Haunted Britain and Ireland: Over 100 of the Scariest Places to Visit in the UK and Ireland. Derek Acorah
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seemed friendly and to delight in playing tricks – she would return to her ‘empty’ flat to find ornaments had been turned round and her teddy bear turned over on the bed.
In May 1975 and October 1976 a team of researchers from the Borderline Science Investigation Group investigated the inn and concluded that genuine paranormal phenomena had ‘probably’ occurred.
The Old Hall Inn, The Coast Road, Sea Palling, Norfolk NR12 0TZ; Tel: (01692) 598323; Website: www.seapalling.com/oldhallinnmain.htm
DEREK’S TIP
If using an EMF meter in your investigation, attempt to locate any electrical wiring or equipment on the premises you have chosen, as these will adversely affect the readings of such meters.
Oliver Cromwell’s House at Ely
Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), Lord Protector of Great Britain, was born on 25 April 1599 at Huntingdon, the son of a country gentleman. After his marriage in London in 1620 he and his family lived first in Huntingdon and then in St Ives before moving to Ely in 1636.
The house was originally built in the thirteenth century. Between 1843 and 1869 it was an inn, the Cromwell Arms, and it is now a historic house dedicated to Cromwell.
Cromwell led the New Model Army to victory against the Royalists in the Civil War, then the Irish in 1649 and the Scots and Charles II in 1651. After dissolving the ‘Rump Parliament’ in 1653, he became Lord Protector. He was offered the crown in 1657, but refused it.
Although Cromwell died in London and his ghost is said to haunt Red Lion Square (see page 76), it may still return to his old home in Ely. There have been many paranormal events at the house. In 1998 a guide at the Tourist Information Centre was there when he felt a draught around his feet and realized his shoelaces were undone. In itself that wasn’t particularly unusual, but every time he retied them, it happened again.
In 1979 a couple spent the night in what is now known as the haunted bedroom. During the night, the woman woke up and seemed to be in the same room but at a different time. She realized the doorway was in a different place. Then she felt her arm gripped by a large powerful man, who seemed distracted and was muttering to himself. The vision faded, but when she found herself back in her own time, the marks on her arm were still visible.
In 2003 the Cambridge Paranormal Group carried out two investigations at the house and picked up impressions of several spirits.
Oliver Cromwell’s House, 29 St Mary’s Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB7 4HF: Tel: (01353) 662062. Open daily all year, except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.
There are videos, exhibitions and period rooms, with costumes and helmets to try on, and a gift shop. The House is also home to Ely’s Tourist Information Centre.
The St Anne’s Castle
Saint Anne’s Castle in Great Leighs, Essex, is one of the oldest pubs in England, with parts dating to the twelfth century.
The pub is associated with the legend of a local witch, Anne Hughes, who was executed in 1621 on Scrap Faggot Green (‘scrap faggot’ is an old Essex term for ‘witch’) and buried at the crossroads there with a stake through her heart and a heavy boulder on top of the grave to stop her spirit from finding its way back to the village. However, during the Second World War, American artillery trucks needed to pass through Great Leighs and moved the boulder. After that the witch apparently haunted the village and pub. One of her pranks was said to be swapping over the hens and ducks belonging to two local men during the night. A ghostly black cat which has been seen by several people over the years may belong to her.
A previous landlord of the pub had trouble with a storeroom which he could not keep tidy because items would be strewn around when no one was there. His dogs would not enter it, but the cat would. At that time drayman delivering supplies to the pub and a young girl visiting it both reported seeing a ‘thing’ that so upset them that they refused ever to cross the threshold again.
The current landlady has joined a ghosthunting group in an effort to learn more about the ghosts who are haunting her pub and has found out that there are a lot of them there, including a little girl with long blonde curly hair who likes cooking, a little boy who plays with her, several unfriendly monks, a woman called Elizabeth who walks around in her wedding dress, looking out of the window, and a man who sits in the bar smoking a pipe.
A ghost with a tragic story is that of George Harry Benfield, who lived in the village in the nineteenth century. He had five children, but found out that his firstborn, a son named Thomas, was his brother’s child. Horrified, he killed both his wife and son by tying a piece of rope around their necks, fixing it to a piece of wood and turning the wood until their necks broke. He was later tried and hanged in Chelmsford.
As well as all these ghosts, a variety of paranormal activity has been reported in the pub, with electrical equipment turning itself on and off of its own accord and items going missing and then turning up again exactly where they had been left. One room in particular has an overpowering feeling of death and sadness. It is no exaggeration to say that the St Anne’s Castle is one of the most haunted pubs in England.
The St Anne’s Castle, Main Road, Great Leighs, Essex CM3 1NE; Tel/Fax: (01245) 361253; Website: www.stannescastle.co.uk. Open all day every day.
Live music at weekends and an open mike night the first Tuesday of the month. Freshly cooked bar food and a takeaway service every lunchtime and evening.
The Triangular Lodge
The Triangular Lodge at Rushton, Northants, is a highly unusual building. Everything about it is linked to the number three. It has three 33-foot walls, each with three trefoil windows and three gables, and there are three storeys rising to a three-sided central chimney.
The lodge was designed and built by Sir Thomas Tresham between 1593 and 1597. He was a staunch Catholic and as a result was imprisoned for 15 years by the Elizabethan Protestant government. During his prolonged captivity he covered his cell walls with letters, dates, numbers and religious symbols, and on his release in 1593 he began to design the Triangular Lodge as a covert testament to his faith. All of its features – emblems, dates, gargoyles, shields and biblical passages – are said to relate to the Holy Trinity and the Catholic Mass. Thomas’s son Francis was one of the Catholics later involved in the Gunpowder Plot.
Legend has it that a secret tunnel leads from the lodge and when it was discovered the owner of the lodge offered a large sum of money to anyone who would go down and investigate it. A gypsy fiddler took up the offer, but had only gone a few yards, playing his fiddle as he went, when the tunnel collapsed. Some say he died there, but others say that after a while he arrived in Australia. Either way, the sound of his ghostly fiddle has been heard coming from the ground!
The Triangular Lodge, Nr Rushton, Northants NN14 1RG; Tel: (01536) 710761 or (01536) 205411; Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk
The lodge lies a mile west of Rushton on an unclassified road and three miles from Desborough on the A6. Parking is limited. Open Thursdays–Mondays 1 April–31 October 10 a.m.–5 p.m. No unauthorized visits at other times.
The White Hart Hotel
The White Hart Hotel is situated in the centre of medieval Lincoln, between the eleventh-century cathedral and the Norman castle. There has been an inn on this site since 1460 and the oldest part of the current building, the east wing, was built in 1710. The hotel has had many illustrious