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| Ghosts Archive 1999 |
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 Ghosts news, views, gallery and archive brought to you by Weird Wiltshire Introduction Latest News News Archive Longleat House Sign of an Angel Bewley Court Red Lion Westbury Pool Maud Cunnington Wardour Castle Manor House Hotel Devizes Castle Kings Arms Malmesbury Abbey Lacock Abbey Avebury Manor Littlecote Manor Lydiard House Gallery Postcards Wallpaper Links |
First Published December 21 1999 A mystery among the stones THE village of Avebury is built within a stone circle dating back to Neolithic times. The pagan rituals enacted here could have generated the small figure ghosts said to play among the stones on nights when there is a full moon. Lights and music have been seen and heard coming from among the stones. This could be a supernatural memorial to Avebury Fair which was held in the village until Victorian times. Avebury Manor is a lovely Tudor house which has a white lady ghost whose lover was a Cavalier killed in the Civil War. Grieving his death, she killed herself by jumping from a window. Another Royalist haunts the Cavalier Room leaving a strong smell of roses. He may be the ghost of Sir John Stanwell who loved the manor but forfeited it for his support of the King. The long barrow at West Kennett is one of the finest Neolithic tombs in Britain; it is close to the Avebury stone circle as well as Silbury Hill, the largest prehistoric mound in Europe. A ghostly priest enters the tomb accompanied by a white dog with unique red ears. The Green Lady of Longleat House is the spirit of Lady Louisa Carteret, the unhappy wife of the second Viscount Weymouth. He must have been an unpleasant man to live with, arrogant and ill-tempered, which is possibly why his wife took a footman as a lover. When the Viscount discovered her infidelity he thew the servant from the top of the stairs to the flag-stones far below. The body was buried beneath them and a skeleton was found under them in 1915. Lady Louisa died in childbirth on Christmas Day 1736 and still roams the corridors of Longleat looking either for happiness or for her long dead lover. Black Dog Woods to the north west of Chapmanslade village are the haunt of a large dog with fiery eyes and to see him means death before Christmas. This black dog was trained by a highwayman to spring on coachmen as they gingerly descended the steep hill. He was easily able to rob the coach in the ensuing confusion. The coachmen soon became wise to the ploy and the highwayman was eventually shot by a guard's blunderbuss. Close to the stones of Stonehenge there is a monument to Captain B Lorraine and Staff Sergeant R Wilson who died there in 1912 when their aircraft crashed. They were the first members of the Royal Flying Corps to lose their lives. Just before D-Day Sir Michael Bruce drove past Stonehenge with several companions. They all saw a plane crash in a small wood, but when they searched the area all they found was the memorial. The famous railway tunnel at Box was built in 1841 by Brunel and is 300 feet deep in places. Railway trackmen dislike working inside its portals, because they sometimes hear a phantom steam train which never materialises rushing towards them. At Devizes the Battle of Hill was a famous Royalist victory for their commander, Lord Wilmott. Parliamentary forces under General Waller were besieging the town when the Royalists counter-attacked and drove Waller's cavalry down a precipitous slope near Oliver's Camp, Òwhere never horse went down nor up before.' Eight hundred men died in what became known as Bloody Ditch, but it is ghostly horses that are seen here, and not soldiers. There are more than 20 ghosts at the great, sprawling Littlecote House near Hungerford. This makes it one of the top five haunted houses in Britain. Blanche, Lady Arundel is the ghostly figure who may be seen walking from the ruined Wardour Castle to the lake at dusk. The redoubtable 60-year-old controlled the defence of the castle when it was besieged for five days by 1,300 Roundheads. At this point, threatened by mines and petards, a truce was agreed, then betrayed by Cromwell's troops. Lady Blanche, with her small garrison of 25 men were next brutally put to the sword. According to varying reports, ghosts make regular Christmas appearances all over Britain, seemingly hell-bent on chilling our spines with seasonal gusto. The fully committed ghost believers maintain that most people do not accept the presence of ghosts until they actually see one. Have you ever seen a ghost? If so, can you prove it? Or are you one of those who simply scoff at the mention of ghosts? If so, with such an abundance reported as active at this time of the year, it is just possible that Christmas 1999 could bring about a radical change in your views on Wiltshire's supernatural appearences. Back to 1999 index |
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