by the ghost of Lady Howard, who rides in a carriage made from the bones of the four husbands she murdered. It is driven between Okehampton Park and her old home in Tavistock by a headless coachman and always accompanied by the barking skeletal dog, although some versions of the story say that it is Lady Howard herself who turns into the dog.

As punishment for her sins, each night Lady Howard has to pick a single blade of grass from the castle grounds and return it safely to Tavistock. Once every blade has been taken, the world will come to an end.

The real Lady Howard (1596–1671) did have four husbands who all died before her, but she is unlikely to have murdered them. She was a member of the family that owned Okehampton Castle.

Skeletal carriages aside, strange events have been reported at the castle. A visitor has photographed a strange ill-defined shape at a window at the top of the keep and there have been sightings of a mysterious large dog in the grounds.

Okehampton Castle, Okehampton, Devon EX20 1JB; Tel: (01837) 52844; Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk.Open daily April–September.

The castle is south of the town centre, off Castle Lane. There is a car park, woodland walks and picnic spots.

Pevensey Castle

Pevensey Castle, strategically situated on the south coast, was originally built by the Romans as a fortress around AD 290. William the Conqueror landed at Pevensey and rested at the fort before moving down the coast for the Battle of Hastings (see page 160). During the Middle Ages the castle itself saw many battles and during the Second World War it was renovated in preparation for the expected invasion of Britain. Today much of the Roman fort remains, together, somewhat incongruously, with World War II pillboxes and gun emplacements. Not surprisingly the castle retains a military air and according to legend ghostly armies still fight here too. They have rarely been seen, but the sounds of battle are often said to ring out across the coast.

The castle is also haunted by ‘the Pale Lady’. She is said to be Lady Joan Pelham, who lived at the castle at the end of the fourteenth century. Her husband, Sir John, went off to fight in support of Bolinbroke’s claim to the throne, leaving his wife at the castle. Eventually it was besieged and overrun by the forces of Richard II. Lady Joan’s ghost now walks the outer walls at dusk, looking in vain for help from her husband.

In 1976 four young men who were ‘larking about’ were so terrified when they saw ‘the Pale Lady’ that they reported the matter to the custodian and by so doing admitted that they were trespassing.

Pevensey Castle, High Street, Pevensey, East Sussex, BN24 5LE; Tel: (01323) 762604. Open daily April–September; weekends only October–March. Closed 24–26 December and 1 January.

DEREK’S TIP

Use trigger objects. These may be coins, a cross, a book or any object which lends itself easily to being placed on a plain sheet of paper and drawn around. Place the object in a sealed room, preferably with a video camera that has a lens wide enough to encompass the whole sheet of paper. If you are fortunate you may find that the object has been moved by a spirit entity.

The Royal Victoria Country Park

The Royal Victoria Country Park comprises 200 acres of woods and parkland overlooking Southampton Water. It is a haven for many different kinds of wildlife and 118 bird species have been recorded there. Football and cricket matches, bus and caravan rallies, craft fairs and dog shows have all been held in the park and it welcomes around 360,000 visitors each year.

The park was once the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital, which became the country’s main military hospital after it opened in 1863. Although architecturally very grand, it was not practical and the design was criticized by Florence Nightingale. Nevertheless, thousands of patients were treated there, particularly during the First World War. However, the high cost of running the building eventually led to its closure in 1958. In June 1963 it was damaged by a fire, which was probably arson, and most of the building was demolished three years later.

The site of the former hospital is haunted by a lady in a grey crinoline dress. She is said to be the ghost of a young Victorian nurse who gave her soldier boyfriend a fatal overdose by mistake. When he died, she climbed the chapel tower and jumped to her death. Afterwards, her appearance in the hospital was considered to be a sign that someone would die the next morning.

The Royal Victoria Country Park, Netley, Southampton, Hampshire SO31 5GA; Tel:023 8045 5157; Fax:023 8045 2451

Theatre Royal Winchester

Theatrical tradition holds that ghostly sightings, rather than being a sign of malevolent spirits, are a sign of good fortune. All of which is good news for anyone attending Theatre Royal Winchester, where there have been a number of sightings throughout the theatre’s rich history.

Theatre Royal Winchester is believed to have at least two ghosts, although no sightings were reported from the time of its refurbishment and subsequent reopening in 2001 until a psychic investigation in 2005.

One of the ghosts is believed to be that of John Simpkins who, with his brother James, converted the Market Hotel into the Theatre Royal in 1913. The cartouche on the proscenium arch over the stage originally bore the initials ‘JS’. The story goes that John would have preferred the initials ‘J&JS’ to be engraved. James promised his brother that the omission would be corrected, but he never kept his word. John died and his ghost is reputed to return from time to time to check whether his brother ever changed the initials.

Before the theatre’s latest refurbishment, John’s apparition used to emerge from the small dressing-room he once used as his office. The ghost would then walk around the circle, stop in one of the boxes and turn and inspect the cartouche before disappearing through a wall.

Another ghost seen at the theatre during World War I was that of a spotlight operator who had left to serve in the army. One night during a performance of Soldiers of the King, one of the cast fainted on stage. When questioned, she claimed to have seen the spotlight operator standing in the wings wearing his uniform even though he was known to be at the front. The next day the boy’s mother received a telegram to say that her son had been killed in action.

Other apparitions have also been seen, including a young girl dancing across the stage, and figures have been seen walking through walls. An investigation by the UK Society of Paranormal Investigation in April 2005 detected the presence of several entities. Investigators heard a voice coming from the stage, music playing, footsteps and unexplained noises, and figures were seen in the upper and lower circle and also in the atrium, which was once the backyard of cottages which stood next to the original theatre. The Society called it ‘one of the strangest investigations so far’ and planned to return to investigate further. It will certainly be worth their while; because unexplained noises and sightings of the spotlight operator and the dancing girl continue to be reported, even today.

Theatre Royal Winchester, Jewry Street, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8SB; Tel. (01962) 840440; E-mail: pressofficer@theatre-royal-winchester.co.uk; Website: www.theatre-royal-winchester.co.uk

DEREK’S TIP

If you are tempted to try to invoke spirit people without the presence of a trained medium, do ensure that you offer up a prayer of self-protection first.

Tintagel Castle

Tintagel Castle lies half a mile from the village of Tintagel on the wild and windswept Cornish coast. It was built by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, younger brother of Henry III, between 1230 and 1236 on the site of a Norman castle and even older stronghold known as Din Tagell. It is a place of mystery and romance, linked to the legends of King Arthur.

The story runs that Arthur was born at Tintagel after the wizard Merlin had disguised King Uther Pendragon as Duke Gorlois of Cornwall and so gained him admittance to the castle. Another legend has the infant Arthur being washed up on the beach by Merlin’s cave. This cave is said to be haunted by Merlin himself. Extensive excavations have been carried out on the site since the 1930s and archaeologists have found that it was inhabited as early as the fifth century. By the mid-fifteenth century, however, the medieval castle was in ruins. Legend has it, though, that once a year it can be seen in all its former glory and that it is inhabited by the ghost of King Arthur.

Tintagel Castle, Tintagel, Cornwall PL34 0HE; Tel: (01840) 770328; Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk.Open daily, apart from 24–26 December and 1 January.

The Trout Inn

The Trout Inn, a traditional pub and restaurant, is located in a beautiful spot near a weir on the River Thames north of Oxford overlooking Trout Island. Parts of the inn date back over 700 years. It has been featured in Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse series of novels and TV dramas, and Colin Dexter himself reopened it after refurbishment in 2002. It is home to peacocks, swans and herons and a ghost, Rosamund the Fair, known as the White Lady.

Rosamund Clifford was a nun who lived in Godstow nunnery, which lies on the opposite bank of Trout Island. King Henry II was in love with her and it is said that he kept her in a secret garden protected by a labyrinth. One of his knights guarded the entrance, holding the end of a silver thread which led through the maze to Rosamund. However, Henry’s queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, was jealous of Rosamund, especially after she had had the king’s child. She killed the knight, stole the thread and forced Rosamund to drink from a poisoned chalice. Now the ghost of Rosamund haunts the Trout Inn. Many people claim to have seen her shadowy figure wandering through the gardens. In addition, Rosamund makes her presence known by knocking wine bottles off tables and standing behind people in the bar area. Staff and customers have also experienced cold patches around the pub.

The Trout Inn,195 Godstow Road, Lower Wolvercote, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 8PN; Tel: (01865) 302071. Offers traditional British food, a beer garden and braziers for roasting chestnuts in autumn.

Westbury Swimming Pool

Westbury lies on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. In medieval times it was a part of the wool and cloth industry. It is also noted for leatherwork, glovemaking and the 300-year-old white horse, the oldest of the white horses of Wiltshire, which was once cut in the chalk of Westbury Hill, but has since been covered in concrete and painted white.

The Church Street baths were given to the town by mill owner William Laverton and were opened in 1887, making this the longest-serving swimming pool in the country. The grand Victorian architecture remains to this day. As well as a swimming pool, Westbury baths now offer a health suite with sauna cabin and steam room.

The pool is said to have a resident ghost called George. Over the years he has been seen several times. Some say he is a swimmer who jumped off the pool balcony to his death, while others say he is the ghost of an old boiler stoker. This may be more likely, as he has been seen at the pool edge dressed in overalls.

Westbury Swimming Pool, Church Street, Westbury, Wiltshire BA13 3BY; Tel: (01373) 822891; Fax: (01373) 859924. Swimming lessons available. Pool available for private hire.

Yeovil Railway Station Buffet

The buffet at Yeovil railway station offers a variety of tasty meals and snacks for passengers travelling through the West Country. It is haunted by the ghost of a woman called Molly. The story runs that she was in service at the beginning of the twentieth century and had an affair with the lord of the manor. When she became pregnant her husband took up a gun and went after the man, but he was apprehended, tried at Dorchester Assizes and hanged for attempted murder. Molly herself committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a train at Yeovil station.

Now every year during the last few weeks of September there are a variety of paranormal phenomena in the station buffet. The room regularly becomes icy cold at 10 o’clock in the morning, electrical equipment switches itself on and off of its own accord and plates are lifted off the shelves or move along the counter and fall gently to the floor, usually without breaking. Several customers have seen this happening and a young man working in the buffet was once hit on the head by a flying plate. The disturbances build up to 10 October and then everything falls quiet again. It is presumed that this is the date of Molly’s death.

Since the buffet was rewired in August 2004, the paranormal electrical activity has ceased, but plates are still being moved around whenever Molly makes her annual visit.

The Wagon Train Buffet, Yeovil Junction Station, Stoford, Nr Yeovil, Somerset BA22 9UU; Tel: (01935) 410420