h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The article though humerous seems to lack any kind of detail or information. There are
more ghosts per square in England than any other place in the world and had do I know
this because more people claim to see them over here than anywhere else.
The most haunted place in England is Hampton Court, on one occasion an off duty policeman
outside the Court gates said he saw 8 ghosts approach. The Haunted Gallery has on a number
of occasions seen and heard the screaming ghost of Catherine Howerd who was dispatched
to the Tower of London to be beheaded by Henry VIII, her ghost is seen runnig down this
corridor "Gallery" pleading for her life...

Sorry - what PRECISELY is your doctorate in...?

Its a name from a fav book by Mervyn Peake - Titus Groan.
No doctorate - I just like it...

Dear Dr Prunesquallour (nice name incidentally). I am afraid I have to take issue with you. In fact the most haunted place in England was the famed Borley Rectory.

Ok I stand corrected, tell me about the Borley Rectory?

Borley Rectory was in Essex - the site was mentioned in the Doomsday Book but the really interesting thing is that in 1362 there was a nunnery on the site. Well one of the nuns wanted to run away with a monk from the local monastery. They were discovered and he was hanged and she was bricked up alive. The rectory was built by Henry Bull in 1863. Soon after a nun began to appear in the grounds, footsteps were heard, objects thrown by unseen hands, screams in the night, cold spots and strange odours appeared and unlit rooms were illuminated. Writing appeared on the wall addressed to a the wife of a later owner and a phantom coach rattled through the house. The hauntings continued until the Rectory burnt down in 1939 and witnesses reported seeing a figure of a woman in the flames.

The full story is at www.livingspirit.com/ghost3.htm

Interesting that many ghosts seem to be nuns, monks, priests etc...
There might be something in that. I'd hazard a guess and be contentious
at the same time in saying that it was due to a wasted life believing
in a false religion...wahey steady now!

I try to keep on the right side of all deities - you never know which civilisation was right. And it allows me to bump up my annual leave allowance from work.

you know the name might have changed and it might be italicised now but I am still being haunted by a house a couple of friends lived in. I dream about it with frightening regularity - about twice a week. Why?

Dreams like that can have all sorts of relatively innocent triggers - for example if something about the house reminded you of a place you stayed in early childhood which you had otherwise forgotten about, or if the house had a particular smell you associate with something else you regularly dream about... When you say "dream about" the house, you need to put it in a bit more context - do you simply dream of being there, or is it something more sinister?

Recurring nightmares! Phew I have this one where
I travel in the space shuttle into the Sun!?!

On the subject of ghosts-
I live in Dorking which is a ye olde town
in Surrey mentioned in the Doomesday Book
as Darkingue. It has quite a few ghosts too.
One "living" 100 yards away from my house and
another in the White Horse Inn in the middle of town!
Dr P

*feels Dr P's forehead to check his temperature* hmmmm space shuttle into the sun - you haven't been at that canned lager again have you Dr P?

Ok some background - Broughton House is Grade II listed solid but not particularly big Georgian manor house. When I was little two sets of friends lived there - one sold it to the other. The house had not changed at all since Regency times. Most of the rooms were like a time warp. Even the kitchen had a Edwardian range in it.

I played at the house from the time I was three up until about 15. The last few years were spent riding the pony my friend had got bored with. There were certain areas of the drive and gardens that the pony would not go near without getting really really upset. I don't think any one ever really felt happy or comfortable there. I remember being in the study and seeing a face at the window which appeared and vanished repeatedly - I was five at the time.

Any way after the second set of friends moved out the house was empty for about five years - and architectural thieves went in and basically gutted it. It was then I started to dream about the house. It never looks like it does in real life, but I always recognise it as being Broughton House. Sometimes the house is just the backdrop to a dream, sometimes a central character for example I am lost in it. They are not always nightmares, but they are quite distressing and I generally wake up with a sense of exhaustion and dread. Though some are really quite pleasant!

Ha! Caught out again...!

Nothing gets past this girl I can tell you!

Hi Abi,
I think I owe you a drink. I've looked
up Borley Rectory on the Internet and
its saturated with ghosts. Have a look at
http://www.borleyrectory.com/
It has pictures of white ghosts and
mysterious faces and even a "floating brick"
Dr P

Thanks Dr P - great URL. I am not sure I agree with the conclusions drawn from all the photos but it is nice to get a bit more information on the site!

Abi
I agree about the photos, not very conclusive.
Though one of them made is very spooky -The
picture of the half man/ghost moving. Have you
every been there yourself?
Cheers Dr P

I find it interesting that no one has any real life stories on the subject to ghosts. It's not an uncommon experience, though rarely talked about. I've encountered them a few times. And sometimes I do my best not to encoutner them (if that uncomfortable feeling comes up when I'm in a home.)
What I've found is that like so many things in life, some people are in tune to it and other people will never see. One isn't right and the other wrong, it's just in the eye of the beholder. I for example could never grasp the concepts in calculas, which to others seems to be childs play!
So, anyone want to share an interesting story?

Not terribly interesting, but here goes...

About ten years ago I used to frequent a drinking establishment in Aberdeen called "The English Club". It was based in an old building off Belmont street - the building was a warren of passages and small rooms. One of the small rooms housed a pool table, and was renown for being colder than the rest of the building...

While practicing pool there, as I pulled back on the cue the back end hit something soft; it felt like I'd bumped the stomach of someone behind me. I said "Sorry!" and turned round, but I was alone in the room, and the nearest wall was a good 2 feet too far away to be the explaination for what I hit...