A few Gloucestershire & Cotswolds Ghosts

admin sinfulldude · A few Gloucestershire & Cotswolds Ghosts

(was written and posted by madmart former forum's ADMIN )

Cotswold House Hotel

Cotswold House Hotel stands in the fine square of Chipping Campden.
The name Campden, or Camperdene, appears to be Saxon, meaning 'valley with fields'
The first detailed written reference to Campden is in the Domesday Book of 1085, which records that, before the Norman conquest of England, the manor of Camperdene had been held by King Harold.

Around 1185, it received its charter as a borough, and the new market was established in the present High Street. By the early 13th century, the market area was being called 'Cepynge Caumpedene' (or 'Market Campden'), and in the 14th century it was well established as a
wool town.

Cotswold House has only been a hotel since the late 1930s, but buildings have stood on this site since mediaeval times. We know this because in the hotel cellars there is evidence of the foundations of earlier houses and a mediaeval well.

The house, as you see it today, was built in 1802 by Richard Miles, a prosperous local merchant. He was elected bailiff of Chipping Campden several times and was obviously an important person in town. He apparently demolished the existing buildings on the site to make way for his new property.

He clearly had ambitious plans, commissioning a fine Regency ashlar-faced house with an impressive portico, held up by detached fluted Tuscan columns and a splendid curving staircase. He also remodelled North End Terrace in Leysbourne, and Miles House in the same village is named after him. Miles is buried in an altar tomb in a railed enclosure in the churchyard to the south of St James's Church, under the tower.

At the end of the 19th century a Dr Smith lived here, and his son, the Hollywood film actor Aubrey Smith, was born here and went to the grammar school. Dr Smith's assistant lived in Ardley House, now The King's Arms next door, and the cottages between the two buildings (now the Ashbee, Griggs, Kiftsgate and Hidcote Cottage rooms) were used as the surgery. You can still see the blocked doorway that led to Ardley House.

These cottages are older than the house and it is possible they were on a packhorse lane that went through Cotswold House grounds to the Noel Arms' arch across the High Street.

A local man, Fred Coldicott, remembered a Dr Morris living at Cotswold House. In 1918, Fred's brother, Bill, worked for Colonel Paley who then owned the property. Bill's job was to work in the garden, milk the Jersey cow and help with Paley's son's polo ponies. His wage was eight shillings a week.

The last owners of Cotswold House, as a private house, were Miss Warden and Mrs Wallace who kept horses and dogs. Their Great Danes and wolfhounds would bark behind the gates and the railings, which then enclosed a front garden.

There were several proprietors after it became a hotel in the thirties, the first being a Mr and Mrs James Hargreave. In 1963 Mr Graeme Black bought the hotel and he ran it with Geoffrey Douglass. One winter in the mid-60s, Mr Black's brother looked after the hotel. When Mr Black returned from holiday, his brother reported a peaceful watch, but 'who' he asked, 'was the rude woman who didn't speak whenever I said good morning?' He described her to his brother as a lady dressed in a shawl and wearing a blue bonnet. 'That,' said Black, 'was Mrs Wallace.' He seemed familiar with this non-paying guest and apparently was not the first to have seen her haunt the hotel.

The adjoining property, Charlecote House, was purchased in the 1960s when the hotel expanded, and the downstairs is now Hicks' Brasserie. Dating from 1650, Charlecote is an architectural conundrum, and once had Elizabethan windows that have now been removed - one was sold in 1933 to America for £100! A matching ashlar-stone face was added in the 1740s, but its essential character has stayed the same.

Charlecote, too, came complete with a resident ghost. It has been seen only once or twice, unlike Mrs Wallace's ghost - who is seen from time to time on the circular staircase and top landing. But don't worry. Both ghosts are said to be very friendly!

----------------------------------------------------------------
The Ram Inn

The Ancient Ram Inn is perhaps Gloucestershire's most famous haunted pub. Read one visitor's account of eerie events which took place there almost thirty years ago.

Located in the Gloucestershire village of Wotton-under-Edge, The Ancient Ram Inn is a frequent fixture on "most haunted" lists.

Owner John Humphries claims his 11th century listed home is host to a catalogue of spooks, from poltergeists to hooded monks, and many visitors have left with tales of strange phenomena.

A Mr Stephen Barstow tells us: "30 years ago my parents had some rather strange experiences at the Ram Inn in Wotton-on-the- Edge. They are now in their late seventies. Having heard other accounts of ghost-like experiences at the Ram Inn , they would very much like to share their experiences ."

Mr Barstow's Story

In 1975, my wife and I, on a tour of the West Country, came across the Ram Inn by chance, a 13th century building that offered bed and breakfast.

Having decided to try it as it was getting late, we entered the car park and found a rope with a message saying ‘Please Pull’.

After a short while we heard a voice, but could not see where it came from, until we looked up and a man was looking out of a window in the roof. He said he would be down in a minute.

Afterwards we found he slept on a mattress on a small platform in the roof space and presumably he had been resting. He told us all three rooms, were full but there was a bed in the old stable that we could have temporarily as a guest was leaving the next day. We agreed.

Afterwards we went to a local pub nearby for a meal, when the landlord asked us where we were staying. When we told him "The Ram Inn", a customer came over and said, "Did you say you are at the Ram Inn?"

After answering in the affirmative, he said. "I’m a traveller. I once stayed there and like you I came here for a meal and a glass of ale- but I was not drunk when I left. I would never stay there again."

Panic

I was in the Berkeley Room! Now it seems called The Bishop’s Room. I undressed to get into bed and went towards the hand basin in the corner for a wash, when what I can only describe as a cavalier walked through the wall towards me.

I stopped in amazement and it turned around and walked back through the wall. I jumped back into bed and awaited daylight. Thanking him, we returned to the stable bed and during the night, my wife awoke me.

She was in a panic and asked me if I had heard the large high-pitched whistle that seemed to go round and round the room just over her head. At the same time all the lights in the car park were flickering on and off. It took her some time to get back to sleep, so next morning at breakfast we told the owner John Humphries.

There were 3 other couples staying there, including an American twosome. John apologised, explaining that he could not cook breakfast as there was no electricity and showed us the broken wire hanging down outside in the car park. The strange thing was the electricity meter was still turning.

We all gathered round and started to discuss our own experience that night. John was very forthcoming and told us all that he never mentions any strange happenings beforehand, but asks anybody who does, to write to him afterwards after reflection.

Apparition

He then showed us a pile of letters from previous guests and here I quote a couple.

A Doctor, wife and young daughter were in the Berkeley Room in 3 separate single beds. The Doctor awoke at 2 am with his feet absolutely freezing. He turned on the bed lamp thinking his feet were uncovered.

He discovered they were not. His wife woke up and asked if his feet were also cold as hers were freezing. With this, a large green disk about the size of a plate appeared near the washbasin, which then expanded with a black interior until the green was like a ribbon around it.

It then detached itself and waved right round the bedroom and then surrounded the black centre again, shrank and disappeared.

With this, suddenly a monk stood in front of the fireplace at the foot of the Doctor’s bed and walked up and down, eventually sitting down on the child’s bed. With this the girl who had woken up, crying, "Daddy, Daddy, I don’t like that man sitting on my bed, he did it last night." The monk then suddenly disappeared.

We spent the rest of the morning discussing other letters and tales from John. The second bedroom was called ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which had been partitioned off from the Berkeley Room.

Several letters referred to the 'Blue Lady' who haunted that abode. She must have been a maid, as she could not abide untidy bedclothes.

It was said on numerous occasions that people had been pulled off the bed and the bedstead turned right over.

The next night we were allocated Uncle Tom's Cabin, which had two single beds. After a while, I asked my wife Pat if she was too hot. She said no, she was quite cold. I was sweltering and pushed the bedclothes down to my waist and went to sleep. The next morning they were neatly up to my neck and firmly tucked in. Neither my wife nor I did this.

We stayed a few more days and heard other tales. One I remember was a clairvoyant from up north, who came down on a recommendation.

In one session a voice said he was Tom the hostler and there were still some in the town who could remember him.

Intrigued

We were intrigued by our stay and decided to come again next year for our Silver Wedding holiday and wanted the Berkeley Room. We had previously had an experience soon after our marriage.

This we did and our first night, we were in separate beds in that room and I was just dosing off when I opened my eyes and saw a pair of infants forearms glowing in a golden colour with its fingers wriggling about coming towards me in the dark.

I was extremely scared but was unable to move. Suddenly my body jerked and I could move. I called my wife and told her I’m coming in with her, which I did for the next four nights with the lights on. There was a feeling of something there all the time, watching.

The next morning we told John and also about the man in the pub’s story. He showed us a letter written since we came the previous year by a man who, while in bed, had seen a man with a hat, something like an ancient night cap hanging down the side of his head at the other end of the Berkeley Room by the window in the dim light.

He said to himself "I don’t believe in ghosts" and got out of bed and went towards it. He stopped a yard or two from it and stopped. He then took another step forward, and the apparition took one towards him.

The man leaped back into bed and pulled the bedclothes over his head, where they remained the rest of the night.

Strange

We asked John next morning if there were any strange happenings since last year. He said a previous tenant of the former public house had asked to see the old bedroom. She entered and suddenly asked to get out of there as the whole place felt evil. She had had a tale of two child’s skeletons found walled up during renovations.

Another occurrence concerned two American couples who shared the Berkeley and Uncle Tom's Cabin one night.

The couple in the Berkeley complained to John the next morning for being inconsiderate in dragging furniture over the floor in the room above in the roof space all night so they could not sleep. Those in the adjoining room heard nothing.
"Will you come with me?" said John, and took them up a narrow stairway into the roof area.

Apart from a mattress on the floor in an area about 15 feet square there was no furniture and no flooring to the rest of the area, including the Berkeley ceiling at the far end.

To end this saga on a more enlightened note. On our final day, we came back to change for before dinner. My wife went to the bathroom and when she came back she was rather cross and blamed me for frightening her by knocking the walls there. I told her I had not moved from the bedroom.

Suddenly the bedroom door-handles slowly turned and the door slowly pushed open. A face appeared. No, not an apparition, but dear old John Humphries with apologies, saying he thought he heard somebody in the house and came to look.

He had been doing some work in another roof space in the wing part of the Inn and said the knocking was he.

One last item regards John’s late brother.

John went on holiday and asked his brother who lived locally, to occasionally come round to check up for vandals. One night he sat in his car in the car park and noticed in the wing side of the house, that the three rooms downstairs were full of people with old-fashioned clothes, one man with a tall hat.

This man stood watching his brother and along with several other people, appeared in the windows of all the three rooms on occasions.

The ground floor windows on the left where John's brother claimed to have seen apparitions.

He brought John and his wife back after the holiday and told him about this. "Come with me," said John. "Is this the rooms?"

"Yes," said his brother. John took some keys from his pocket and told his brother, "All the connecting rooms are locked."

I once asked John if he had seen anything. "Yes," he said, "once whilst cooking breakfast I looked up and saw a lady in a long blue dress, walk past into what is a solid outside wall.

"Another time I was repairing my motorcycle in the Car Park with my tools spread around. Several of my tools simply disappeared never to be seen again."
------------------------------------------------------------------
Owlpen Manor

This charming little Tudor house is the essence of romanticism and evocativeness. Snuggled well into a densely wooded valley under the edge of the Cotswolds, Owlpen Manor is an unexpected treasure that has somehow managed to remain encapsulated in its own peaceful and secluded time warp. When development of the present house first started over 500 years ago, the de Olepenne family had been settled in the manor since Saxon times. As landowners and ecclesiastical benefactors, the medieval family was well-respected locally and reasonably secure, suggesting that an earlier dwelling house had existed on the site.

When the male line ended in 1464, Owlpen passed into the Daunt family following the marriage between Margery de Olepenne and John Daunt. It was the next two generations who were largely responsible for the building of the manor house, extending and remodelling the core as their wealth increased from Irish land owning interests. Now firmly established in Ireland, the Daunts were using Owlpen Manor purely as a mainland base and by the early 1600s the Cotswold house was suffering from neglect. Enjoying a brief respite from the spreading decay, Owlpen was extensively restored and modernised during the time of the last family members to live in the house.

Detailed accounts exist of the works undertaken by Thomas Daunt in the early 18th century, and remarkably little has altered since his time. During the 1840s a grand Georgian mansion was built at the far end of estate for the Stoughton family, who had recently acquired Owlpen through marriage, but considered the old manor house far too outdated and uncomfortable to fit in with their lifestyle.

Devastated by the collapse of the cloth industry, the population of Owlpen declined, and the abandoned estate gradually fell into dilapidation until popular interest in antiquated properties became fashionable early in the 20th century. Already touched by the evolving Arts and Crafts movement, the Cotswolds was home to many followers of the late William Morris. Inspired by the prospect of improving Owlpen Manor in this tradition, Norman Jewson bought part of the estate in 1925 and spent the next year reviving, preserving and repairing this wonderful, but tired, old property. Sold by Jewson on completion of his works, Owlpen once again became a lively family home where hospitality was the order of the day, especially to the literary world and, in particular, to the many members of the Bloomsbury group.

Today owned and lived in by the Mander family, themselves patrons of the arts, Owlpen Manor has come full circle and is again part of a thriving estate, with the old grist mill, court house and weavers' cottages all contributing in very different roles to the estate's revenue. The delight of discovering this ancient little gem in its idyllic setting is only the beginning of the magical experience. A house with a history divided between abandoned neglect and astoundingly sympathetic restoration, a home full of family treasures happily co-existing with the later Arts and Crafts influence, and a grand old manor that has received many distinguished visitors, three of whom insist on maintaining spiritual contact:- one of
whom is a elegant lady, dressed in a fur-trimmed gown and wimple has been seen walking in the Great Chamber on a number of occasions, and is thought to be Queen Margaret of Anjou who first visited Owlpen in 1471.

admin sinfulldude · MORE GHOST's FROM Gloucestershire & Cotswolds

(was written and posted by madmart former forum's ADMIN )

MORE GHOST's FROM Gloucestershire & Cotswolds

Little Old Lady

Location: Arlingham - Parish church and vicarage
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Wearing black clothing and a white lace cap, the phantom old woman who has been seen in these buildings is said to give off an icy aura.
---------------------------------------
Funeral Possession

Location: Arlington - Manor House
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 24 May 1757
Further Comments: This funeral was said to be an ill omen for the family who owned building - exactly a year after the manifestation was seen by several people, the last male heir died.
----------------------------------------------
Lurking Figure

Location: Avening - Road between village and Minchinhampton
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Thought to be the shade of a suicide, this ghost waits alongside the road, but for what is anyone's guess.
----------------------------------------------

Edward II Screams

Location: Berkeley - Berkeley Castle
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 21 September, reoccurring
Further Comments: Murdered on orders of his wife Queen Isabella (her fate is documented elsewhere in this database), the anniversary of the King's death is marked by his screams echoing around the castle.
---------------------------------------------------
Financial Conversation

Location: Bitton - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950
Further Comments: A witness recalled how he stood outside the vestry door, listening to two men talking about money. When he knocked and walked in, the conversation stopped and the room was empty.
--------------------------------------------------

Motorbike & Sidecar

Location: Bourton on the Water - Roads around Fossebridge
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: August 1997
Further Comments: Three men in a car reported being followed by this aging vehicle, ridden by a man with no crash helmet. It suddenly vanished while close behind them.
-------------------------------------------------

Old Man in Trilby

Location: Cambridge - Private house, Bristol Road
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: After modernising the building, the owners became aware of the presence of an old man, who materialised before the mistress of the house.
-----------------------------------------------

The Mourning Woman

Location: Charfield - Charfield graveyard, memorial to those killed in the Charfield Station rail crash
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 13 October (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Her face covered by her hands, this woman is black is widely believed to be the mother of two children killed in a rail disaster which occurred in 1929. Ten people, including the children, who were killed in the train crash could not be formally identified and are buried in a mass grave.
----------------------------------------------------------
Man and His Dog

Location: Cheltenham - Leckhampton Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1997
Further Comments: A landlord asked a man standing at the bar with a dog what he would like to drink, only for the patron to vanish when he turned away for a second. The landlord was later shown a picture of a man long dead, who he identified as the disappearing customer.
---------------------------------------------
Kiss Me

Location: Cheltenham - Thomas Hardy's House, Victoria Walk
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The house of Captain Thomas Hardy is reputedly haunted, though by whom is unclear.

------------------------------------------------------
Nanny

Location: Cheltenham - Hotel de la Bere (former girl's school)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A nanny who worked for the school hanged herself in her bedroom, and now walks along the corridors checking rooms to ensure her charges are asleep.
---------------------------------------------------
Tall Lady in Black

Location: Cheltenham - Garden Reach house, Pitville Circus Road (currently called St Annes?)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: April 1882 - 1892
Further Comments: During the original ten year spell, the woman is black was seen dozens of times, during both daylight and night time hours. Those who could not see her often reported disembodied footsteps walking down corridors. The ghost may have returned briefly mid twentieth century; a similar figure was seen by a man, and then again by his brother a couple of years later.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Nun

Location: Cheltenham - Former private school in the town, now flats
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1940
Further Comments: A teacher and headmaster at the school, working late, both saw a phantom nun crossing the playground - they approached the figure to speak to it, but when their torch ran out of batteries, they ran away.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Tapping

Location: Cheltenham - Suffolk Arms public house
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Heard in the cellar, this playful spirit knocks whenever anyone goes down into the darkness. As with so many other pub ghosts, she is blamed when items disappear.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Devil's Chimney

Location: Cheltenham - Leckhampton Hill
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: This limestone outcrop is said to lead straight to hell.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rattling Chains

Location: Cherington - Trouble House inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s onwards
Further Comments: Large gusts of wind were felt rushing around this public house, normally accompanied by clanking chains in the 1930s, and events grew so bad that the landlord and his family fled. A lady in a blue dress and pinafore, with either long dark hair or a hooded cloak, has been seen more recently; in 2002 she was seen carrying a tray of bottles through a back door.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lock Out

Location: Chipping Campden - General area
Type: Other
Date / Time: November 1998
Further Comments: Many motorists with remote control keys found themselves unable to open their cars until the vehicle was towed to the outskirts of town, even though locking didn't pose an issue.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Betty

Location: Cirencester - Betty's Grave, crossroads
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Suffering execution and burial at a crossroads for being a witch, the ghost of Betty has failed to find those who killed her and wanders lost around the area near her grave.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

USAF Pilot

Location: Cirencester - Queen Anne's Column, in the park
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: June 1999
Further Comments: Standing against the monument, this young man has been known to talk to members of the public, only to vanish after his first sentence.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armoured Soldier

Location: Cirencester - Torbarrow (or Tar Barrow) Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A couple of local men exploring the hill discovered a secret entrance; they discovered an armour clad fighter concealed inside.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Old Woman

Location: Cirencester - Black Horse Hotel, Castle Street
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 1933, signature still visible
Further Comments: An old lady who appeared in a bedroom scratched a signature into the glass window before vanishing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Faceless Figure

Location: Cirencester - King's Head Hotel
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This ghostly monk has reportedly scared one member of staff into quitting her job, and has upset several members of the public with inopportune manifestation and subsequent disappearing. Another ghost, a cavalier, has also been seen by staff members.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Butler & House

Location: Cold Ashton - Manor House
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: 1930s
Further Comments: A lost woman driver stopped at this building and asked the butler for directions, which he gave. However, she soon found out that the house had been empty for many years, and when she returned, found it in a disused state, completely different from when she first called in.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rider

Location: Compton Abdale - Puesdown Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A man on horseback, considered to be a highwayman, reportedly haunts this building.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Strange Woman

Location: Deerhurst - Lane leading to the priory
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A female phantom has been observed here. She stares intently at any witnesses before quickly moving off and vanishing towards the church.

weirdspirit

Wow Martin you do a super job at this and I really do not know where you get all the stories from but they are so great and so fascinating too.

love and hugs Cindy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Freebird · Gloucestershire - The Ancient Ram Inn

Haunted Location: Gloucestershire - The Ancient Ram Inn was believed to be built on an ancient burial mound and on an important ley line. It is reported to be witness to human sacrifices. Scores of bodies are thought to buried under this haunted building.

The owner discovered that there had been two murders on the premises, one of which was a former Inn Keeper who was either hanged or strangled. There is a very oppressive and even evil atmosphere in this building. Some of the paranormal activity witnessed are such as people being touched, footsteps being heard, rattling of door handles, scratching sounds, light anomalies, objects being moved (poltergeist activity) and there are many photographs of orbs.

Some of the ghostly characters already identified are a Cavalier, a Witch, a Monk, a Black Cat and the spookiest of all a black shape which the owner calls an incubus (an evil male who preys on women).The violent paranormal phenomena of recent times includes, somebody being thrown down the hallway and a teenager, on the same occasion, also being thrown across the room.

visiting mediums have often felt that they are being taken over by an evil presence and this is a recurring theme at the Ram Inn. The Bishop's room is supposedly the most haunted room in The Inn. It appears to have the most evil activity in the building.