The Red Lion Avebury, London

The red lion Inn is a grade II listed building and was originally created in the early 1600′. It was a farm house until the year 1802 when it acquired a license and became a coaching inn The building remains to this day as a pub.

Much of the village, including the Red Lion, is enclosed within an ancient stone circle. There are several small stone circles at Avebury, as well as a large henge. Avebury is located just twenty miles from the much better knownStonehenge, and at least two thousand years older. The tiny village is regarded as a spiritual centre for numerous pagan groups, such as the Druids and Wiccans.

A former landlady, Florrie. Local legend describes how Florrie had a number of illicit dalliances whilst her soldier husband fought in the English Civil War, which took place from 1642-1651. Her husband returned home and discovered Florrie’s infidelity. He murdered her and concealed her body by pushing it down the village well. The Red Lion later expanded around the well, which now serves as a focal point in one of the restaurant’s dining rooms.

The Pub is famous for its 86ft deep well which dates back to the 1600′s. The Well Room is named after Alexander Keiller who excavated the ancient stone circle surrounding theInn.

Florrie’s murder was not the only one to occur at the Red Lion. It is also believed that a local man was stabbed to death in the cellar during the 17th century. At the time, the cellar was used to conceal criminals, and priests escaping the wrath of the anti-Catholic monarchy.

Hauntings and Ghost Stories of The Red Lion

The Murdered Florie is said to haunt this family pub. Several reports have been received of Florie being dressed in black walking round the pub looking for a man with a beard. One report was that of a bearded man sitting under a spinning chandelier. Customers have also seen Florie in the ladies toilets and one of the past landladies reported seeing Florie throw salt and pepper across the tables and chairs in the restaurant area. Another report is that of spooky looking horse drawn carriages pulling up outside the pub in the dead of night, this can both be seen and heard but never both.

Strangedaz reported

It was on 1st October, 2004, that a dozen members of Paranormal Site Investigators arrived at the Red Lion, to carry out an all-night vigil. They were accompanied by a local press photographer. They witnessed a great deal of anomalous activity, some of which was photographed. The activity experienced included mysterious footsteps, appliances turning themselves on and off, light anomalies, and people being touched by an unknown source. An object was also hurled down the stairs, from the bar to the cellar, where the investigators had based themselves. No-one was anywhere near the area of the bar from which the object was hurled.

One member of the investigative team, who was ignorant of the inn’s history, had a particularly disturbing experience. He had a terrifying vision, in which a man came up to him and made a number of violent, stabbing motions with a dagger. The pub’s staff later revealed that a man had been stabbed to death in the cellar. Staff who enter the cellar regularly feel an angry and menacing presence within.
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Pendle Hill, Lancashire, London

Pendle Hill

Pendle Hill, almost a mountain, hypnotic and very atmospheric. In the year 1612 there stood a huge limestone tower where a family of local peasants dwelt. But not just an ordinary family, these so called peasants had powers far beyond our reach. They were in league with the devil, they made clay effigies and used human hair and teeth to make these effigies.

Witches Cottage, Pendle Hill

Various local persons died of mysterious illnesses, some in great pain. Milk was turned blue, cattle died without a mark on their bodies and the locals feared venturing on to the hill. One man determined to make a name for himself was the local magistrate Roger Nowell. In great fear for his life he plucked up the courage to arrest two of the inhabitants of the stone tower known as Malkin tower. They were sent to Lancaster to be tried, two days later all the other witches met at the tower but within weeks all were taken to Lancaster for trial and certain death by hanging.

Haunted Happenings will take you from the viewing platform of Clitheroe's Norman Castle situated at the foot of Pendle hill to various haunted and historic locations related to the Pendle Witches. It is here where you will be told the ghostly history of horror, heroes and villains.Clitheroe has an atmosphere not too dissimilar to a Transylvanian town.

You may hear the crying sound of the wind in the bracken, a fox or an owl. You may even hear the footsteps of somebody.....

Many persons over the past centuries have sadly lost their lives on the hill and many locals still steadfastly refuse to go on the hill after dark due to the sinister sightings of ghosts and spirits that have been seen, felt and heard. That is unless you join us for a terrifying walk in the footsteps of the famous Pendle witches. This will be an experience from start to finish and is definitely not for the faint hearted. We are offering you this unique opportunity to be part of this truly chilling ghost hunt.

Borley Rectory, Essex, London

Borley Rectory was a Victorian era mansion located in the village of Borley, Essex, England. It was constructed in 1863, on the site of a previous rectory, and destroyed by fire in 1939.

The house gained a reputation for being haunted after a series of residents reported unsettling phenomena. In 1929, the story of Borley was heavily covered by the Daily Mirror. Notably, it was investigated by paranormal investigator Harry Price in 1937, who described it as ‘The Most Haunted House in England’, a phrase which caught the imagination of the press.

Borley Rectory was constructed near Borley Church by the Reverend Henry Dawson Ellis Bull in 1862, and he moved in a year after being named rector of the parish. The large brick building was built in a style influenced by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, replacing the earlier Georgian house built for the previous rector, Reverend Herringham, which Henry Bull demolished. The rectory was eventually enlarged to house a family of fourteen children.

 

There is evidence for there having been a house on the rectory site before the Herringham rectory. The nearby church dates from the 12th century and serves a rather scattered rural community of the three hamlets that make up the parish. There are several substantial farmhouses, and the fragmentary remains of Borley Hall, once the seat of the Waldegrave family. Ghost-hunters like to quote the legend of a Benedictine monastery supposedly built in this area in about 1362, according to which, a monk from the monastery carried on a relationship with a nun from a nearby convent. After their affair was discovered, the monk was executed and the nun bricked up alive in the convent walls. It was confirmed in 1938 that this legend had no historical basis and seemed to have been fabricated by the rector’s children to romanticise their gothic-style red-brick rectory. The story of the walling-up of the nun was probably taken from a novel by Rider Haggard. Until the newspaper stories about the ghosts, there had been no mention in the local papers, or any other written source, of anything unusual happening at the rectory. The rectory and the parish gave every appearance of being a typical East Anglian rural parish.

Highate Cemetary, London

 

The Highgate Cemetery, located in Highgate in London, England, was opened to the public in the year of 1839. This particular cemetery establishment was part of what is often referred to as the "Magnificent Seven". The region felt it necessary to provide seven new large based burial grounds to the area and this was one of those to be included. Most of the graveyards that were actually located within the city limits were part of the churches there and were becoming overpopulated. A man by the name of Stephen Geary came in and drew out the design for the Highgate Cemetery. He is the architect fully responsible for the appearance of the haunted cemetery.

There are many notable individuals that were laid to rest in this haunted London cemetery. One of the most popular of all individuals is the famous Karl Marx. The author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", Douglas Adams, is also buried there. The parents of Charles Dickens, William Kingdon Clifford, Max Wall, Adam Worth, and numerous other's graves can be found within the gates of this popular cemetery. For some, it is not the notable names buried within the Highgate cemetery that make it so mystifying, it is the fact that there appears to be non-living entities residing in and around the burial grounds as well. Many paranormal investigators have established that this place is haunted and possibly even has its very own vampire!

 

The Highgate Vampire is believed to be just one of the severalhauntings that occur at the cemetery. In the early years of the 1970s, several young people gathered together and elected to walk through and around the grounds of the cemetery. On the 24thday of December in the year of 1969, one of these people claimedthat they saw a strange man walking by the cemetery. It was believed that this man that he saw was a spirit. The name of the man that saw this strange man was named David Farrant. Most of the people that were exploring the cemetery did not observe the particular individual that he spoke of, but it is said that they witnessed other apparitions and events that seemed to be paranormal based.

There was one other individual named Sean Manchester that claimed that he observed the same entity that David did in the Highgate Cemetery. Based on his knowledge of England's history, he believed that the spirit that they observed could have been the famous "King Vampire of the Undead". While considered to be an outrageous story among most, those in the country believed it to be true. It is said that the "Vampire" was a nobleman during the medieval times. He practiced black magick during his lifetime, so many associated that with Witchcraft and Vampirism. The man was transported from the area of Wallachia to England, but was confined by a coffin.

In the early 1970s, it is said that there was a local group in England that was believed to have been practicing Satanism. Naturally, the satanic cult took an avid interest in the final resting place of the supposed "Vampire" and made many efforts to summon him. It appears as if they were successful. The gray colored, ominous character lurking among the tombstones in the Highgate Cemetery is believed to be the vampire that legend has spoke of all throughout history. Eventually, the group of young people would split off into two groups and compete for who would find and finally kill the supposed vampire. However, to this day, no such creature has been located or captured.

The haunted Highgate Cemetery is also said to contain the spirit of an older woman. It is unknown who the woman is, or why she is wandering in the London, England cemetery, but several witnesses have observed her. She appears to be an intelligent haunting according to some because of the way she apparently disappears once observed, but not much is known about this ghost at all. If you are going to the Highgate London England area and want to experience a haunted cemetery for yourself, you may find that the Highgate Cemetery is an intriguing location. Simply swing over to Swain's Lane and you may see the popular Highgate Vampire yourself! Perhaps you will be able to identify the spirit of the elderly lady that roams the rows of the dead.