_____________________________________________________________________
General
Chesham developed around the twelfth century church of St Mary which was built on a prehistoric holy site in the Chess valley. The name derives from the Old English ceasteles-hamm meaning ‘hemmed-in land by a heap of stones’. By the time of the Domesday Survey the name was given as Cestreham. Today it is the largest town in the Chiltern District located amidst the steep green Chiltern Hills. History still survives in the town with a good example being the sixteenth to eighteenth century cottages in Church Street.
_____________________________________________________________________
Local House
Some houses do not have a history of being haunted yet something will suddenly occur when a new occupant takes up residence. Is it the house or the new owners?
A council house in Chesham had been occupied for nine years by a couple who had an interest in the supernatural yet in all that time nothing untoward had happened. Then the house became available and a young couple with three children, who had been living in a one-bedroomed flat, were given it. Yet things did not work out quite as expected. They moved in two days after Christmas and straight away their eldest son, six year old Jamie, did not like it. They found that he couldn’t sleep and, when he did, he had nightmares and he would wake screaming. Even Ben, a baby of six months, seemed unusually restless and would often wake during the night and stare around the room. Only three year old Gary seemed happy.
Three weeks after they had moved in Sandra, the wife, woke up suddenly one night feeling as if something had bumped the bed and found that the curtains were moving. This was not the first noise they had heard as both herself and her husband, Paul, had heard various noises whilst they had been decorating, but put them down to the consequences of living in a semi-detached property. The bed movement reoccurred and this time both Sandra and Paul were disturbed when they felt it move beneath them. Sandra also felt as if something was touching her hair, or her arm, as she was sitting in the living room.
Things took a decided turn for the worse on Friday 13th. A neighbour told Sandra that the house was previously occupied by a medium and his wife who was a member of the Spiritualist Church. She immediately contacted the rector, Robin Smith, who had married them, and he offered to come round that day and bless the house. After that Sandra felt happier but in the afternoon, when she went up to the bathroom with Jamie, she suddenly felt cold and frightened and sensed a powerful evil force in the room. She grabbed a cross she wore round her neck and cried out, a sound which was heard by her mother and sister who were in the house at the time. They rushed to help Sandra and met her staggering down the stairs crying out “It’s got me” and “Help me” in what they say was a man’s voice. Needless to say the family left the house straight away and never returned.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
_____________________________________________________________________
Old Cottage
At one time a three hundred year old cottage in Chesham was occupied by a newly married couple. They had been there only a few weeks and had retired to bed when they heard the distinct sounds of a horse’s hooves in the lane outside, followed by the sound of a rider dismounting. The husband, Bill, looked out but could see nothing so, filled with curiosity, he went down stairs and into the lane but there was nothing there. The only thing of note was that a picture had fallen from the wall in the sitting room.
This was not the only thing to happen as they noticed a strange, sweet smell that permeated the cottage being especially noticeable in the hall and upstairs bedrooms. One night Mary, the wife, awoke to find that the blanket on her husband’s side of the bed was soaking wet. She woke him thinking they may have a leak in the roof but they could not find one. As her husband examined the blanket it became dry in just a few seconds. This event repeated itself the following night. Following these events the couple started having difficulty sleeping, with Mary feeling as if she couldn’t breathe. At times she even felt as if something sharp, like a dagger or sword, was being pushed into her back. Moving rooms had little effect, as Mary woke to find a pair of glowing eyes staring at her from the landing.
Mary claimed to be psychic and decided to try to contact the spirit that she felt was in the house by using the Ouija board. The respondent said she was a girl and warned Mary to leave the cottage as soon as possible. The second time they tried it they heard the sounds of two pairs of feet running across the main bedroom, the noise was so loud it shook the house. Since then the house has been exorcised and has so far remained quiet.
To view a map of the area click on the button below
|