This is an extract from 'Spectral Suffolk', (c)Eric Quigley, Nicola Jordan, CJ, 1992

It appears by kind permission of the authors, and is a chunk of the unedited draft, sans illustrations, funky bits and style. It is not a good way to judge the final version which is miles better!

A

ACTON: Acton is reputedly haunted by a phantom coach and four. The coach starts at the gates of "Acton Place" and runs along the road before vanishing at a spot known as "Nursery Corner." I wonder if it stops to pick up phantom hitchhikers?

A12: Where the A12 crosses Blythburgh Common phantom figures have been reported many times during the last two centuries. The ghosts are of a man, girl and horse and the humans are said to be dressed in the style of the eigthteenth century. The legend behind the ghosts is that the girl is the man's niece who found him dead beside his horse on the spot where the spectres appear, and that this emotional scene has imprinted itself on the landscape. Joan Forman is an excellent reference for further research on this story. See also the entry on Blythburgh Common.

Another story is associated with the stretch of the A12 between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, where there is a spot which has seen more than its fair share of fatal accidents. In several cases motorists and on one occasion a cyclist, swerved inexplicably straight into the path of oncoming vehicles. One motorist saw a hunchbacked figure in the road ahead of him but had no time to react and drove straight into, and through, the ghost! There have been other witnesses and a psychic researcher (not of my acquaintance) decided this was the unquiet spirit of one William Ball, a hunchbacked postman who was found frozen to death on the spot in 1899.

B

BADWELL ASH: In the 1960's a ghost light caused much consternation to couples parked in a "lovers lane" near Ladybrick barn. The light looked like a spectral lantern carried by an invisible hand, although some witnesses assumed it was connected with the UFO phenomenon. It is easy to imagine that people involved in illicit affairs could be a little edgy, and rather cautious about others in the vicinity, unless they had strong exhibitionist tendencies! The light slowly drifted down the lane towards the cars... or so it seemed. Eventually sceptical observers decided to check out the stories and discovered the ghost light was an optical illusion, being nothing more than distant houselights seen across the fields. If you watch a stationary light source in the dark it will appear to move, and this was probably the explanation. Ghost lights are however well known and some may be related to geological stresses and natural electrical or gas discharges, such as the famous Will O' the Wisp. Spook lights are a common feature of American folklore, though some have proved to have dissappointingly prosaic explanations, such as car headlamps reflected off low clouds. If you investigate such a haunting always bear in mind the findings of UFOlogists who have demonstrated how easy it is to misinterpret natural lights (such as planes, stars and planets) as something unusual.

BARNHAM: Howe Hill, a burial mound near Barnham is site of an ancient haunt. The ghost which is most frequently seen at dusk was a Saxon warrior who treacherously betrayed the town of Thetford to the Viking invaders. In return for this it was promised that he would be given a high position, which he duly was... on a tree, hanging from a noose! The spot is still today however very eerie as twilight settles over the breck.

BARTON MERE: I have two separate stories from Barton Mere, both from friends. Unfortunately both occurred in private houses and hence the addresses must be withheld, but field research by an avid ghosthunter might find locals who know something of either.

The first of our haunted houses has some bizarre and rather frightening aspects to it. An old building attached to a large house, it is today still a comfortable home to it's mortal inhabitants, and to a mysterious grey lady. The ghost always walks through the lounge, the dining room and then up the stairs. I have no information as to whether anyone ever followed her to see where she vanishes. It could well be this is an apparition which simply repeats, as discussed in the introduction, or is the ghost trying to lead people somewhere? The ghost of Fisher's Creek in Australia led those who eventually found courage to follow it to a spot where it's murdered corpse was buried, and other ghosts reputedly indicate the site of hidden treasure. I think it would be worth following and taking a peek under the floorboards if only for curiosity.

The superstitious and devout however may feel that something evil or demonic also dwells within the house, and I must say I would be a little wary in this building. It is my firm belief that the supernatural never harms the living, so I find the following story of two pet birds a little worrying. The owners kept two Zebra Finches and one day let them out of their cages to fly around the room and exercise. Two hours later they returned to find them both dead, blood pouring from their beaks...

There may well be a rational explanation for this, but sadly my available team of experts does not include a vet. It remains disturbing, especially in view of the fact that the owner's dog will not enter the kitchen under any circumstances. On a lighter note this house also exhibited the strangest poltergeist phenomenonon I have heard of. A tube of "Smarties" left there were all eaten except for the brown ones. Was it a fussy ghost or does the dog perhaps suffer from a guilty conscience?

The second ghost of Barton Mere is fortunately less sinister. An old lady who lived in a house in the village was frequently visited by a little dog, who would follow her around the house and when talked to would tip his head on the side and listen to her. This may not seem particularly uncanny except for the fact the head was all that was visible, the rest of the dog being invisible! It's impossible to judge this story without a thorough investigation but it is rather charming.

BECCLES: "Roo's Hall" is the scene of the local legends, and this is one of the more famous ghost stories of Spectral Suffolk. On Christmas Eve, at the midnight hour a ghostly coach and four clatters up to the Hall, its driver not as Suffolk Constabulary might fear legless but being very traditional headless. Some say that a beautiful woman steps down from the coach, but to look into her eyes is instant death or permanent madness. Some versions say this fate befell two poachers in the latter years of the nineteenth century, and others say that they actually met the ghost within the garden where she walks, although a similar story is told of Breckles Hall near Thetford in Norfolk and it is easy to see how the story could have migrated! A guestroom is also reputedly haunted but that is nothing compared with the Devil's own hoofmark which can be seen where it burnt into a wall. If you don't believe this and wish to enquire directly of Old Nick himself go into the garden and find the gibbet tree on which executed felons corpses used to be hanged as a grim reminder of the fate of criminals. Dance around the tree at midnight and his Satanic Majesty may heed your request... Based on folklore I would advise trying thrice widdershins (that's counter-clockwise) around it. I take no responsibility for the results.

BECK ROW: One of my favourite Suffolk stories concerns the road from Beck Row to Holywell Row near Aspal Hall. A late night traveller was terrified one night here by the sound of huge footsteps, and a blast of icy wind as something invisible rushed past him. Even worse, as it did so the thing called out to him "Don't fear me - fear my follower!" Mr Morley who recorded the above story also told of seeing a lady in a black cloak who passed through a bricked up gate here...

RAF BENTWATERS: This airfoce bace is on long term lease to the Americans, and our story comes from the USAF's Condon Report into the UFO phenomena, published in January 1969. The report is largely sceptical, but there are exceptions and this case is one of them, being classified as "the most puzzling and unusual case in the radio-visual files."...

It was five to eleven on the evening of the 13th August 1956, and a fairly routine night at the Radar room at the base. Suddenly a blip appeared on the screen, some thirty miles east over the North Sea - then directly over the base - then trailing off to vanish 30 miles to the west in the direction of USAF/RAF Lakenheath. The operator was astounded to calculate the object was moving at somewhere between 2000 and 4000 miles per hour! Despite this no sonic boom was heard as it passed overhead. An unconfirmed radar reading could have been dismissed, yet this was not the case. Staff in the control tower watched as a light "blurred out by speed" streaked overhead. Furthermore a US C-47 aircraft circling the base at 4000 feet also spotted the light after a frantic alert from the Tower, noting that it was below them and describing it as "fuzzy".

Lakenheath recieved Bentwaters phone call but by this point the light had been seen by ground crew there. It approached the base, before stopping dead and hovering. Suddenly it moved off to the east again where two white lights could now be seen. They joined up and flew off to the east in formation. Lakenheath were able to confirm the sighting by radar, and in turn alerted RAF Waterbeach.

RAF Waterbeach seem to have adopted a more down to earth approach to dealing with the mysterious intruder(s) and instantly scrambled a Venom interceptor aircraft. Visual confirmation was quickly established by the pilot, who then confirmed a radar lock on to target. Then suddenly his target vanished, and ground radar operatives informed the poor chap that it had reappeared directly behind him! This was too much, so a second Venom was immediately scrambled, yet despite this the mysterious lights made good their escape.

The Condon Report decided that a "mechanical device of unknown origin... was the most probable explanation" and this author tends to agree.

BILDESTON: The Crown Inn was, and possibly still is, home to a complicated and intriguing series of hauntings. The Inn dates to the 1400's, and became a important coaching post in the eighteenth century.. It is so well known for it's hauntings that organised parties of ghosthunters have stayed here, including forty five Americans at one time!

In 1977 a particularly frightening incident befell a guest at the hotel, who having got up to visit the loo returned to bed. As he was trying to get back to sleep his bed started to shake and he found himself paralysed! Three minutes passed and then all was normal again, his room mate having slept through the entire episode. It seems possible that this is related to an odd neurological state. When we sleep our body is flooded with chemicals which relax the muscles and occasionally on awakening it takes a little time for the chemical "antidote" to kick in. Rather takes the romance away doesn't it?

Room Four is supposedly haunted and may well repay a visit by the earnest ghost hunter, but a quiet pint in the pub's courtyard may prove equally rewarding for many locals claim to have seen a lady dressed in grey drift silently across the yard. Another ghost, that of a man in a three cornered hat was seen by a previous landlord, as he told newspaper reporters of several sightings of Victorian children in the building.

In the late seventies, the landlady, Mrs Jean Fairbanks found herself bolted in her room. One of the most convincing arguments for the reality of these phenomena is the way trivial incidents like this repeat time and time again. In 1993-4 the authors investigated a haunted pub at Offchurch in Warwickshire ("The Stag's Head") and there exactly the same phenomena occurred. The first incident being when the landlady found herself locked in upstairs. Another feature which is common to both these haunted pubs is the small object displacement (SOD) which at times can be highly irritating. Objects are put down and a moment later have vanished. In Bildeston the SOD makes off with the cleaning fluids and returns them to highly unusual places, and in Offchurch it was the cutlery... "The Crown Inn" has a long history of such apportation, the previous landlord having noted that his wife's blouse was a favourite toy of the ghost!

BLYFORD: The Queen's Head at Blyford has a haunting which was made famous by Joan Forman's "Haunted East Anglia". The only visual apparition reported was a group of four bluish lights which were seen in one of the bedrooms and floated through a wardrobe and disappeared out of sight. Footsteps, explosions and other noises have been heard from upstairs from people in the bar when there was noone upstairs. On one occasion two policemen rushed upstairs to investigate the apparent break-in but found nobody there and nothing disturbed. It is believed that the inn was used for smuggling in the past and that the sounds may well be the ghostly reenactment of a fight between the smugglers and revenue men. There is no doubt whatsoever that in the past many ghost stories were created to scare curious people away from locations which were used as smuggler's stores and to prevent investigation of their "mysterious" lights and noises. It is ironic that smuggling may have also left a genuine ghost!

BLYTHBURGH: There are many stories associated with Blythburgh, and one I have not managed to look into states that there is an area known as "Dead Man's Corner" or "Dead Man's Gulley", in the vicinity of Sandy Lane. The legend states that many years ago someone was burnt here at the stake. It reminds me of a chap I knew who was both gay and a witch and who said he didn't mind been burnt this way so long as he was surrounded by red-hot faggots. I have been unable to locate this spot but apparently horses shy violently at one point here and the name is highly suggestive. If anyone has any information I'd like to hear it.

Blythburgh Common is reputedly haunted by Black Toby, a Negro soldier who in 1754 brutally raped and murdered a local servant girl. He was arrested, tried and eventually hanged for his crimes and his body gibbeted on the Common, his body left to rot in chains as a ghastly warning to others. Some say he walks the heath beating a spectral drum, others that he furiously drives a coach and four or a horse pulled hearse across the common. He has also be seen walking the Church, perhaps seeking forgiveness, or perhaps studying the marks made by Black Shuck, the phantom hound of East Anglia when he broke into the Church to terrorise worshippers. Black Shuck is also said to haunt the Common, and another haunting associated with Blythburgh Commom is listed under A12 as it occurs on the site of that modern road.

Blythburgh Priory is supposedly haunted by stealthy footsteps which make their way on both front and back stairs and echo down a corridor. We might suspect Black Toby still doing the rounds rather than the ubiquitous monk. According to recent sources another of Blythburgh hauntings, that of the White Hart Inn has ended since a disastrous fire. In 1967 many strange events occurred here. The ghostly little Old Man is said to have been a monk, and others stories say he used to conjure up the Devil with a stick. Anyway, his footsteps and knockings are heard no more.

Westwood Lodge, an ancient manor house has long been haunted by a lady wearing a silver dress. I am informed three policemen experienced a strange night in October 1972 when they lay in wait for her. Their alarms went off and they felt a drop in temperature but did not see the ghost.

A local gamekeeper and his son had however both seen the apparition.

BLYTH ESTUARY: The ferry across the Estuary is haunted by two ghostly customers, an old man and a boy who stand patiently waiting but never board the ferry! They are said to be the spirits of two travellers tragically drowned on the crossing. This leads to the inevitable question - "Who pays the ferryman?" Perhaps these lost souls simply wish to cross the River Styx of ancient Greek legend and took a wrong turn at the Elysian fields?

BRADFIELD ST. CLARE: A possible site of the martyrdom of King Edmund, the Saintly monarch martyred by the pagan Dane invaders in 870 AD. The King was defeated in battle and fled but was recaptured at Hoxne (q.v) and dragged here. He was apparently offered the chance to renounce Christ and trample on a crucifix but piously refused. The Danes angered by this stubborn Saxon then tied him to a tree and used him for archery practice before chopping his head off. Sometime later his followers came to recover his body, but were grieved to find the head was missing. After a long saearch it was finally located, between the paws of a huge wolf. The wolf however was a Christian soul and was guarding this holy relic to keep it safe from the heathen Danes. Or at least that's what the legend says; I personally think it was probably intended for his elevenses but faced by a Saxon war party the poor beast decided discretion was the better part of valour and slunk off to look for a rabbit, tail firmly between it's legs.

The body was taken to a temporary grave and later transferred to Bury Abbey where it became the centre for the lucrative pilgrimage trade which supported the abbey. Pious people came from far and wide to offer their devotions or seek a miracolous cure. Among other relics on offer here were some of the coals St Laurence was toasted over, a holy penknife and another saint's toenail clippings!

Bradfield is not the only place which lays claim to be the site of Edmund's death, but research into field names by a local historian in the 1980's shows it is far more likely than the traditional rivals.

BRADFIELD ST. GEORGE: Hall Farm is the setting for an extremely odd story. Just after the First World War two young chaps who lived there were returning from a night out at the Theatre Royal, Bury St. Edmunds. As they were riding along the A134 on their motorbikes they became aware of a glow on the horizon to the west, and decided a barn fire must be occurring. Deciding they had best pop home and refuel before going to help fight the flames they continued on their way.

Pulling into the farmyard the lads were surprised to see their dog rushing up to meet them, barking furiously. As they were refilling the bikes they both were shocked to see that an intensely bright light, far brighter than even football ground arclights, flooding out of their living room window. They swiftly ascertained that it was not a reflection before dashing inside to find the room...normal.They returned outside but the light was gone. What was more, enquiries showed that there was no fire in the district on that night. They were never able to explain their mysterious experiences that night, but it sounds to me like a Close Encounter, many years before UFO sightings were fashionable!

The area between Bradfield St. George and Rougham Green is the site of the bizarre story of the ghost house, listed under the entry for Rougham.

BRAMFORD: In the 1880's Bramford was the location for a fascinating poltergeist case investigated by Frank Podmore of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). The case centered on an eleven year old girl called Ellen Parker, and the usual movements of objects and strange rappings were reported. Doubt however was thrown on the case by a police constable who stated he had seen Ellen secretly tapping on the windows and her ten year old brother Cornelius admitted hoaxing events to his school teacher. Still not convinced their mother sent Ellen to a aunt's house at Stowmarket, and the rapping continued there, following the girl around the house. It seems that the children may have been "helping out" the poltergeist as often happens when a child enjoys all the attention created by the strange events, but we are unlikely to ever know for certain, unless an astute local researcher could trace Mrs. Parker's descendents or diaries.

BRUISYARD: Bruisyard Hall is said to be haunted by a nun and has a reputation for uncanny happennings. It is tempting to speculate that there may be a link between sexual frustration and returning as a spirit as so many monks and nuns haunt Suffolk! Perhaps this spirit is seeking exorcism, or, put another way, the ghost wants to be laid...

BUNGAY: The Strange and Terrible Wonder of Bungay remains one of those curious events which fascinate both Demonologists and Cryptozoologists, and the Church is well worth a visit. The beast might possibly have been the spirit of wicked Sir Hugh Bigod, who was turned into a ghostly black dog for his sins and condemned to haunt Bungay, and the ruins of his Castle. "The Strange and Terrible Wonder" was a black dog who appeared in the church during a violent thunderstorm in the sixteenth century and killed many of the congregation.

H.Rider-Haggard is best remembered today for his two great novels of Victorian romance and adventure, "King Solomon's Mines" and "She". He had a lifelong interest in things supernatural and while at Bungay he had an experience which is one of the most curious in the annals of communication from beyond the grave. The dead spirit was in this case that of his daughters dog!

On the night of July 9th 1904 the author retired to bed after a usual day with his family. A few hours later he was awakened by his wife from a most peculiar nightmare. In his dream he had been drowning, and struggling to reach the reed lined shore of a river or brook. Then, as his wife shook him, another image floated before his eyes, that of his daughters dog "Bob." The dog was trying to talk to him, but realising this was impossible it somehow transmitted instantaneously to him the knowledge that it was dying. When he awoke fully he laughed about the dream with his wife and she assured him that he had made noises very much like a dog in distress, and that is why she had roused him.

In the morning the whole family and household were told of the master's silly dream, and it was only later in that day that it was realised that Bob was actually missing and a feeling of foreboding settled over them. Sadly the dream was completely accurate, for it seems that Bob had fallen asleep on Falcon Bridge after a hard evening out rabbiting and had been struck by the Harleston to Ditchingham train at eleven the night before. The force of the impact had completely smashed the poor animals head and must have killed it instantly before throwing the body into the river below.

It seems that some two or three hours after his death Bob was somehow able to communicate the tragedy to Rider-Haggard, suggesting that dogs have souls as immortal as ours! The interested reader can find the full report in the S.P.R. Proceedings for October, 1921.

"The Three Tuns" Hotel at Bungay was the setting for something of a ghostbusting marathon when a local clergyman spent several months moving on the twenty four spirits he found resident there!

Younger people of Bungay or parents tired of their responsibilities may be interested in visiting the Churchyard of St. Mary's Priory, wherein they will find the Druid's Stone. If children dance around it twelve times the Devil will appear. Please bear in my mind my advice in the section on the Hall, Beccles. And are the kids really that bad?

BURY ST EDMUNDS: A sizeable book in it's own right could be written on Bury St Edmunds. It is supposedly a centre of many ley lines and lies on the famous St. Michael's Mount Ley, as well as having more crossing it at the High Altar of the Abbey than actually bisect Stonehenge. I'm rather dubious about ley lines in general, or at least the traditional energy lines interpretation of them.

Another theory holds that Bury is "the Charing Cross of the Spirit World" and that the Abbey Gateway is a gate or window to another dimension. I can't say I'd ever noticed when I trudged through it home from school!

The simplest explanation for why this book is so full of Bury ghosts is this is where two of the authors went to school and lived for most of their lives and is also where their freinds and families live, so we heard the local stories. I hope however well you know Bury you will find some new accounts here.

Bury's great monastery has stamped it's mark firmly on the town, and on nothing so much as the ghost stories. Old time residents will instantly speak of the Brown Monk and Grey Nun and it is perhaps best if we start by looking at the legend behind these fabulous figures.

In 1447 Maude Carew a high born lady of the Royal Court and intimate friend of Henry VI's wife Queen Margaret tired of the superficiality of the life of a courtier. Perhaps the intrigues and scandal wearied her, or perhaps she had set her eyes on heaven and the glory to come. For whatever reason she retired to Bury and planned to take vows as a nun at the Priory.

Before she had a chance to achieve this the King and Queen came to Bury, where they planned to put Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, to trial. Humphrey was a favourite of the King and had more influence over him than the Queen who regarded him as an enemy. It seems likely he also knew something the Queen did not want heard, for she decided to quietly do away with him before he could testify.

Maude was swiftly recruited into the plan, we know not how. but she agreed, and Cardinal Beaufort was called in to give her lessons in poisoning. He gave her a deadly contact poison, so lethal that the merest touch caused agonising death within minutes. She probably intended to place it on the door latch of Gloucester's chambers, or something else that he was bound to touch.

This she did, and the deadly venom worked well, killing the unfortunate Duke. Tragically she was careless and managed to spill some of the poison on herself. She collapsed near Gloucester's rooms, and was there discovered by one Brother Bernard. Now Brother Bernard was a lowly monk but had also once been a courtier and had been a close friend and possibly lover of Maude.

He soon established what had happenned but his response was neither forgiving nor romantic. He cursed Maude never to rest but to walk the Churchyard for eternity, and thus stricken she died. He returned her body to the Priory and tried to cover up her crime, but for his hard heartedness he too was cursed to walk the Abbey as a ghost. It is said that the Grey Nun and Brown Monk haunt to this day.

If you wish to see them the date to watch is February 24th, at 11pm. I have few doubts that this legend which comes from supposedly ancient papers "discovered" in Victorian times is a romantic myth, but it led to hordes of ghost watchers disturbing the peace at the time! If you stand in St. Mary's Churchyard very quietly you may see the spectres, and possibly the crowned ghost of Queen Margaret as well. Do follow the basic rules of ghost hunting in Appendix A.

It is quite possible that there is more than one ghostly monk in Bury. For many years there have been stories of a tunnel system that runs from the Abbey to many older buildings. Although the ground under Bury is honeycombed with old chalk mines and other subterranean features it is likely that most of the supposed monk's tunnels are little more than medieval sewers.

Abbeygate Street however does have a series of bricked up arches which once ran from shop cellar to shop cellar, and many people in living memory have seen monks glide silently through these. Once such encounter was in the basement of the chemists, Savoury & Moores, in the 1950's and terrified a poor shopgirl. About this time a chap walking home across Angel Hill also saw the monk. In 1967 a carpenter working in the basement of a wine merchants swore he saw the monk. The story given at the time was not that of Brother Bernard but of another monk murdered by the townsfolk during the second Peasant Rising (1347), which we will discuss shortly. Again the spectral cleric was seen in "Annabel's Togs", a groovy seventies fashion joint for hip chicks, or something like that! The shop is today, perhaps luckily, "Rumbelows". Local ghosthunter Malcolm Rampling held a "psychic sit in" during which the ghost was not seen but footsteps were heard. A few doors away at "Tooks the Bakery" occurred the most recent sighting. The Brown monk was seen here in 1980 standing in front of a dish washer. Cooking rings irritated staff for some time by switching themselves on and off. I suspect a poltergeist.

A monk has even made his way as far as "The Nutshell", Britain's smallest pub. It was haunted as recently as the late eighties by two ghosts. The first, which happened in the glass store upstairs was the sound of a crying child. I was shown the room by a puzzled landlord who had heard the sounds himself. The second is the cellar, which is haunted by a delicate ladies perfume. Sadly the legend is a prosaic one, the common place story of a monk and his forbidden love, perhaps executed for fleeting trysts held in the tunnels. Look does anyone read medieval history anymore? Most ecclesiastical authorities were so lax they would overlook an orgy with half the monks, all the choirboys, the Abbot and a donkey if it wasn't too public! This charming little pub should be visited however.

Cupola House Hotel is also worth a visit, and was for a while home to Daniel Defoe, author of "Moll Flanders" and "Robinson Crusoe". It is said to be linked by a tunnel with "The Nutshell" and is haunted by a Grey Lady who is said to date back to the Marian persecutions. Perhaps of great er interest to the casual ghosthunter is the ghostly lady who is sometimes seen at one end of the bar. You might wish to savour both types of spirits at once here! The Gas showroom next door has a male ghost but sadly I have no further details.

While researching this book I encountered a very pleasant chap who admitted that he and some friends had invented many of the Brown Monk sightings from the fifties onwards. Apart from saying there was no commercial, tourist or journalistic motive involved I can say little more as I was told in confidence, and sadly this quite amusing little deception must remain a mystery except to the gentlemen of the profession involved. I thank them for their honesty, and feel the stories I have recounted above are the genuine sightings not theirs! Perhaps one day they will decide to write to the Bury Free Press and "confess"... I will happily reveal the secret to members of the SPR or other parapsychological group if they swear to maintain the secret.

In 1973 the then inhabitant of a house in College Street told the Bury Free Press of his haunted house. Both Andrew Abbott and his daughter Gillian had smelt an old fashioned perfume, and later seen a little old lady walking about the top storey of the house. They later discovered that these rooms were once the servant's quarters and that an old maid matching the description once worked there. Another house in King's Road since demolished was haunted in the late sixties and early seventies, and the room in which the ghost was seen was always freezing cold, no matter how warm the weather. I'd really like to meet the witnesses and learn more.

The Conservative Club in Guildhall Street may seem an unlikely venue for a ghost, but quite recently the inhabitants were startled to hear a group of noisy intruders in the private part of the property. Investigation revealed nothing and the occupants had to agree they were being haunted.

Another location where one might not expect to encounter the unquiet dead is within a Church. Bury's Methodist Church is Victorian, yet during the early 1970's when building work was occurring a mummified cat was found within the walls. In the seventeenth century this was a common ghost or witch ward, but one wuld have thought the practice had died out by the age of Dickens and Disraeli!. The builders removed the cat and immediately began to hear footsteps and find their tools moved about. (See the entry on FARTHING DROVE for a virtually identical incident.)

Moving back to the Buttermarket it will come as a surprise to many that John Menzies is reputedly haunted. Visitors to the shop and restaurant may feel secure however that the ghost limits itself to the storeroom, where its presence has been felt by two friends of mine. Apparently some objects have also moved there implying a poltergeist rather than traditional haunting.

A cleaner at a building in St. Andrew's Street was working late one evening when she heard someone in the next office playing as she thought a tape of latin chants. She knew the room was empty, and was surprised when the chanting stopped the moment she opened the door. There was no tape recorder in the room. This short story also reminds me of two equally short but interesting anecdotes connected with an old folk's home in Bury, although I think it best not to say which. On the night one elderly lady died a member of staff saw a bright beam of light suddenly shine out of her window. At the same place footsteps were heard on the roof and the were police called, but no one was found there. I suspect there was a natural explanation for the latter.

Many hospitals are reputedly haunted, though the West Suffolk General is an exception being seemingly free of spooks. The Old Hospital, St. Mary's was apparently visited by at least one spook. Some years ago a Nurse saw a lady dressed in grey in what was probably the traditional uniform of early nurses and remains convinced that it was a ghost. It is interesting to note that St. Mary's was once Bury's Poor House and probably the site of much misery and suffering.

From a grey lady to a monk which used to haunt a bungalow on Malthouse Lane. This bungalow stands in the grounds of what was once the site of St. Saviour's Hospice, the place where Duke Humphrey was murdered. When building the bungalow the then owner of the land unearthed many human skeletons while digging out the basement and foundations. As a matter of course the Coroner was notified and the skeletons were found to be medieval and related to the Hospice.

The builder did not scare easily. Someone was stealing his bricks and building materials over night so he put the bodies to good use, affixing the skulls to posts where they leered evilly at the would-be thief. When he had finished he reburied them in accordance with the Coroner's instructions. I suppose many people will feel he was asking to be haunted.

One night while sitting in the kitchen he saw a figure through the frosted glass of the kitchen doorway, wearing a light brown mackintosh. He called "come in Ted" assuming it to be his father in law. There was no response so he called out again. Still the visitor did not come in. "Come in you silly old fool" he yelled and wandered over to the door through which the figure remained visible, throwing it open and finding... noone there. There was no way someone could have run off and he could find no optical effect to explain it away. Did he see the ghost of a monk?

The aforementioned bungalow is adjacent to what was for many years "Mann Egerton's" and is today "Abbeyford" car showrooms on Fornham Road. In the late 1960's evening cleaning staff refused to work there after dark owing to strange noises and uncanny feelings. Strange things would happen, not least the fact that clocks would often run backwards and objects move. Was this poltergeist related to the burial ground under the area?

From the early 1950's to 1987 Fornham Road was also the site of Bury's firestation, since demolished and replaced by a small housing development. Before it was a firestation the site was a watermeadow subject to periodic flooding. In the sub-officers dormitory two separate firemen saw a dark figure leaning over the bed, but the significance of the haunting is not known.

Oakes Road on the Howard Estate may seem a surprising locale for a haunting, more often associated with castles than council houses. I recieved the story from a friend of the young lady who seems to have been at the centre of this poltergeist outbreak which occurred a few years back. Footsteps were heard, posters taken down and put back inverted and weird voices interrupted tapes belonging to the girl. From what I could learn second hand some time after events had stopped this was a classic case of what some parapsychologists call RSPK (Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis), but is more commonly known as mind over matter.

If the Howard Estate has a haunting it is not alone, for another ghost haunts Bury's newer housing developments. On the Horringer Court estate the curious may still locate the windbreak which runs perpendicular to the Horringer Road. It is a small coppice with a path leading through it, and the children of the estate still play here as they did in 1970. On a warm clear day in that year two boys were happily playing when something made them both look up. A man was approaching, wearing a black businessman's suit, a bowler hat and carrying a walking stick in one hand and a bag in the other. Yet one thing was terribly wrong, for this man had no face, only a white oval where it should have been...

Strangely neither child was scared, though both felt an urgent need to get out of the way of the approaching figure. They scurried up a tree, and watched until the man passed at which point they clambered down, and found he had completely vanished. The boys looked at one another, shrugged and carried on playing. Children are often more sensible about these things!

The tourist in Bury St. Edmunds should certainly visit the town's two excellent museums, both of which are also of great interest to the ghosthunter. Manor House Museum is probably the most interesting I have ever visited, and the building in which it is situated has for many years been haunted. The most recent sighting was of a soldier dating from the English Civil War period who was seen in the gardens here. The very friendly staff will happily show you around the exhibits and tell you the ghost stories.

Moyses Hall Museum on the Buttermarket is also well worth a visit. It is believed to date from the twelth century and may have at one time been a synagogue or the home of a wealthy Jewish merchant. (There was a dreadful massacre of the Jews in Northgate Street, Bury during the period of the Crusades.) Here during the great peasants revolt a serving maid wandered in to find some rebel peasant leaders in conversation with a mysterious stranger in black. They ordered her to go and fetch them all breakfast and when she dithered the stranger revealed himself as the Devil and cast her out with a great gout of flames... Sounds like pro-nobility propaganda to me!

In Moyses Hall today you can still see a collection of relics related to the infamous Red Barn murder. (See Polstead). These include a particularly grisly item, a book about the trial bound in the murderer's skin! For many years Corder's (the murderer) skeleton was used for anatomy lessons at teaching hospitals. One doctor became fascinated by this grim artifact and on leaving his post stole the skull, replacing it with another with a more ordinary history. Shortly after his return however terrible noises were heard and before long he began to see the shadow of a man in his house, a man who had come to reclaim what was his... Finally, terrified and haunted to the limit of his nerves by Corder's ghost the unfortunate doctor disposed of the curiousity and peace once more reigned. Such curses are not uncommonly attached to items like this; I have heard of a haunted chess set and a cursed porcelain doll with ice cold blue glass eyes...

While researching the book I made a great deal of use of back issues of Bury's weekly journal, "The Bury Free Press." It was with delight therefore that I learnt the Free Press offices in King's Road also have a ghost! Footsteps have been heard following staff about and it is said the photographic annexe is haunted by strange noises at night...

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Last Updated 2^nd September 1999; 11:21