Do you have a good medieval or Tudor ghost story?
Halloween is on the way and I want to do a special spooky Halloween ghost story video featuring your stories.
If you have had a spooky experience or know a good historical ghost story (a Tudor ghost story would be brilliant) or local legend, please share by videoing yourself or emailing the story. Medieval or Tudor ones would be best, or ones linked to those types of historical buildings.
Here is where you can send your video, THANK YOU!
https://forms.gle/UDUy6mHdNixbi85x5
My email is claire@theanneboleynfiles.com
Oh do I have a story. While I was on holiday I visited a tomb connected to Mortimers Cross 1461 of Sir Thomas Vaughan and my story is of a haunted hall and a ghostly hound, the original story of the Hound of the Baskervilles, a hound whose sight caused death and was the incarnation of Sir Thomas Vaughan who was beheaded after the battle. I will tell you the story of the Black Hound of Haegist Hall via email and send some spooky photos. The Hound is also meant to have visited his tomb when he was first returned to his home parish and his wife was buried with him.
Lady Eleanor Vaughan was as much a mystery and of interest as her husband. Known as “Terrible Elle”she was said to have killed her cousin by firing an arrow into his back in revenge for the death of her brother. No action was taken as she and Thomas went on pilgrimage. The story is also not confirmed by any contemporary sources and is very dubious but they certainly make an interesting couple and the full story is a good one.
Terrible Ellie ha ha!
I shall relate to you a visit to Stokesay Castle… a damp wet day, late summer/early autumn… I was walking around the rooms above the great hall, thinking of all the history of the Marcher Lords and their connections in British History, when I heard a noise behind me..I turned to see a lady dressed in Medieval costume enter the room, she was discussing with someone, when her “Lord” was due to return and how worried she was as “The King ” was on his way… she was very concerned.she then said”Elizabeth might help her to escape the kings wrath” .. she remarked to the unseen person that she could see “Shades” when death might occur… she looked at me and nodded–right at me– she saw me… then it faded away…I looked up records at home, and sure enough her husband had been killed bytheking very close to Ludlow…. the king was Edward IV…… still get shivers to this day
How could you know which Elizabeth she referred to, it could have been anyone? They have re enactors at Stokeley from time to time. Great story but probably one of them. Would like to hear the full tale out of interest.
Which battle near Ludlow? The only Battle near Ludlow was Ludford Bridge and the sack of the city by the Royal Army of Henry Vi and Margaret of Anjou in 1459. The future Edward iv wasn’t even there, he was in the North. The people present where his father and mother Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville, his brothers Richard and George and their sister, Margaret. The only Battle near to both was Mortimers Cross at Kingland which is several miles from Ludlow. Is that the Battle you are referring to? Looking forward to this story of Stokesley as its so close to Ludlow and I have visited a few times.
Wow, that is seriously spooky Janice, I have a tale that my late cousins husband related to me, Forty Hall estate in Enfield where I live stands on the grounds where Henry V111’s old manor of Elysnge once resided, the house stood further down and was later destroyed possibly after it fell into disrepair, it had stood there since early times and had passed into several hands, before Henry V111 secured it and his three children stayed there from time to time whilst they were growing up, he visited it more than any of his other palaces, I am not sure if it is true as Wikipedia stated Edward and Elizabeth were there when members of the late kings council arrived and told them of their fathers death, however I also heard they were at Hatfield Palace, anyway I used to play in Forty Hall when I was young and the house Forty Hall passed to the council in the early sixties, having bought it from the Parker Bowles family, Forty Hall is a Jacobean building and originally belonged to Sir Nicholas Raynton one time Lord Mayor of London, there are old photos of the house in its heyday with members of the family outside and in their old mother cars, but the story my cousins husband told me is quite chilling, as a child he used to play there having lived nearby, and one occasion he was with his friend and his friends father, it was about three in the afternoon, near the house stood an old willow tree whose branches dipped into the round oval pond that lay beyond, they all saw a lady dressed in Tudor costume with the customary ruff appear behind the tree, smile at them then vanish, they didn’t know what to make of it and went in the house and told the security men, they then told them that prior to them seeing this apparition, two Australian couples had been visiting and the two women had decided to have their photo taken in front of the willow tree, they saw nothing yet when the photo was developed they could clearly see the outline of a woman in a wide ruff standing behind them, in the same spot my cousins husband and his friend and his father had seen her, the Australians explained to the security men they had sent it of to Kodak and Kodak returned it to them, their conclusion was that it was not a double exposure or anything else, the apparition was something they could not explain, I have often wondered – a slim woman in a ruff, could it have been a young Elizabeth before she became queen maybe visiting her childhood home ? They say that ghosts only see the world they knew, maybe this lady if it was someone else was still in the 16th century, in that case Forty Hall would not have been there then, it would have been grassland maybe with trees old elms and oaks once stood there, the remains of Eylsnge were discovered in the 1960’s, old artefacts and coins were found, Forty Hall is now a museum and sometimes hold art exhibitions and Christmas craft fairs, further down the land slopes and is very hilly, it is easy to see the old Tudor Palace in all its glory and see people walking along the oak panelled rooms, to visualise Henry V111 himself and his three children, heads bent over their books whilst the sunshine streams through the diamond panel windows, the name of Eylsnge remains popular in Enfield because of its Tudor roots and a new care home was built a few years ago, called – Eylsnge, the spirit of Henry V111 still lives on though himself and his children have long departed, apart from the odd ghost behind the willow tree however.
I have another spooky take to tell, some years ago my friend and I booked up to spend the new year at Hampton Court, it was a haunted evening event and we enjoyed ourselves very much, light refreshments were laid on and we were given a guided tour around the place, all in the dark and it was very creepy, we then came to the haunted gallery though this area is often disputed, and our guide told us some have often felt sick in that area and some pour soul actually collapsed, a bodiless hand has often been seen and then she told us to walk down the hall on our own, there was some older lady who was very brave and jauntily sauntered down there and I envied her courage, however me and my friend did not want to walk on our own so we walked together slowly, down the hall, half way down my friend startled said a hand had grasped her knee, that frightened me and we both then ran down the length of the hall, I recall I hurt the muscles in the back of my leg and to this day, she insists she felt something, Jo is very psychic and often sees blue orbs, could her unseen assailant have been Henry V111 or his tragic girl Queen Catherine Howard, or maybe it was Will Somers I can imagine he would like to frighten a nervous woman, in the pub opposite the palace were we went before just to have a drink, Dutch courage! Sybil Penn Edward V1’s old nurse has been seen to visit but mostly these old tales are baloney, a few years before we visited the palace in the summer, and we were asking one of the staff who worked in the gift shop if they had experienced anything paranormal, and we were told once the cleaners were in about six in the morning, and they could hear music and voices coming from the great hall beyond, they were puzzled and a bit afraid as they knew they were the only ones in the building, they opened the great old oak door and there was nothing, just silence, the vast hall was empty yet they all swore they could hear music and the gabbling of voices, if I lived near Hampton Court I would probably apply for a job there in the gift shop maybe, as out of all Henry V111’s palaces I love Hampton Court the best, regal imposing and outstandingly beautiful, but it’s such a long way to travel taking about three hours by train, another tale I heard is a party of people were seen during the day by a visitor or one of the gardeners, cannot recall which, but this group of people walked chatting along the gardens before suddenly vanishing, I think they were said to have been dressed in twenties fashion, so no Tudor or medieval but still intriguing nonetheless.
They used to tell a couple of really good stories at Speke Hall, Liverpool, Tudor House circa 1580s for main house but original building is much older, which sadly they are not allowed to tell, mainly because they are not true, the history doesn’t fit, but they are good nonetheless. So I will relay the best known of the two.
Once a Henry Norris (no relationship with the Groom of the stool executed with Anne Boleyn) married a beautiful young woman called Margaret, with whom he was very much in love. Henry was a widower and a Catholic and Margaret his second wife. With his first wife he had nine children. Alas and alack all but three died in their youth and all whom lived were girls so Henry needed a son in order for them to succeed. So the forty year old gentleman knight brought home his beautiful wife and everyone loved her, including his brother, James Norris, who was much younger and closer in age to the beautiful Margaret. In the course of time Margaret gave birth to a healthy son and heir and Henry was happy. That happiness wasn’t to last and Henry found out his beloved wife was having a love affair with James, his restless younger brother and the child wasn’t his. Henry was mortified and left the Hall in a rage. However, his rage only grew as he shed tears in the local inn and drowned his sorrows. James went looking for his brother to beg his forgiveness but it was too late. Henry met him on the way back to the Hall and all hell broke out. The two men fought, swords were drawn and James was run through, despite his brothers obvious condition. That night he came home still in a murderous rage and burst into the nursery attended by a nurse. He threw the unfortunate woman to the ground, stormed off to confront his wife, pregnant with her second child. Henry sobered at the sight of his wife, terrified and shielding her growing belly from her enraged husband. The tale gets even darker as now Henry returned to the nursery and taking the baby, threw it out of the window into the moat. He then sobered once more at the horror of what he had just done. He gave orders for his son to be rescued but it was too late, the baby was dead, his hysterical mother on the floor weeping over her baby’s tiny corpse. Henry knew he was finished and would hang for these twin murders and in his despair, proceeding up to the Tower Room, stepped out before anyone could stop him and he too drowned in the Moat.
The staff in the nursery rooms and tower room and at times in the grounds have reported that the cradle rocks by itself, the sound of a woman crying can be heard and the shape of a man, distraught and angry can be seen in the gallery and gardens as well as the nursery. Its believed to be Sir Henry or his wife and their baby son who haunt Speke Hall and for years that was told to visitors on official tours. However, there was always a disclaimer that whoever it was, it cannot be Sir Henry as he actually had all nine children alive, yes he did marry again and Margaret gave him another eight children. He had plenty of sons to be his heir, the first baby growing up to be a healthy man with a long life and good career. He did have three younger siblings, none of whom was killed and his wife was a remarkable woman.
So what of the story. Invented for the tourists? Well not quite, as a baby crying and strange noises coming from the nursery are still heard and reported. Was there a tragic loss not in the official records or lost in time? Possibly as a number of children died in infancy at the time. What about a secret affair? Well certainly Lady Margaret was faithful but there where rumours that her predecessor, Lady Mary was a bit of a tart and that one or more of her children had dubious parentage. Her death also occurred in mysterious circumstances. So was Sir Henry a killer after all? The Archives are silent up to now.
I had a creepy experience, probably with these stories in mind. I was downstairs in the library and saw someone walk behind me in later Tudor dress and couldn’t find them when I turned around. I went outside and saw the lady in the Courtyard, a number of people listening to her tales. I realised it was a living historian as Lady Norris, the first wife, Lady Mary. It was a bit weird as her marriage wasn’t all that happy, despite her nine children, seven of whom lived into adulthood. She was 37 when she died. I know it was the actress going past in Tudor dress but it was still very odd and disconcerting given the history of the House and the tales they used to tell.
Its a great pity they can’t tell the tales still as this is good for the tourists and they always told the disclaimer. I really think the rules today such as misrepresentation get in the way of a really good yarn and take the fun out of visits to old haunted or not so haunted houses. I would be surprised if a Hall or Castle didn’t have the obligatory ghost. They have more character when they do.
Thats a good story Bq, dark and bloodthirsty and very very sad and tragic, but I think as you mention myths get added on to old tales for drama, and they distorted over the years, seeing a cot rocking by itself must be scary to watch however and hearing a baby crying, I have heard of Speke Hall, I think the Most Haunted team have been there, they seem to have been everywhere, my friend and I are both avid ghost hunters as you have probably realised, and we have been on some of their haunted evening events, if you get a celebrity like Yvette Fielding or her husband, or Stuart it costs more, we always have Fred Batt and he just costs an extra tenner ha! We visited The Ragged School in the east end, once a Barnardo’s school and refuge for poor children and we also visited the London Tombs, this tourist attraction is built over the site of many plague victims, it was fascinating because we made contact with a little girl called Mary, she died of the plague when she was about five and Yvette’s daughter was part of the group, there was a group of noisy drunk women who were a bit of a nuisance and they got thrown out, when we did the Ragged School we got another little girl and a little boy came through, they were sweet, my friend thought she saw a dark shadow in one of the rooms, it was eerie seeing the old Victorian desks with the ink wells all worn over the years, there was another spirit who came through, and he was not as sweet as our other visitors, he was very rude and insulting an older man who used profanities which I won’t mention, we use communication such as seances ouigi boards dousing etc, now I know many think it’s just a con and we’re are not really communicating with the dead, but strange things do happen which you can’t often explain, I keep am open mind and find it all fun, Fred says a prayer after we end the ouigi board to protect us from dark entities following us home, and he does stipulate that if any does not wish to take part they don’t have to, which is fair as most are frightened of using them, yes every old castle building and monasteries, ruins of old monasteries etc, must boast at least one or two ghosts, there is always the grey lady or the white lady, a headless horseman, they are very popular in the mind of the ghost hunter and tourist, I recall reading a book of ghost stories when young, written just for teenagers and the forward was by a man who once lived in Borley Rectory, an old sprawling house in Essex, once famous for being called the most haunted house in England, it boasted a multitude of ghosts headless horseman the lot, and was the subject of a television documentary once, they used a recorder which picked up the most awful grunts and sighs and a strange green mist was caught on camera, however regarding the gentleman who had written in the book, he stated he and his family had lived in Borley Rectory for many years but sadly, neither heard nor saw anything paranormal so I think a lot are just village tales passed on down the centuries, but it makes one wonder….