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| Ghosts Archive 1992 |
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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 Forum Links |
First published in December 24, 1992 Crocodile tears shed for legend It was Christmas Eve at the turn of the century when, after a night of revelry, three men left the Kingsdown Arms in the village of Stratton on the outskirts of Swindon to weave their way home. Alerted by a noise from a ditch they investigated and froze in horror at they sight that met their eyes - a fully grown crocodile. Fleeing in terror back to the pub they roused the village and most local people rushed to the scene - but the crocodile had vanished. For days the area was searched, but of the crocodile there was no sign. News of the sighting spread but most people put it down to hallucinations caused by the good strong ale brewed in the village. Over the years, often after a night in the pub, people reported seeing the mythical creature. Riders said their horses shied and pioneer motorists reported a strange shape crossing their path in the dim headlights. Dogs, cats and sheep went missing and bits of cattle were found lying around. Some time after the first sighting Sara Grace, a barmaid at the Kingsdown Arms, left the pub to walk home to Stanton House, where she lived and had another job. She was never seen again. Her lover, William Black, was arrested, tried at Winchester for murder, and found guilty. He went to the scaffold protesting his innocence to the end. About a year later the owner of Stanton House, a great hunter, died and left his extensive collection of trophies, including stuffed heads of stags, lions and tigers, to local educational establishments and museums. While going through his property one of the staff found a dead but perfectly preserved crocodile in the ice house! It was taken to a taxidermist to be stuffed - and when the stomach was split open out fell a bracelet with the inscription "From William to Sara with love". And that, so they say, is how the crocodile came to be in the Bath Road Museum in Old Town, Swindon. To this day Stratton folk are known as "crocodiles". Back to 1992 index |
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