Arnold / Payne Haunted Rochester

1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7509-5990-2
Verlag: The History Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 96 Seiten

Rochester is riddled with tales of phantom monks, eerie tunnels, romantic spirits, dark apparitions, and ancient history, but pick up any book pertaining to ghostlore and you will find only a handful of tales from Rochester, which has become a much ignored haven of spiritual activity. Now, however, comes a unique volume which proves that Rochester is in fact one of the most haunted places in Kent. Its High Street alone harbours over forty ghost stories, whilst its surrounding schools, houses and pubs are home to many obscure spectres. The atmosphere described by Charles Dickens many years ago can now be seen in a more chilling light, so read on to discover the ghosts of Rochester's past.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Arnold, Neil

Payne, Kevin

Leseproben

‘He always said, what a curious thing it was that he should have found out, by such a mere accident as his climbing over the palings, that the ghosts of mail coaches and horses, guards, coachmen, and passengers, were in the habit of making journeys regularly every night.’

Charles Dickens – The Ghosts of the Mail

VERY little has been written about the ghosts of Rochester High Street. Hundreds of books on British ghosts have been published worldwide, but only a handful mention the more popular spook tales which Rochester harbours. Much of what you are about to read is previously unpublished material. Although Kent boasts many haunted locations, such as the village of Pluckley (reputedly England’s most spook-infested village), we believe that Rochester and its High Street is one of the most haunted places which has remained out of the public eye, until now. Medway Council’s pamphlet A Walk Around The City of Rochester states, ‘The High Street is part of the Roman Road (Watling Street) from London to the Kent coast. Countless travellers have passed this way since Roman times, because it remained the main highway to the Continent until the 20th century. The High Street formed part of the A2 trunk route up to 1980’.

Each year thousands of visitors flock to view the historical buildings dotted along the High Street, as well as take in the shops, bars, restaurants and the castle and cathedral.

We have written this chapter as a tour guide through the High Street so that when you next visit the town you can take in the atmosphere of ghostly tales along the way. We have written it as if you are walking to Rochester from the Chatham stretch. Every business listed in this chapter is correct at the time of writing. Please remember, should you wish to conduct your own ghost hunt, to respect the premises. All of these properties are privately owned, and owners would need to be contacted prior to any investigation.

The Ship Inn

Our first port of call is The Ship Inn public house at No. 347 in the High Street (on the right-hand side as you walk from Chatham to Rochester). It sits on the corner of Ship Lane and, compared to most of the properties and their stories you are about to read, it is far closer to Chatham than Rochester. It is also a very old location. In fact, a dwelling house was first built here in 1511; what you now see was erected in 1832. However, the sale of ales from the premises was first permitted in 1768, when the house registered as The Ship Ale House.

The Ship inn.

This friendly pub attracts a predominantly gay crowd. Although at the time of writing it’s under relatively new management, who have reported no paranormal activity, there is a story from The People newspaper of 3 February 2002 which suggests otherwise (albeit with an awful headline!): ‘Pub ghost is homosexuale – Locals at a historic pub are being haunted by a gay ghost.’

The Medway Today of 5 May 2002 was less dramatic, but more atmospheric with its headline, ‘Ghost raises evil spirits at gay haunt’, stating: ‘A ghost may be haunting Britain’s oldest gay pub. Staff at the Ship Inn in Rochester High Street say they have felt an eerie presence in the pub. And they believe it could be the spirit of a man who hanged himself on the premises forty years ago after splitting up with his boyfriend.’

Bar Manager Bea Torson told the newspaper:

‘Often when you go to the back bar after closing time you feel a strange presence there, as if someone is right behind you. It’s after closing time and you feel you’ve left a customer behind but there’s no-one there. Also, I have noticed one of the toilet doors opens an inch when you walk towards it.’ She added that the barman’s suicide occurred in a small panelled back room which is still used as a function room. ‘It is very odd,’ she said, ‘but you just never feel alone in that room.

Cleaner Jackie Proven added another strange feature to the case: ‘At times we have noticed that little things have gone missing, like cufflinks, and then suddenly reappeared.’

Today the pub is frequented by both heterosexual and gay people, but its gay connections date back at least 500 years. In 1717 a seaman got the death penalty after having sex with another man on the premises. But in past centuries it has also been frequented by prostitutes and their sailor clients, and staff believe there could be a second ghost from that group. About 100 years ago, a woman in her early thirties died in an upstairs room. She is thought to have been a prostitute who used it as her work base. Barman Edward Malone told the reporter: ‘That upstairs room is totally disused. It does not even have lighting. But often you can hear footsteps.’

Miss Torson had another story to share: ‘One evening just before Christmas I remember telling someone in the pub the [ghostly] woman was supposed to be a prostitute. The following morning I was working behind the bar and I was bending down to pick something up. Suddenly a gin bottle from the optics on the shelf fell on the floor and missed my head by inches.’

But new landlord Philip Clarke, who took over at the end of last year, says he is not afraid of taking over a pub thought to be haunted: ‘I don’t even believe in ghosts, so it doesn’t put me off working here at all.’

The Nags Head

Situated on the High Street and corner of Nags Head Lane (on the left hand side if travelling from Chatham to Rochester), this welcoming boozer, at No. 292, is reputedly haunted by the spirit of a prostitute named Aggie. Several locals have observed the phantom. Many years ago the site was home to stables and police cells, which were under the area where the pub now sits. It is believed that Aggie hanged herself in one of these cells, and she has been seen on the stairs and in the old cellar. However, the current landlord, despite his scepticism, stated in May 2010, ‘We know all about the ghost and I always greet her when I am in the cellar area. I don’t believe in all this rubbish, though, but if I did see her I’d move out!’

On the 14 January 1975 the Evening Post reported a more accurate version of events:

Pub ghost puts Sheba off her guard – Sheba, an Alsatian guard dog, has her work cut out at The Nags Head pub, Rochester. For there is a nightly visitor soon after midnight, when all the doors are bolted and windows fastened. But although Sheba does her job, barking and baring her teeth, there isn’t much she can do. For the visitor is a friendly ghost.

‘It’s very unnerving’, says landlady Mrs Maddy Kinsella. ‘She nearly barks the place down every night. We check each time. We always hear jumping and running and when we look in the bar there’s nothing there.’

But the unseen customer nearly always leaves evidence behind, an open door, the cellar hatch pulled aside, or a bottle or two falls from a shelf. The 400-year old Nags Head, on St Banks, is on the corner of what was once called Hangman’s Lane, where local criminals were executed on the gallows. Mrs Kinsella added: ‘We know the ghost is a girl because we’ve heard a young voice cry out.’

The haunting was also covered in the same newspaper four years later, on the 15 May 1979, when a group of paranormal investigators, calling themselves the Ghost Squad, from Gravesend, spent two nights in the cellar of the pub during the weekend of the 12-13 May. The only activity recorded was a watch stopping at 4:00 a.m. – the battery of which was found on the floor – and the movement of heavy carbon-dioxide cylinders, which were thrown across the floor. The newspaper added that the ghost was said to have been of seventeen-year old ‘Aggie’, a woman forced into prostitution, who was then murdered. At the time, the landlord, a Mr Bob Nichols, reported that several previous owners had encountered the ghost and reported odd clicking noises and bumps in the night.

The Nags Head.

One privately owned property very close to The Nags Head also has a haunting. The premises began life as an old inn, but the couple who live there now believe the house is haunted by a gentleman dressed in clothes dating back to the 1600s. The husband recently had a disturbing experience whilst removing a boxed-in area above the beam of an old fireplace. When his wife came home she found him on the floor gasping for breath. Thankfully he recovered, and told his wife that as soon as he removed the cover to reveal the original beam, he was suffocated.

The couple researched the property and found that an old man who resided there fell asleep one night whilst holding his pipe. He burned to death. The couple believe that they set his spirit free whilst restoring the property. They also believe ghostly children wander the house and often, in a playful manner, move items.

Rochester Railway Station

Our next port of call is Rochester Railway Station, which, if you are travelling from Chatham, is on the right-hand side. The station is on the Chatham Main Line in Medway and has four platforms. It was opened 1 March 1892 and only one ghost story appears to be attached.

More than a century ago a passenger on a train from London was said to have committed suicide. A guard on the late-night train conversed with the gentleman in a compartment and was told to notify the chap as soon as they had reached Rochester. However, when the destination was reached, the guard found the passenger dying from a bullet wound to the neck. A gun was by the side of the man. The man was rushed to St Bartholomew’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Rochester Station.

A Doctor William Crewe, surgeon at London’s Guy’s Hospital, came to the conclusion...