In his 1980's book "Timpson's England a look beyond the obvious" author and broadcaster John Timpson writes of Barnwell Abbey:
"For sheer variety in ghosts it would have been difficult to beat Barnwell Abbey House in Cambridge. There was a squire, and a White Lady, and a poltergiest, and a disembodied head. There was also the statutory clanking chain and, less likely, a ghostly squirrel and a hare."
Timpson goes on to suggest combining all the above into one ghost story but concludes with:
"But alas it is too late. All that remains is a building called Cellarers Chequer and these restless spirits with their ghostly menagerie must have long since departed."
But have they?
Barnwell Priory itself fell victim to the Reformation and was dissolved in 1538 subsequently falling into ruin, Abbey House was built on priory land and Abbey House is reputed to be very haunted.
One ghost is that of Squire Jacob Butler, the oldest barrister in England. He inherited the Barnwell Priory Estate in 1714 and kept it until 1759 when he sold it for 9,999 guineas.
Squire Jacob Butler was very much a larger than life character, not only in physique, at 6ft 4ins in height he was tall for his time, but also in habit. He oversaw the St Bartholomew's Day Stourbridge Fair Booths, at one time one of the largest medieval trading fairs in Europe, and was quite a stickler for seeing that traders observed the rules. One year, when traders failed to leave their pitches on time, he drove his carriage through the crockery stalls causing untold damage to the traders wares.
He was fascinated by the "freak shows" at such fairs and always invited the dwarfs and giants to dine with him when the fair was on.
Butler was reputed to want good value for money, with this in mind he commissioned his coffin well before his death and proceeded to use it, upturned, to play cards on. He was also known to lie down in it when he was tired.
He lived to the ripe old age of 84 dying of grief shortly after the death of his pet dog whom he had taught to accompany him whilst walking on its hind legs.
Jacob Butler left very specific instructions with regard to his funeral, obviously he was to be buried in his specially commissioned coffin, which was to be taken to St Andrews the Less church by cart drawn by his favourite horses, Dragon and Barg. The coffin was to be interred either at the church or in the grounds of Abbey House.
Unfortunately due to the massive size of the coffin, it's said that it was large enough to hold several bodies, Butler's executors simply had his body placed in the family vault.
Maybe that's why Squire Jacob Butler continued to visit Abbey House along with his dog for years after his death.
Abbey House residents, Professor and Mrs Lawson, gave detailed accounts of the apparitions that appeared during their tenancy of the old Barnwell Priory Abbey House, 1903 - 1911 which included a little brown animal, presumed to be Squire Butler's dog, they named it Wolfie.
"Wolfie" was also seen by other young children over the years including Christopher who in 1947 declared, "Oh look! Tiny doggie!"
The Lawson's also experienced banging on doors, the sounds of heavy footsteps and regular visitations from a nun who, between the hours of midnight and 4am would walk to the foot of the bed in the master bedroom where she would stand for a few moments before turning to walk toward the window and vanish.
Local folklore has it that the nun was from the Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund who visited her lover, a monk, via a tunnel that was said to link St Radegund's with Barnwell Priory. She was eventually caught on her nightly sojourns and tradition says she was bricked up in the tunnel. Although no skeleton has been found apparently evidence of the tunnel was found during excavations for the building of the Elizabeth Way bridge.
In the 1920s a disembodied head was reportedly seen at the foot of a Mrs Ascham's bed. This was investigated by the President of the Society of Psychical Research, Professor F J M Stratton, who reported hearing mutterings and singing from an empty room.
A more modern ghost was witnessed during the 1980s, along with a procession of 5 or 6 white nun type figures. The modern apparition was that of a grey haired gentleman dressed in a grey jacket, a coloured shirt and a dark tie, he was surrounded by a bright light.
"For sheer variety in ghosts it would have been difficult to beat Barnwell Abbey House in Cambridge. There was a squire, and a White Lady, and a poltergiest, and a disembodied head. There was also the statutory clanking chain and, less likely, a ghostly squirrel and a hare."
Timpson goes on to suggest combining all the above into one ghost story but concludes with:
"But alas it is too late. All that remains is a building called Cellarers Chequer and these restless spirits with their ghostly menagerie must have long since departed."
But have they?
Barnwell Priory itself fell victim to the Reformation and was dissolved in 1538 subsequently falling into ruin, Abbey House was built on priory land and Abbey House is reputed to be very haunted.
One ghost is that of Squire Jacob Butler, the oldest barrister in England. He inherited the Barnwell Priory Estate in 1714 and kept it until 1759 when he sold it for 9,999 guineas.
Squire Jacob Butler was very much a larger than life character, not only in physique, at 6ft 4ins in height he was tall for his time, but also in habit. He oversaw the St Bartholomew's Day Stourbridge Fair Booths, at one time one of the largest medieval trading fairs in Europe, and was quite a stickler for seeing that traders observed the rules. One year, when traders failed to leave their pitches on time, he drove his carriage through the crockery stalls causing untold damage to the traders wares.
He was fascinated by the "freak shows" at such fairs and always invited the dwarfs and giants to dine with him when the fair was on.
Butler was reputed to want good value for money, with this in mind he commissioned his coffin well before his death and proceeded to use it, upturned, to play cards on. He was also known to lie down in it when he was tired.
He lived to the ripe old age of 84 dying of grief shortly after the death of his pet dog whom he had taught to accompany him whilst walking on its hind legs.
Jacob Butler left very specific instructions with regard to his funeral, obviously he was to be buried in his specially commissioned coffin, which was to be taken to St Andrews the Less church by cart drawn by his favourite horses, Dragon and Barg. The coffin was to be interred either at the church or in the grounds of Abbey House.
Unfortunately due to the massive size of the coffin, it's said that it was large enough to hold several bodies, Butler's executors simply had his body placed in the family vault.
Maybe that's why Squire Jacob Butler continued to visit Abbey House along with his dog for years after his death.
Abbey House residents, Professor and Mrs Lawson, gave detailed accounts of the apparitions that appeared during their tenancy of the old Barnwell Priory Abbey House, 1903 - 1911 which included a little brown animal, presumed to be Squire Butler's dog, they named it Wolfie.
"Wolfie" was also seen by other young children over the years including Christopher who in 1947 declared, "Oh look! Tiny doggie!"
The Lawson's also experienced banging on doors, the sounds of heavy footsteps and regular visitations from a nun who, between the hours of midnight and 4am would walk to the foot of the bed in the master bedroom where she would stand for a few moments before turning to walk toward the window and vanish.
Local folklore has it that the nun was from the Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund who visited her lover, a monk, via a tunnel that was said to link St Radegund's with Barnwell Priory. She was eventually caught on her nightly sojourns and tradition says she was bricked up in the tunnel. Although no skeleton has been found apparently evidence of the tunnel was found during excavations for the building of the Elizabeth Way bridge.
In the 1920s a disembodied head was reportedly seen at the foot of a Mrs Ascham's bed. This was investigated by the President of the Society of Psychical Research, Professor F J M Stratton, who reported hearing mutterings and singing from an empty room.
A more modern ghost was witnessed during the 1980s, along with a procession of 5 or 6 white nun type figures. The modern apparition was that of a grey haired gentleman dressed in a grey jacket, a coloured shirt and a dark tie, he was surrounded by a bright light.
Comments
Post a Comment