LPS - Buntingford

Buntingford

Contents -- Click to go to item

General
Alswick Hall
Chapel End
High Street
Monk's Walk
The Old Bell Inn
St Bartholomew's
St Peter's
The White Hart

A brief note about the area
The sounds of a carriage and horse
Strange floating lights
The ghost of a girl and the sound of footsteps
The ghost of a murderous monk
A grey lady and a man dressed in black
Lights and bells that ring themselves
Something white crossing the road
The sound of footsteps

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General

Buntingford began to thrive as a town in the thirteenth century due to its weekly markets and annual fair. During the early part of the eighteenth century Buntingford again grew due to its position on the Roman road, Ermine Street. At this time it became a major stopping off point on the London to Cambridge coach road.

Diarist Samuel Pepys once stayed at the George Inn and recorded that his wife became ill after drinking cold beer.

St Bartholomew’s Church is known to the locals as Layston Church. The church has a fourteenth century chancel and once belonged to the mediaeval village of Layston. It was used by Buntingford locals until St Peter’s was built.

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Alswick Hall

Beside the road to Alswick Hall there lies a pond in which Lady Lemon was killed. Whilst being driven back to the Hall in her coach the horses were startled by an apparition that appeared on the road in front of them. Panicked, the horses fled and the coach overturned into the pond. Both Lady Lemon and the coach driver were killed but their bodies were never found.

Now it is said that on the night of the anniversary of the accident you can hear the sounds of horses’ hooves and the noise of the carriage wheels on the road. But what was the apparition that panicked the horses in the first place?

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Chapel End

In the 1930s three friends were out for a stroll along the banks of the River Rib. The three lads, Fred Lee, Charles Edwards and Samuel Clark suddenly saw a number of bright lights moving around, underwater, in the middle of the river. As they watched the bright ‘sparks’ of light rose to the surface of the river, crossed the road and moved up an area known locally as ‘Totties Ditch’. Eventually the lights stopped at the back of the Crown Inn where they formed a moving circle. By now the lads were terrified and fled back along the road. A crowd of people came to see what had happened and the police called in the gas and electricity companies but nothing could be found to explain what they had seen.

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High Street

In Buntingford High Street there is a house that is haunted by the ghost of a girl. One evening the family saw a young girl wearing a white nightdress walk into the dining room. At first they thought it was their daughter and were afraid she was sleepwalking so they followed her into the room. When they walked into the room they found that there was no sign of the girl and when they checked they found their daughter sound asleep in bed. At night footsteps would be heard on the landing and the latch doors would be opened and closed. Toys would also move around especially a large horse which was used to block the entrance to the kitchen. Because of the layout of the house it would have been impossible for anyone to have moved the horse and then to have returned upstairs. Both of the small children in the family would talk about ‘the lady in white’, and would comment about how she wouldn’t let them sleep.

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Monk's Walk

Near to the road known as Monks Walk there used to be a pond which disappeared some time ago. Legend has it that a monk drowned a child in the pond and now on dark winters’ evenings his ghost can be seen searching for his victim.

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The Old Bell Inn

The Old Bell Inn, 43 High Street, Buntingford is long gone with the site later being occupied by the Bell House gift shop. The shop is now known locally as ‘the haunted house’. The original building dated from 1450 and had several ghosts including a grey lady and a man dressed in black who would be seen walking down the stairs. A former resident, Mrs. Parker told how she was sitting in the living room with her daughter in the late 40s when the door handle started to turn. When she opened the door there was no one there.

In the 1940s part of the inn was let out to three families all of whom experienced strange happenings while they were tenants. These happenings included footsteps coming from upstairs when there was no one there and the sound of a baby crying coming from one of the bedrooms. In the same room a woman was also heard sobbing as if in grief.

One night Tom Parker, one of the tenants, was woken with the feeling as of a great weight pressing down on him. He tried to get free and after a long struggle managed to roll out of bed. The next morning Tom was found asleep in the room, not in the bed, but hanging half out of the window. Another night and another tenant, this time he woke in the middle of the night with the feeling as if hands were gripping his neck and choking him. One visitor from Canada was found the next morning asleep in a room he hadn’t gone to bed in. The man, who was described as ‘a real tough guy’ refused to go back to his original room and would offer no explanation as to why.

During a séance organised by the Hertfordshire Mercury the spirit of Hannah Bedwell told her tragic tale. Hannah had once worked at the inn and fell pregnant out of wedlock. She was frightened that she would lose her job and her lodgings so she killed the baby by lying on it. At the time Hannah was only 15 and the child’s father, John Price, a porter at the inn, was dead. According to the tale Hannah was arrested and hanged for infanticide. It is the baby crying and Hannah’s lamentations that had been heard. Hannah said that the inn was filled with the spirits of ‘bawds and cut-purses’ and all were unquiet.

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St Bartholomew's

St Bartholomew’s is now a ruin but in the nineteenth century the church was still in use. At times the bells of the church would ring out in the dead of night when nobody was there. One group of bell ringers decided to find out what was going on by surprising the perpetrators. As they drew near to the church they could see that it was brightly lit and the bells were ringing but as soon as they entered the church the light was extinguished and the bells fell silent. There was, of course, no one there.

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To view images see: Buntingford - St Bartholomew's Album

To view a report about St Bartholomew's see: 26-10-2006

Buntingford, St Bartholomew's _____________________________________________________________________
St Peter's

In 1931 two young boys were playing in the road behind St Peter’s church. It was Christmas time and the day was drawing to a close as darkness began to fall. Suddenly something white crossed the road beside them and disappeared. The boys were naturally terrified and ran home. There is still no explanation as to what it was they saw.

St Peter’s Church was built in 1614 on the site of an earlier chapel. The church is built of brick based on a Grecian cross plan. This design was revolutionary for its time and still seems to be remarkably modern.

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The White Hart

Number 87 in the High Street, Buntingford occupies the site where the White Hart Inn stood from 1600. The later building is now haunted by the sound of footsteps.

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