Calverley Church nr Bradford

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Calverley Church

nr Bradford

Old Calverley, Old Calverley, I have thee by the ears, I'll cut thee into collops, unless thee appears

This is the rhyme which traditionally the local boys used to recite as they would run round in a circle in Calverley Churchyard, with their caps thrown into the middle of the circle , they would then stop and throw a mixture of pins and crumbs on top of the caps. The bravest of the boys would then be dared to approach the door of the church and whistle through the keyhole to summon the ghost in the church. It is reported that on one occasion the ghost actually responded, appearing and the boys could not get out of the churchyard quickly enough. Had it been the ghost of Walter Calverley that had appearred to them

Its reported in history that a Walter Calverley had a reputation for being a rather reckless young man its also said that he had also inherited a degree of insanity from his mother's side of the family. He had squandered a large sum of money inherited to him by his father, and by 1604, was in debt and was being plagued by money-lenders demanding the return of money they had loaned him. On top of that, his wife was a very jealous woman, accusing him of having a mistress but its reported that he had infact always had been a faithful husband although reckless with money.
Its reported that walter stabbed his two children to death (there is a record of these murders in 1605) and would have killed his wife also but a steel corset she had been wearing had protected her from a blow with a knife when walter its said is meant to have gone mad and ran amok with a knife on 23rd April. Feigning death, walter is then reported to have left his wife laid on the floor , dashed from the house to the stables , mounted his horse, riding to Norton inorder to try to murder his other son, who was staying there. Fortunately the alarm was raised and he was captured by his pursuers before he could get to Norton.

After his arrest, his sanity appeared to return. Its reported that when he stood for trial at York for the murder of his two children he refused to plead, thus saving his estates for his remaining son to inherite ( If he had been found guilty of murder, the law states quite clearly that his estates would have been forfeited to the Crown in those years). However, the penalty for refusing to plead to such a charge was 'peine forte et dure' - death by pressing - and this he suffered at York Castle. One of his retainers is said to have attempted to relieve him of his suffering by trying to strangle him to death but was hanged for his act of mercy.

After his death, Walter Calverley's body was buried at York, but later secretly transferred to Calverley Churchyard, and his ghost has been seen many times since then in the church and the surrounding countryside riding a horse, is it his ghost once more trying to make that last ride towards Norton in a fit of insanity to murder his surviving son