Haunted Isles -in the company of Grace Clairmont

  Hello I'm Grace Clairmont and this is the Part 2 of my interview with haunted doll collector Vanessa, if you haven't read the introductory part 1 it can be found by clicking on the link below: Interview with a Haunted Doll Collector Part 1   I, Grace Clairmont, asked Vanessa the haunted doll collector the following questions: Question 1: How did you get into collecting haunted dolls Vanessa? Answer: Through a friend, I was a member of a paranormal group, going on ghosts hunts, that sort of thing. One particular member always brought along a doll to the vigils, I assumed it was for use as a triiger object, but it was more than that. The doll's owner told me that it was a conduit vessel for a talented medium. It wasn't her only doll, she was a spirit keeper and had a small collection of other haunted dolls. I was invited to see them and as they say after that the rest is history. Question 2: How long have you been collecting haunted dolls? Answer: About 10 years. My fi...

  As a result of my Haunted EBay Doll post here  , I was invited into the home of Vanessa, a haunted doll collector. I felt slightly unnerved sitting in Vanessa's living room surrounded by porcelain dolls whilst she made us a pot of tea. There seemed to be a hundred eyes watching me, glass eyes, the room was filled with Vanessa's collection of porcelain dolls. I could hear Vanessa in the kitchen, she was talking to the resident kitchen cat, it wasn't a live cat. It was a spirit cat whose conduit vessel, a large china cat figurine, sat on the work surface. Casting my eyes around the living room I noted several cat ornaments amongst the dolls. Were they ornaments or were they also conduit vessels? And what about the soft toy cat draped across the back of an armchair?   When Vanessa returned to the living room I asked her if her cat collection were also conduit vessels,  "Oh yes," she replied, "I love cats, I'd be a mad cat lady if I wasn't allergic to t...

  Public Domain image: Engraving as published by Cowie and Strange, 1828 The ghost of Anne Boleyn is said to haunt Durham House Street once the site of the London residence of the Durham House stood between the Thames river and the Strand and was frequently used as accommodation Bishop of Durham, Durham House. ion for the Royals, foreign guests and courtiers. Catherine of Aragon lived there in 1502 after the death of Prince Arthur. Wolsey resided at Durham House whilst the building works on York Place were being completed. Thomas Cranmer worked on Henry and Catherine of Aragon's divorce papers there. In later years Durham House was to be home to Prince Edward, Princess Elizabeth and Sir Walter Raleigh. Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley were married at Durham House in 1553. In 1529 Anne's father, Sir Thomas Boleyn was residing at Durham House and Henry VIII seems to have been a frequent visitor with visits having been recorded during June when he stopped off on his way t...

 Image: Jacobus Houbraken via Wiki Commons  After a long labour that started on the 9th October Jane Seymour gave birth to Henry's longed for son at Hampton Court Palace on Friday 12th Oct 1537. Three days later, wrapped in furs for warmth, she made her last public appearance at the reception for Prince Edward's christening. Jane quickly sickened after her son's christening and by 17th October she was receiving last rites, she died in the early hours of 24th October 1537 probably from some form of child bed fever.  Her embalmed body remained at Hampton Court until November 12th when it was removed for burial in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. There's a legend that Jane's heart was buried, by order of Henry VIII,  under the stone altar in the Hampton Court Chapel Royal where her body lay in state. Jane Seymour's ghost has been seen on both the Silver Stick Staircase where she carries a lighted taper and in Clock Court. Visitor information:  Clock Court i...

  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 ...