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The haunting of Ayot St Lawrence ghost stories from a Hertfordshire village

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 Nicholas his hat and the Queen's slippers as proof of intent.

Henry's hat and Anne's slippers have remained at the estate ever since.


Sadly there is something a little awry with the story as Ayot St Lawrence didn't belong to the Crown until 1539, 3 years after the death of Anne Boleyn, It was granted to Nicholas Bristow, John Alway and John Brockett in 1543.

The Brockett name is immortalized in the village by another haunted location The Brocket Arms. Famously this 14th century inn is haunted by the ghost of a monk who was hanged there. There's a poem about him displayed behind the bar:

A monk had ridden as he fled from the mob
Of howling villains who fear no God.
They slung him up to a beam in the bar
Declaring he should not have ridden so far.

If you do go ghost hunting in Ayot St Lawrence be sure to avoid Hollowdane Spring in Brimstone Wood where a witch was burned to death. As well as having a very unpleasant atmosphere it's believed that bad luck will follow anyone who enters that particular clump of trees.

Image: King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn by William Power Frith (1819-1909)

Comments

  1. anthony c penny15 June 2017 at 14:25

    I was born in Ayot in 1938.In my early days I and my brothers used to play in the grounds and also the house This was during the War years. In charge of the house ,which was home to the land girls was a Mrs Reece ,her son was our playmate.It did feel a bit spookey at times though we never encountered any ghosties. Someday perhaps when im dead and gone that I can go back to the place that I love dearly and do some gentle haunting. ACP Wells

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