Bishop's Stortford
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General
Bishop’s Stortford is a market town that developed around a ford across the river Stort. Many Roman roads crossed the area and at least one crossed the river in the town in the area known as Town Meads.
The town and its castle were sold to the Bishops of London in 1060. Then the town was called Bishops Estereferd and this later became corrupted to its present name of Bishops Stortford. The exact origin of the name is unknown but it may derive from an Old English personal name as in ‘Steorta’s ford’ though Steort also means ‘tail’.
In the thirteenth century the town was involved in a dispute between King John and the Pope. In 1208 King John seized the town from the Bishop and ordered the castle to be destroyed. In 1214 he had to pay for it to be rebuilt.
The town still has many fine buildings, including sixteenth and seventeenth century inns and the remains of a Norman castle.
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Bishop's House
The Bishop’s house on Bishop’s Stortford’s Bridge Street was once the country home of the Bishops of London and was later incorporated into Handscombes department store. During that time it became the centre of paranormal activity associated with Bishop’s Stortford’s most famous ghost ‘The Grey Lady’ who has haunted the streets of the town for five hundred years. In addition to the ghost there has been violent poltergeist activity with objects being thrown around and loud knocking and other such strange noises. Mr. J. Lowe used to own the store and was himself a witness. One night he was working late and it was 01:00 before he decided to leave. As he was walking down the stairs he saw ‘the figure of a lady dressed in grey’. The figure turned to her left then went up the back stairs. The woman had appeared from nowhere. At another time Mr. Lowe heard the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs and walk right up to the door of the room in which he was working. He told the visitor to ‘come in’ but there was no one there.
During the time that Mr. Lowe owned the store a number of human bones were found beneath an old cupboard. The bones were later buried in consecrated ground and Mr. Lowe thought that would be the end of the haunting, but it wasn’t. The shop was later taken over by the Maslen Group and when Mr. L. G. Maslen was working in the office he heard something rush along the passage outside the room. He tried to persuade himself that it was a cat but he still believes that it was human. It is in that corridor that the Grey Lady had been seen in the past. Whilst working upstairs in the building one night two of Mr. Maslen’s employees heard a crash and the sound of running feet. They both raced downstairs using different stairways but there was no one there to be found. Staff also reported objects being thrown around, these included nuts, bolts and headless flowers. They have also heard strange knocking noises, lights that would switch on and off by themselves and the sounds of running feet on a staircase at night.
Part of the history of the Bishop’s House mentioned a tunnel which led from the house to Waytemore Castle nearby. Mr. Maslen’s son Peter, being an inquisitive schoolboy, spent several weekends excavating what was believed to be the tunnel along with some of his friends. They eventually stopped when they kept hearing strange noises.
Some years ago the shop was being altered and the workmen would often work late or at weekends. The workmen would describe what they felt as a ‘terrifying presence’. On one particular Sunday they heard strange swishing sounds coming from behind them. Turning round they found freshly made cuts in the plaster that they had just finished applying. It is not unusual for paranormal activity to increase when a building is being altered. Workmen also saw a hammer standing on its end and one poor plasterer fled the building when his bucket was kicked over and his tools thrown around (he was on his own at the time).
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The Black Lion
The Black Lion in Bridge Street is a seventeenth century building once used for storing coffins when the Bishops House nearby was in its heyday. In the late 1960s and 1970s a little girl wearing a dress from the Victorian era was often seen in the inn and even appeared in a guest’s bedroom. One night footsteps were heard outside one of the bedrooms and the door handle was clearly seen to turn but on investigation there was nothing there. A friend of the landlord once stayed overnight and was rather surprised when the door opened; someone entered the room and calmly got into bed with him. He was even more surprised when he found that there was no one there even though he had felt the bed dip as, whatever it was, got into bed.
In the late 1990s the inn was converted to a theme bar ‘Scruffy Mac’s’. Once again, as the building had been disturbed, paranormal activity increased, with keys and mobile phones going missing.
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The Boar's Head
Bishop’s Stortford’s Grey Lady has been seen in the Boar’s Head (along with most of the rest of Bishop’s Stortford over the last five hundred years). In the 1970s tenants of the fifteenth century inn were forced to have the building exorcised three times because of problems with spirits.
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The Cock Inn
The Cock Inn is a sixteenth century coaching inn which lies on the coach route from London to Cambridge and was much frequented by grooms and their horses. Legend has it that while King Charles II was staying in the luxurious surroundings of the George Inn Nell Gwynn was accommodated at the much more basic Cock Inn.
In the 1980s the inn was run by Mike and Mollie Tunks with the latter seeing the resident ghosts several times. Mollie reports that there are two ghosts, a gentleman in Civil War dress and a serving wench. They appear and disappear so quickly that Mollie isn’t always convinced she has seen them. In the 1970s the inn underwent renovation and as with many such cases this led to increased activity. Tables would fly across the room, lamps would smash and there was an unnatural feeling of cold in the building. When Mollie was told that it may be the renovation work which was causing the problem she put flowers everywhere to try to make the inn feel more comfortable. She also reassured the ghosts that the work was a big improvement to the building; it worked as the activity stopped.
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The George
The George in North Street is a hotel with a history dating back to 1417 and which was once occupied by King Charles II. The pub still has a reputation as a haunted building as activity has taken place within the last few years. One room in particular, Room 27, seems to be the focus of the activity with the feeling that something not of this world lingers there. The room and the passage outside are all said to be places to avoid if you have a nervous disposition. One story has it that a woman was stabbed to death in the room. She is alleged to have stepped out onto the balcony and was confronted by a half concealed burglar. He stabbed her and she fell back into the room where she died.
Guests in the room have felt as if they were being watched and one couple saw a swirling grey mist above the bed. Other guests have fled in panic when they saw the doors and wardrobe open of their own accord. One workman, who knew nothing about the ghost, was so terrified by the feeling of being watched that he fled the room and refused to return. One guest saw the figure of a woman in a grey gown bending over the bed with her arms raised and looking as if she was in pain, when the guest cried out she vanished. More recently guests have complained about lights turning themselves on and off. Within the room there is an oak door with a handle that is alleged to be over two hundred years old, this door has not been opened for years and no one knows what lies behind the door though some think that it gave access to the balcony.
Staff have seen a ‘white shape’ hovering in the cellar and the ghost, referred to by the staff as ‘she’, has a habit of turning the beer gasses off especially on busy nights. The taps can be turned on but ten minutes later they are off, no one can access the cellar and the taps have been physically turned off. The grey lady has also been seen surrounded by a green mist.
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High Street
Bishop’s Stortford’s Grey Lady has been seen on numerous occasions in the building occupied by Tissimans and Sons. The building used to be the Old House Café and one woman who worked there as a waitress during the Second World War reported that she had seen the ghost several times. The woman also believed that there were a series of underground passageways which linked the Tudor building in which the café stood with the George nearby. Two daughters of the café owner were said to have been woken up on several mornings by the sound of children playing marbles on the floor. One of the girls is also said to have seen the grey Lady standing at the foot of the stairs. This apparition was accompanied by the smell of burning wood even though there were no fires lit.
In the 1970s Jane Foster of Takeley (eight kilometres east of Bishop’s Stortford) took part in a Ouija board session while at a friend’s house in Stanstead. A spirit came through and introduced herself as Sarah; she was Bishop’s Stortford’s Grey Lady. She said that she had been raped and murdered by a Squire’s son on Saturday 23rd December the very day when Jane was using the Ouija board. She begged the group to help her pass over and be at peace. This was the Takeley residents first, and last, go with the Ouija board.
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Holloway Hill
The top of Holloway Hill has always been a place to be avoided at night or so local legend would have it. The tales seemed to gain an element of truth when workmen came to work on the road and dug up several skeletons.
Does anyone know where Holloway Hill is, because we have been unable to find any reference to it, apart from the above story?
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Mary Park Gardens
In the late 1990s at a private residence in Mary Park Gardens there was an unpleasant entity that the owners said filled the house with an oppressive atmosphere. It also had a habit of locking the bathroom door, from the inside.
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North Street
In the mid 1930s a policeman was patrolling the area of North Street when he saw a middle aged man standing near the junction of North Street with Hadham Road. The man was staring at something and totally ignored the approaching policeman. As the officer got nearer the man suddenly vanished.
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St. Michael's
In 1983 a Bishop’s Stortford man was taking a short cut through the churchyard of St. Michael’s church. It was 22:30 and the man claims he was fully sober when he saw a black figure moving amongst the graves. He described the figure as being far larger than a man but he couldn’t see any features.
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The Star Inn
In 1923 the Star Inn was being altered so as to incorporate a new bar. During the work an ancient and valuable oak-panelled wall was found. Shortly after the new bar opened the landlord, Mr. Ives, heard a knocking coming from the new bar while he was serving customers in the main bar. When he went through to the new bar he found that there was no one there. This knocking went on for some time and each time there was no one there. The pub changed hands and the new landlord has never heard any knocking. The only other event took place in the mid 1990s when a cleaner was confronted with the Grey Lady, Bishop’s Stortford’s most famous ghost.
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Windmill House
Windmill House (now St. Joseph’s) was originally a seventeenth century ‘L’ shaped building. During the Napoleonic wars the owner, Captain Winters, allowed a local band of yeomanry to camp in the grounds of the house. During the night Captain Winters was accidentally shot by one of his own troops. Now a spectral army, in full uniform, parades in the grounds of the house.
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