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Edlesborough
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General
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A brief note about the area
A phantom car A ghostly girl The ghost of the Jack the Leather A ghostly monk in a black habit The ghost of Dick Turpin A house haunted by a man wearing a smock A haunted 16th century cottage The ghost of a gardener |
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The name Edlesborough is derived from Eadwulf's beorg or berg, which was a hill or barrow (burial mound). In the Domesday Book the name is given as Edinberge and Eddinberge. In the 2001 Census the parish population was 2,754.
On a quiet Sunday morning in the spring of 1961 Mr Stanley Prescott and his wife were travelling along the Dagnall Road (the A4146) towards the junction with the B489. Suddenly “I saw a black Morris saloon approaching me from the other direction, it came straight at me, and I knew if I did not take avoiding action I would be killed.” He swerved off the road through a hedge and ended up in the field at the side of the road. His shocked wife asked him what had happened but there was no other vehicle about and his wife hadn't seen the Morris. Mr Prescott feared that he had had an illusion but medically he checked out fine.
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In 1984 John Pilgrim (writer and broadcaster) moved into the Bell public house with his wife Margaret, little did they know at the time that things would take a strange turn. Realisation began to dawn when John's sister, Linda, who had come for a visit, asked John where the broom was. When he asked why Linda told him that she had seen a young girl in the bar near the fire sweeping up leaves with a besom broom who had asked, essentially, for a better broom. At the time there was no one else (living) in the pub who it could have been. It seems Linda was not the only person to see her as the pub regulars confirmed that she had been seen by others.
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The ghost of Jack the Leather (‘Old Leather Breeches') is said to haunt the area around Church Farm. Jack was a highwayman who had been using the stables at Church Farm as a hiding place. Unfortunately for Jack he decided to get some exercise during the night by riding the farm horses around a moat at the farm. It transpires that the lathered up horses were spotted by a soldier who was part of a group sent out to find Jack. Jack was caught, dragged to a nearby hill, The Beacon, and hung and gibbeted for all to see.
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Early in the 1970s a motorist was driving along the Leighton Road in Edlesborough (A4146) late one night and had just reached St Mary's church when he was surprised to see a monk standing in the road. The motorist stopped his car, got out and shone a torch towards the monk so he could see him more clearly. He just had time to notice that the monk was wearing a black habit when he vanished.
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The ghost of Dick Turpin is believed haunt the village of Edlesborough (and dozens of other places in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire) specifically on the narrow road from the church to the Tring Road (B489).
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A house in Edlesborough called Swallowfields is haunted by a man wearing a smock. He would appear two or three times a week especially on bright days during the summer and usually between 12:00 and 14:00 and sometimes in the evening. He definitely liked the light, as he wouldn't appear on dark days, or in the winter. When he was seen he would walk soundlessly past the sitting room window and always in the same direction. At first only the owner, Mrs Plantan saw him, then, when her mother did, she rushed to the back door to answer it before the dogs got there but there was no sign of anyone. After this had occurred a few times they happened to mention it to each other, so the next time he appeared they took more notice. It was then that they discovered that he was wearing old fashioned clothes, including a beige or mustard coloured smock and loose trousers. The smock was plain and tied up with a belt and his hair was blond and of shoulder length. When he is seen he is only seen from the waist up as if he was walking on the original level of the farm as the house is a barn conversion. He also seems to be in a hurry and walking as if into a strong wind.
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In the 1970s it was said that an old sixteenth century thatched cottage was haunted but no further detais were, or are, available.
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It is said that the ghost of a gardener can be seen in the grounds of the old vicarage at Edlesborough. It seems that the gardener was murdered during a brawl between rival households in the village. The vicarage no longer exists and has been replaced by a housing estate with many of the houses in what would have been the vicarage grounds. We wonder if these houses have seen unusual occurrences over the years.
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