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sinfulldude · Joined: 08 Feb 2009 Posts: 50

Grey Lady

The Sheffield village of Aston has many ancient buildings and several local legends and hauntings associated with these, including tales of murder in the old Aston Hall, and rumours of secret underground tunnels said to riddle the terrain.

The old Aston Rectory supposedly housed the spirit of a mysterious Grey Lady in period costume (whose identity is open to dispute) who would glide along in crinolines, and is even reported to have spoken to two women in the 1900's and introduced herself as Dorothy! The site of the building is thought to have foundations of over 600 years in age, although most of the later Rectory was designed by the noted architect John Carr in the late 1700's.

Local resident Mrs Eleanor Gorka spotted the Grey Lady for herself, standing at her bedroom window and looking down over the garden. She described her as young and slim, and, of course, dressed in grey. After this sighting, another three people came forward independently to report having seen the same spectre in broad daylight.

Local legend has it that Dorothy was either a daughter of the house or a maidservant, who was murdered by a footman (possibly her lover) and haunted the place thereafter. Her footsteps were often heard crossing the landing at 6 o'clock precisely each evening. When Dorothy appeared to two local women earlier this century and introduced herself, she informed them that they would be able to verify her existence by searching for her name in the parish register, and gave the year under which they should look. The women duly checked and found that their ghost's name was indeed recorded in the parish register, and so the woman had existed.

It is alleged that an exorcism once took place at Aston Rectory, presumably to rid the building of Dorothy's presence. The medium involved claimed that the spirit of Dorothy was about to reveal the location of hidden treasure... in great excitement, a small party searched the spot, but found nothing there. Dorothy obviously had the last laugh!