Haunted Isles -in the company of Grace Clairmont

  Catherine of Aragon, the daughter of  King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, originally came to England in 1501 as the bride to the 15 year old heir to the Tudor throne, Prince Arthur, Prince of Wales who died shortly after their marriage. Catherine always denied that their marriage was consummated. During her brief marriage to Arthur she resided in a property close to Ludlow Castle where the Elizabethan mansion Castle Lodge now stands. The Lodge is said to be haunted by a teenage girl believed by some to be the ghost of Catherine of Aragon. I've written about that previously: https://hauntedisles.blogspot.com/2015/01/catherine-of-aragons-ghost-castle-lodge.html Catherine eventually married Henry VIII a few weeks after his accession to the throne, they were crowned together in 1509. After 23 years of marriage Henry separated from Catherine in 1531 in order to marry Anne Boleyn. It took another 2 years for Henry to get the marriage annulled, something that...

Lady Jane Grey 12th February - Lady Jane Grey The tragic Nine Day Queen, Lady Jane Grey, was executed on the 12th February 1554 at the The Tower of London. Her ghost is said to haunt the vicinity of The Tower's Bloody Tower on this day, it appears as a white shape. 13th February - Lady Luvibond The Lady Luvibond ran aground on the Goodwin Sands on 13th February 1748 resulting in the loss of all hands. The ghost ship Lady Luvibond is said to re-enact the tragedy every 50 years. On one occasion, 1848, long-shoremen actually saw the ship run aground and attempted a rescue, but there was no ship there! 15th February - The Drummer Boy of Hickling Broad, Norfolk The Drummer Boy of Hickling Broad is said to appear skating across the Broad on the 15th of February. It was in February 1815 that the drummer boy lost his life skating across the frozen Broad to meet with the village girl he'd fallen in love with. Ghostly drumming sounds have also been reported. 25th February - Sir Christoph...

  This is Emily a porcelain doll belonging to a 50 something witch we'll call Angela (name change for the sake of anonymity).  Angela purchased Emily from Ebay as a "little sisiter" to a haunted doll already in her possesion. She says that she had never thought about collecting haunted dolls until one day she noticed a doll for sale in a new age type shop she had visited to buy some coloured spells candles. The doll that caught her attention was said to be haunted by the spirit of a 7 year old girl named Louise and for some reason unknown to herself Angela was very drawn to her. At first she ignored this feeling, bought the spell candles and left the shop, but, she couldn't get Louise out of her mind so returned next day and bought her. Nothing much happened with Louise, or so Angela thought, though she did find herself putting children's TV programs on for the doll to watch. Also she began to feel that Louise was lonely and needed a companion, a sister. This led ...

  The 18th century folksong "A Spanish Lady's Love to an English Sailor" is reputed to tell the story of Sir John Bolle and Donna Leonora Oviedo. There are serval versions of the story, one states that Donna Leonora fell in love with Sir John Bolle ( 1560 -1606) when he was in charge of keeping her in custody at the time of the Siege of Cadiz. The other version has Sir John Bolle as the prisoner and Donna Leonora arranging his escape. Both versions agree that Donna Leonora loved Sir John Bolle very much, and that he returned to his wife Elizabeth. Upon parting Donna Leonora gave Sir John a portrait of herself in a green dress. Versions differ as to what happened next, some say Donna Leonora Oviedo entered a convent where she spent the rest of her life. The more dramatic version of this tale of unrequited love has the Spanish lady following Sir John to his home, Thorpe Hall, in England where she committed suicide in the garden.  Wherever Donna Leonora died, ...

Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel "The Haunting of Hill House" has been adapted to film a few times, the 1999 Jan de Bont adaptation with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zita Jones and Owen Wilson used Harlaxton Manor near Grantham in Lincolnshire for the exterior shots. Harlaxton is a house which is itself believed to be haunted. Built by Gregory Gregory (1786-1854) the current Harlaxton Manor replaces a 14th century manor house formerly used as a hunting lodge by John of Gaunt, later purchased by Gregory's ancestor Daniel De Ligne.  Sadly Daniel's first child died in a tragic accident. The death of the baby had been foretold to Daniel and his wife Elizabeth who did everything they could to prevent this tragedy. They employed a nursemaid to stay with the child at all times. The nurse did her best to obey her employers instructions but fell asleep whilst holding the babe who slipped out of her arms and into the fire. (Source: Mrs Delves Broughton "Beautiful Homes: Harlaxto...

In the midst of a thunder storm on 4th August 1577 Black Shuck appeared in Suffolk, the huge black dog with blazing red eyes burst in through the door of the Church of St Mary in Bungay  and proceeded to run "all along down the body of the church with great swiftnesse and incredible haste, among the people, in a visible fourm and shape, passed between two persons, as they were kneeling uppon their knees, and occupied in prayer as it seemed, wrung the necks of them bothe at one instant clene backward, in somuch that even at a momet where they kneeled, they stragely dyed" ( quote Abraham Fleming ) "This black dog or the divel in such a likenesse" ( quote Abraham Fleming ) then made his way to Blythburgh, just outside Southwold on the coast, where the storm was lashing down upon the Church of The Holy Trinity.  Black Shuck threw open the church doors and leapt into the church in the middle of a service: "All down the church in midst of fire, the hellish monste...