Haunted Isles -in the company of spirits

"Now I remember those old women's words, Who in my wealth would tell me winter's tales, And speak of spirits and ghosts that glide by night." The Jew of Malta ~ Christopher Marlowe 

There is a strong tradition of the Boleyn's haunting Blickling Hall near Alysham in Norfolk, not just Anne but also her father, Thomas, and her brother, George. Blickling was home to Anne's parents, Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Howard, until 1505 when Thomas's father died and they moved to Hever castle in Kent. There are no official records of Anne Boleyn's birth date, or place of birth, but many historians, including Antonia Fraser, put Anne's date of birth at around 1501 although others have placed it as late as 1507. If she was born before 1505, which is highly likely, it would probably have been at Blickling. Local legend says that on the anniversary of her execution Anne returns to Blickling in a carriage driven by a headless coachman drawn by headless horses. Anne herself is said to carry her head on her lap. National Trust staff have over the years had several encounters with the ghost of a lady dressed in grey who some believe to be th...

Sutton Hoo site of one of the most remarkable archaeological finds in the UK, the 7th century Anglo - Saxon ship burial of (possibly) Raedwald ruler of the East Angles might never have been excavated if it wasn't for ghosts. Despite being the site of a number of burial mounds it had been assumed that, due to centuries of looting,  there was nothing left to excavate at Sutton Hoo until that is Dorothy Cox a friend of Tranmer House's owner Edith Pretty saw the ghosts of Anglo Saxon soldiers processing around one of the burial mounds. Everytime Dorothy Cox visited her friend she saw the ghostly soldiers and encouraged Edith to have the mound excavated. In 1938 Edith Pretty arranged for farmer, archaeologist, Basil Brown to excavate the area at her own expense. In the Spring of 1939 Basil Brown discovered the perfectly preserved form of a ship some 27 metres long, the rest as they say is history. But would the barrows ever have been excavated if Dorothy Cox hadn't seen th...

The tragic Nine Day Queen, Lady Jane Grey, was executed on 12th February 1554 her ghost is said to haunt the Tower of London, Astley Castle and Bradgate Park. Has the ghost of Lady Jane Grey been captured in this video taken at her former home Bradgate?

Visit Ayot St Lawrence in Hertfordshire and you may hear the roar of a motorcycle, Lawrence of Arabia's motorcycle. Thomas Edward Lawrence was a friend and frequent visitor to  Ayot St Lawrence resident, George Bernard Shaw and it would seem that the ghosts of both Lawrence and Shaw are still present in the village. Lawrence of Arabia's motorcycle has been heard travelling the Hertfordshire lanes to Shaw's Corner, former home of George Bernard Shaw. Shaw's ashes are buried there. He died in 1950 and his housekeeper, Mrs Alice Laden, saw and heard him in the house several times after his death. Ayot St Lawrence seems to be a bit of a magnet for famous ghosts with some folk saying that Anne Boleyn haunts the Manor House. There's an old legend that Henry VIII and Anne were riding past Ayot St Lawrence when a courtier, Nicholas Bristow, admired the place and asked whose it was. Henry replied, "It is mine, but now shall be your's" and apparently gave Ni...

Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour is said to haunt The Silver Stick Staircase at Hampton Court Palace. This part of the palace is not open to the public, the video below gives us an opportunity to see it for ourselves. It also shows one of her rooms, again not open to the public.

Henry VIII died at around 2am on 28th January 1547 he was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle on 15th February. Henry VIII is one of the many ghosts who haunt Windsor Castle. Ghostly groans and the sound of someone dragging their leg whilst walking have been attributed to Henry who spent his later years in agony due to an ulcerated leg. Henry VIII's coffin (centre) is pictured above in an 1888 sketch by Alfred Young Nutt, Surveyor to the Dean and Canons, Windsor Castle. Henry's coffin was damaged and Nutt recorded that some bodily remains were visible. 

Following her November 1501 marriage to Arthur, Prince of Wales, Catherine of Aragon was sent to live in Ludlow, it is said she resided, with her Spanish entourage, in the medieval Castle Lodge until after Arthur's death in 1502 when she returned to London. The ghost of a teenage girl, said to be Catherine of Aragon, has been seen in the attic rooms and nursery of the  Elizabethan Tudor mansion house that occupies the site of Catherine's Ludlow home. Visitors to Castle Lodge have also commented on cold spots and a disturbing feeling of being watched. Historically we know very little about Catherine's time in Ludlow but it can be assumed that it was a difficult and unhappy time for the sixteen year old Princess of Wales. For a start Catherine was not supposed to accompany her husband to Ludlow at all. The plan, agreed with Catherine's parents, Ferdinand and Isabel of Spain, had been for her to remain at court in London where she would learn the English languag...