Hereford & Worchester Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana
Roger de Clifford
Location: Aconbury - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The ghost of Roger became so troublesome that it was trapped within a bottle and buried under his monument. Despite this, he still returns, and to be touched by the hooded shade is an indication the witness shall die within the year.
Organ Plays
Location: Avenbury - Church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Several times, late at night, the church organ was heard to burst into song, stopping as investigators reach the churchyard.
Return from the Red Sea
Location: Beoley - Exact location unknown
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A ghost that haunted this building was exorcised to the Red Sea for fifty years. When this time expired, the ghost came back, extremely upset about its forced vacation.
Nun
Location: Besford - Besford Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This location is haunted by either a nun or a lady dressed in grey. Or maybe both? An upstairs bedroom is said to be the most popular place for the ghost to materialise.
Boots Made for Walking
Location: Besford - Church Farm, local field named Dog Kennel Piece
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Weather Dependent: Dark, moonless nights
Further Comments: A kennelman was sent by his master to discover what was upsetting a pack of hounds once kept here. The kennelman never returned and in the morning his body was found torn apart by the dogs with only his boots untouched. A ghostly form of the footwear now stomps around the field at night, while the sound of howling hounds drift in the wind.
Moving Shadows
Location: Besford - Dower House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Early twentieth century
Further Comments: Intensely bright phantom lights were seen outside the building, and a few months later, two witnesses watched a jet black shadow cross a wall, though there was no light source present that could have cast it. A strange face would sometimes look through the window at those inside, before slowly fading away, while a misty woman was once seen inside the building.
Steam
Location: Bewdley - Severn Valley Railway, Northwood Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2004
Further Comments: This phantom locomotive is said to be invisible, though it leaves a trail of hazy steam as it passes. The Parasearch team investigated the site in 2008 but did not reach any conclusions.
Man in Black
Location: Bewdley - Talbot Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1989
Further Comments: A photograph taken in the bar after closing hours revealed a blurred unknown man in black in the background. It was also reported that furniture had moved itself and the jukebox would switch itself on.
Devil
Location: Brampton - Brampton Bryan Park
Type: Legend - Old Nick
Date / Time: 03 September (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Local legend says that on the day Cromwell died, the park was laid to waste as the Devil passed though it to collect the soul due to him. Now, once a year, Old Nick rides out and returns to the park to ravage it once more.
Demon Bird
Location: Bransil - Bransil Castle
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A large black bird was once said to protect a pile of hidden gold within the castle grounds. The hoard could not be moved unless the bones of Lord Beauchamp, former owner of the gold, were in possession of the treasure hunter.
Bedroom Shuck
Location: Bredon - Cottage, exact location not known
Type: Shuck
Date / Time: During Second World War
Further Comments: Appearing in a bedroom, this dog had glowing red eyes and warm breath - it disappeared as it approached the bedroom door to leave.
Headless Lady
Location: Bretforton - Church, and surrounding area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A phantom funeral procession arrives at the church, though for whom it represents is a mystery. Fields on either side of the church are said to be haunted by a decapitated woman, carrying her head under arm.
Lola Taplin
Location: Bretforton - The Fleece Inn
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977 onwards
Further Comments: Once the landlady here, the short tempered spirit of Lola now haunts the bar, occasionally throwing food and other objects around the room. One witness reported a feeling of sadness and felt herself being poked in the side. One local legend says that Lola Taplin has taken the form of an owl and watches over the pub.
Spot Loggins
Location: Bretforton - Well on Bretforton House Farm
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Loggins was a cattle drover who drowned in a well located on this farm and is now said to haunt the area around the well. One myth says that if you are blindfolded and run around the well three times, you will lose anything you are carrying. A brand of locally produced ice cream is named after the ghost.
George and the Dragon
Location: Brinsop - Lower Stanks and Duck's Pool Meadow near the church
Type: Dragon
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The village of Brinsop claims to be the location where St George had his famous battle with a dragon. The creature lived in Duck's Pool Meadow but was finally slain at Lower Stanks meadow. An old stone carving in the church depicts the final battle
Tolling Bells
Location: Broadway - Middle Hill wood
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Second World War
Further Comments: A set of church bells were hidden in the forest during the Reformation and forgotten about. They are said to ring at night, and were heard during the Second World War, a time when bell ringing was illegal.
Ephraim Rolfe
Location: Broadway - Road towards Evesham
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A village simpleton, Rolfe was popular with the locals; he was mistakenly killed by a landlord who mistook him for a poacher. His thin and bony form can now be seen in the fields surrounding the road.
Vanishing Boy
Location: Bromsgrove - Avoncroft Museum
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 31 March 2013
Further Comments: While at a re-enactment event, one participant spotted a boy standing by a fireplace in the Merchant's House. The boy was no older than thirteen, with shoulder length wavy hair, a red tunic and a brown leather belt around the waist. As the participant approached the boy, the young lad vanished.
Abhorrent Boar
Location: Bromsgrove - Exact location unknown
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The hero Sir Ryalas battled long and hard before killing a monstrous boar in this region. Upon death the creature transformed into a human, who was recognised as the son of a local woman. Sir Ryalas killed her also.
Mary Yates
Location: Bromsgrove - Harvington Hall
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1998
Further Comments: A former owner of the building in the seventeenth century, Mary has been named as the ghostly elderly woman seen by several people on the site. She is also said to appear at a crossroads outside the park, the site where legend says she was hanged for witchcraft. Back in the hall, other people have reported a phantom old man with a pipe and an Edwardian woman.
Mistress Hicks
Location: Bromsgrove - Road and fields surrounding Harvington Hall (particularly the A448/A450 area)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This woman was executed for being a witch - she was blamed for raising storms and making local women and children vomit pins. Some say she still walks the area.
Steering Wheel Fight
Location: Bromyard - A465 near the town
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twenty-first century
Further Comments: Many of the deaths on the road here are blamed on an entity which grabs the steering wheel and prevents people from turning at corners - the ghost is said to be that of a woman who once died while fighting someone as she sat in the driving seat of a fast moving car.
Where is Anne?
Location: Bromyard - Falcon Hotel
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1964
Further Comments: The ghost of a young gentleman that walks around the second floor of the building has been heard asking the question 'Where is Anne?'.
House of the Dead
Location: Callow - Callow Hill
Type: Environmental Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The building which infrequently materialises on the hill was demolished long ago and was the site of several chilling murders.
Sheltering Lady
Location: Callow End - Prior's Court
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This location is reputed to have four ghosts: a woman who was murdered whilst sheltering from a storm, a Cavalier whose skeleton was discovered hidden up the chimney, a girl who walks from the courtyard to the orchard, and a strangely shaped entity which manifests in a bedroom.
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