Berkhamsted
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General
Berkhamsted is a very elegant town and some of it is now protected as a conservation area. The town lies in a valley in the Chilterns and dates back to Saxon times. The name derives from the Old English words berg and ham-stede meaning ‘Hill homestead’. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it appears as Berchamsted(e) .
A few hundred metres from the railway station lie the ruins of Berkhamsted Castle which started life as a Saxon fort. It was here that William the Conqueror was handed the English crown in 1066.
Berkhamsted’s mediæval High Street is part of the Roman Akeman Street which linked Veralum (St. Albans) with Akemancester (Bath).
The Grand Junction, now the Grand Union canal was opened through Berkhamsted in 1798. The ‘Father of Inland Navigation’, the Duke of Bridgewater, who inspired the canal system in England, had his home nearby at Ashridge.
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Berkhamsted Castle
Legend has it that Oliver Cromwell was responsible for the destruction of Berkhamsted Castle. Inhabitants say that on a summer’s evening just as the sun is setting, but still bright in the sky, you can see the ghosts of the troops. Two separate accounts exist; one says that you can meet a group of Roundheads in a lane appropriately named Soldiers Bottom the other account tells you to look towards Wigginton. But both accounts agree that you can see the sun glinting off there armour, pikes and helmets.
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Berkhamsted Castle
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The Crown Inn
The Crown Inn is a five hundred year old public house which appears to be haunted by at least two ghosts. One person reported that the ghost was that of a previous landlord Bill Aggett. Another story tells of an old lady who used to sit in a rocking chair in an alcove of what is now the cellar. The old lady is said to be resentful of the intrusion caused by the staff at the pub. She tampers with the barrels and light bulbs will jump out of their fixtures by themselves. Dogs refuse to go anywhere near the cellar.
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High Street
In the early 70s a shop on the High Street in Berkhamsted was a sauna (later to become a bookmakers’). Mrs. Margaret Meager was working there alone late one night, clearing up, when she met a woman in black, this may not seem unusual but the fact that the woman vanished did. As she looked up from her work she saw the tall figure of a woman dressed in black in a style which Mrs. Meager felt came from the end of the 1800s. The figure was standing directly in front of Mrs. Meager who described her as having a kindly face and to whom she felt strangely drawn. Unafraid Mrs. Meager approached the figure who moved to one side then disappeared.
Some years prior to this event the premises had been a wool shop. This had been run by two spinsters, one of whom was short and plump whilst the other was tall and thin. The tall spinster had died in the early 60s and Mrs. Meager felt that she had returned to express her dislike at her shop being used as a sauna.
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Kings Arms Hotel
The Kings Arms at Berkhamsted is haunted by a lady in white and a tall laughing fat man. It is possible that the ghosts may be Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII who visited the inn in the early days when Henry was courting Anne. Edward VI, Henry’s son by his third wife Jane Seymour was also a patron.
This was the story as heard but the staff members at the King's Arms are completely unaware of any haunting. What is interesting is that the Olde King's Arms in Hemel Hempstead has exactly the same haunting. Is this a case of the real location being confused and the haunting being allocated to a nearby publuc house with the same name?
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Berkhamsted, Kings Arms Hotel
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Tresco Road
Mrs. Margaret Meager was cleaning upstairs in the house of a friend, who lived in Tresco Road, when she had an unusual experience. At the time her friend, who was a nurse, was out of the house yet she distinctly heard someone coming up the stairs. Thinking it was her friend, Mrs. Meager went out on to the landing to speak with her only to be confronted by an old lady. Upon seeing Mrs. Meager the old lady turned and descended the stairs, then she was gone.
At the time she did not mention the event to her friend but it came out in conversation several weeks later. It seems that the mother-in-law of Mrs. Meager’s friend had been a spiritualist who had sworn that she would return, after she died, to visit each member of the family. Her friend told her that the description fitted that of her mother-in-law. Later the ghost was to return and was seen by her daughter-in-law.
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