Great Missenden

Contents -- Click to go to item

General
Little Abbey Gatehouse
Little Abbey Hotel
Local Hills
Local Roads 1
Local Roads 2
Missenden Abbey
Somerfield

A brief note about the area
A painful Twelfth Night
The ghost of a monk who committed suicide
The ghost of Sir John du Plessis
The ghost of Captain Backhouse
The ghost of Hugh de Plesseter
The ghost of a sinful monk
A ghost said to be caught on CCTV
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General

Great Missenden lies at the head of the Misbourne valley and is an attractive village with a long curving High Street of half-timbered and Georgian shops. The name Missenden is thought to derive from the Old English words mysse and denu meaning ‘a valley where water-plants or marsh-plants grow’. By the time of the Domesday Survey of 1086 the name had become virtually the same as it is today, Missedene.

Missenden Abbey was founded in 1133 as an Augustinian monastery. This was later demolished and a nineteenth century abbey built on the original site. This later building is now used as a residential college and conference centre. The writer Roald Dahl lived in Great Missenden and it is there that he wrote many of his children’s books.

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Little Abbey Gatehouse

It is said that if you sleep in a particular room of the gatehouse of Little Missenden Abbey on Twelfth Night then you may live to regret it. At first you become aware of a presence in the room then you will get the sensation of thumb screws being painfully applied.

Little Missenden Abbey was closely aligned with Great Missenden Abbey and a set of tunnels were said to exist between the two. The site is now used for the private Chiltern Hospital.

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See also - Buckinghamshire - Great Missenden - Little Abbey Hotel

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Little Abbey Hotel

Early one morning in the middle of September 1972 the handyman at the Little Abbey Hotel, Mr. Allison, was doing some work on a window on the staircase landing. Next moment he saw a figure wearing a brown hooded cloak coming up the stairs with his hands clasped as if in prayer. Mr. Allison thought nothing of the situation; he just wished the figure ‘good morning’ and went back to his work. A little while later Mr. Allison became concerned as to what had happened to the figure as the stairs only led to staff rooms, all of which were locked, and a toilet. On checking he found that all the doors were still locked and there was no sign of the figure he had seen. Members of staff believe that it was the ghost of a monk who haunted the hotel and had ‘scared servants away from what is now the lounge’ fifty years ago.

The Little Abbey Hotel lies about three quarters of a kilometre away from Missenden Abbey and was originally a convent in the twelfth century. It is said that there was a passage that linked the abbey and the convent allowing the monks to visit the convent to administer sacrament to the nuns. It seems that the behaviour of the monks was less than godly so that the passage may have been used for other purposes. In 1297 it seems that an attempt was made to improve the lax morals of the monks. As a result one young novice was caught in a compromising situation with a nun. Fearing the consequences it is said that he cut his own throat and it is believed that it is his ghost that haunts the hotel. At one time ghostly echoes of his death were heard coming from a room in the minstrel’s gallery which overlooks the dining room.

The hotel was once used as a preparatory school and it was during that time that the passage leading to the abbey was discovered. The entrance was through a trapdoor in what had been the ballroom. Unfortunately it was blocked up and cemented over.

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Local Hills

Sir John du Plessis made a strange request which was to be carried out after he died. The request concerned his burial as he wanted to be interred sitting on top of his favourite horse. After his death on 25th February 1262 his executors carried out his wish and he was buried in Missenden Abbey along with his horse. Now it is said that the ghost of Sir John can be seen riding his horse in the hills above Great Missenden.

It seems that Great Missenden had its fair share of eccentric characters that made strange requests concerning their burials and all of whom returned to haunt the area. These characters included Captain Backhouse and Hugh de Plesseter.

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See also - Buckinghamshire - Great Missenden - Local Roads 1

See also - Buckinghamshire - Great Missenden - Local Roads 2

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Local Roads 1

Captain Backhouse lived in the nineteenth century and made a strange request concerning his burial after he was dead. He asked that he should be buried standing upright with his sword in his hand in the back garden of his house at Havenfields (SP891025). His request was duly complied with. Soon a ghastly figure was seen racing through Great Missenden on horseback at the dead of night waving its sword in a terrifying manner. The locals believed that it was the ghost of Captain Backhouse who had returned despite his wishes being carried out. They were so terrified that they sought permission to exhume his body and have it re-interred in Missenden Abbey. This was done and the midnight rides stopped.

It seems that Great Missenden had its fair share of eccentric characters that made strange requests concerning their burials and all of whom returned to haunt the area. These characters included John du Plessis and Hugh de Plesseter.

To view a map of the area click on the button below



See also - Buckinghamshire - Great Missenden - Local Roads 2

See also - Buckinghamshire - Great Missenden - Local Hills

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Local Roads 2

When Hugh de Plesseter, Lord of Missenden, died in 1292 he left instructions that he was to be buried before the high altar at Missenden Abbey seated on his white palfrey, Principal. The monks did not agree with the request but they dared not refuse and Hugh de Plesseter was duly interred in the way he wished. Even so his ghost returned to haunt Great Missenden. On dark and stormy nights, when the wind howled, Hugh would come charging through the valley, where Great Missenden lies, terrifying all before him.

It seems that Great Missenden had its fair share of eccentric characters that made strange requests concerning their burials and all of whom returned to haunt the area. These characters included John du Plessis and Captain Backhouse.

To view a map of the area click on the button below



See also - Buckinghamshire - Great Missenden - Local Roads 1

See also - Buckinghamshire - Great Missenden - Local Hills

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Missenden Abbey

The grounds of Missenden Abbey and the water meadows to the south are said to be haunted by the ghost of a monk. The abbey was founded in 1133 by Benedictine monks and in its heyday Missenden Abbey became very rich and the monks enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle not really in keeping with their vows. It seems they would even leave the abbey dressed in normal clothes to enjoy themselves both locally and in London. It is thought that the ghost is one of those sinful monks returned to haunt the area of his debauchery. His main haunting seems to be around the abbey but he has also been seen on the village streets around the George Inn. In the 1970s a glazier, working at a property in the High Street, saw him enter the room in which he was working, despite the fact that the glazier was alone and the building was locked up. The Black Monk walks with his head low and with slow footsteps and can be seen in the area of the water meadows at any time of day or night. Some say he carries a sword but others insist it is a staff.

The monk is not the only ghost to haunt Missenden Abbey. In 1946 the abbey was bought by Buckinghamshire County Council and converted into a college. Two students were sitting reading near the staircase when they were surprised to see the figure of a woman wearing old fashioned clothes drifting down the stairs and out through the door. In 1972 one student reported seeing a female figure wearing light grey clothing near the ladies’ cloakroom, a similar incident had occurred ten years previously. Some witnesses have described the woman as wearing a grey Victorian dress whilst others have described it as a gown of black (or white) crinoline, so do we have one ghost or two? The appearances of the ghost were not the only incidences as on one occasion a flower vase was thrown down the stairs. Also in the 1970s a heavy glass ashtray was found smashed to pieces in a students’ bedroom. Members of staff working late in the building reported hearing an eerie wailing cry echoing down the corridors. By far the strangest event must be one which took place in the winter. There had been a heavy fall of snow when a security guard did his rounds. He was rather surprised to discover a set of footprints in the snow which were somewhat baffling as they started and finished in the middle of nowhere.

Today the building is an Adult Education College and is used as a conference centre and a venue for weddings and birthday parties. According to the manager no ghost has been seen there for years.

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Somerfield

According to reports a ghost has haunted a supermarket in Great Missenden since the 1980s. Members of staff say that the ghost pulls their hair and will move items on the shelves. The most interesting aspect is that the ghost is supposed to have been caught on a CCTV recording. If that is true then it is a momentous event but the manager refuses to show the footage as it will reveal where the CCTV cameras are.

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