England's Most Famous Ghosts & Supernatural Incidents - Documentary

how much more is there to the world than meets the eye we may prefer the comfort that comes from believing that we understand the world but every once in a while something strange occurs that causes us to wonder just how much more may be going on out of view England with its long recorded history and Rich mythology is home to a trove of curious stories which invoke this very question some of them delve into an area that we would call the Paranormal ladies and gentlemen hello and welcome to fire of learning this is the campfire series join us as we tell and examine several of these stories exploring some of England's most renowned paranormal events and legendary entities from a haunting tale of a ghost Army to a vile witch said to prowl the night Countryside to the story behind what may be the most famous photograph of an alleged ghost ever taken and more before we begin I would like to thank Anubis Anarchy cous Inquisitor zerus Carlos Javier Montanas Nick Todd Tong fungus Max young novad Doopa Michael lowski Rachel Lucas Christian Paul Carolyn KS Adam Ryder and Simon yakim Syle for being our most recent supporters on patreon they join these supporters listed here who helped to make videos like this possible now then let's get to it England is littered with purportedly haunted locations and nearly every single one of them claims to be the most haunted location in the country but how many can not only claim but demonstrate sightings of a ghost dating back nearly 200 years with a photograph of said entity to match such is the case for the spirit known as the brown Lady of ram Hall whose photograph is widely considered to be one of if not the most famous photograph of an alleged ghost ever taken ROM Hall is a nearly 400-year-old Country House located in the county of norick in the east of England it is served as the seat of the Townsen family throughout its existence many of whom went on to become accomplished members of English society by the year 1835 the building already had an extensive history behind it however it was in December of that year that the aura surrounding it would change forever when guests of the hall witnessed her for the first time that we know of the first sighting occurred during Christmas festivities hosted at the hall by Sir Charles and Lady Townsen as the festivities died down two of the guests Colonel or possibly major Loftus and Mr Hawkins made their way to their guest rooms for the night however they claimed that along the way they were intercepted before them appeared The Apparition of a lady in what was described as a dated Brown brocade dress this brown dress being the origin of her name her face glowed but in contrast her eye sockets were empty and dark the following night Colonel lus reported seeing her a second time though it seems that much like the first night this too was only a brief appearance details about the events following these sightings are lacking but it seems that a handful of the house staff left random Hall soon after and that in the months following guests would make excuses to avoid staying there suggesting that claims of the presence of a spirit persisted and were widespread genuinely believed and truly frightening at some point the ghost was identified with a portrait of a lady in a brown satin dress hanging in one of the guest rooms who resembled the descriptions given by Witnesses the next recorded report of the ghost dates to the year after when Royal Navy officer and author Frederick Marriott stayed at the hall specifically requesting to stay in what was said to be the most haunted room the room in which the portrait hung he was skeptical of the story and believed there to be a more rational explanation this was apparently encouraged by his host who was very much annoyed with the reputation his house had gained however according to marot's daughter Florence marot who wrote of his experience in the house 60 years after in her book There Is No Death his mind was changed upon his third night there according to her her father claimed that he and two of Town's nephews were walking down a long dark Corridor at night when they suddenly observed the light of a lamp appear on the other end believing it to be a lady a living one on her way to the nursery the three men tried to pass out of view as they were dressed only in their shirts and trousers they watched through a crack in the door to wait for her to pass however as the lady passed by their room they recognized immediately that she exactly matched the description of the brown lady instead of passing by the lady stopped turned towards the crack in the door and smiled at them in what was said to be a malicious and diabolical manner marott reportedly charged into the corridor and shot at her she disappeared instantly and the bullet became lodged in the panel of one of the doors the legend of this Spirit persisted into the 20th century it was on September 19th of 1936 a century after the initial sightings that the story would change for forever when a photographer named captain Hubert C provand and his assistant Indra Shira captured this Photograph the two were taking pictures of the hall to publish in a magazine called Country Life which focused on activities and Residences in the countryside they claimed that as they were photographing the stairs they witnessed a vapory form coales into the shape of a woman and began gliding down the stairs Shira instructed provand to take another photograph this is reportedly what they captured this image was published Country Life Magazine along with their account on December 26th of that year the photograph and consequently the case became internationally famous soon after at this point we must ask who was this lady in the portrait and therefore perhaps the photograph the portrait in question depicted Dorothy Townsen the sister of Robert Walpole Britain's first deao prime minister and wife of Charles townand second VI count townand who was the owner of the hall Charles townzen was a prominent British politician known also for his contributions to Agricultural Science he enjoyed a reputation as an honest intelligent and hardworking man however he was noted to have suffered from outbursts of anger according to Legend when it was revealed that Dorothy had had an affair with another nobleman Lord Thomas Wharton before her marriage to the vicount the vicount was infuriated he locked her away in her rooms and forbade her from leaving the house she died at the age of 39 in 17 26 reportedly from small poox though this was regarded with suspicion some claimed she had been murdered by her husband others went so far as to say that she hadn't died at all and that a mock funeral had taken place while Dorothy remained locked away from the world and the house for an undetermined amount of time what happened at ROM Hall regarding the alleged 18th century Affair of Dorothy Walpole and Lord Wharton and her future husband's violent reaction to it little is clear while it is entirely possible that the details of such a story may never have been recorded at all it is important to note that there does not appear to be any evidence of an affair let alone evidence that Dorothy was imprisoned or murdered by her husband for it only rumors rumors which appear contemporary but which were still only rumors which pertained to a man whose position naturally granted him many rivals other versions of the legend exist in which the lady invoked her husband's Rage with her spending habits but while the tale of this Spirit herself is certainly haunting the aspect that truly distinguishes the story and makes it more than just a story is the famous photograph indeed the photograph has been the topic of a great amount of discussion and debate some researchers such as the famous psychic researcher Harry price believed the photograph to be legitimate others however have asserted that it is likely a forgery several explanations have been proposed regarding how the image could have been faked the leading one appears to be that it is a product of what is called Double Exposure Double Exposure refers to superimposing or combining two separate images to produce a single one something that would have been more complicated before modern technology John Fairley and Simon welfare pointed out in their brief exploration of the topic in the book Arthur C Clark's Chronicles of the strange and mysterious that a pale line is visible above each stair tread which could be indicative of Double Exposure there is also a patch of light at the top of the right hand banister that appears twice this explanation is also favored by skeptic Joe nickel he cited photo expert Tom Flynn who noted that the photograph would have required a long exposure as it was quote not flash illuminated but shot with available light thereby proving it was not a quick snapshot as the original photographers claimed end quote and so who would the subject of the photograph be if it were a fake some researchers have pointed out that the figure seems to resemble a statue of the Virgin Mary looking closely at the image it does seem that the purported ghost is wearing a veil very similar to what Mary is often depicted wearing furthermore one can almost see the figure's hands placed together in prayer and some say that the bottom of the ghost even depicts a pedestal on which the statue would have stood but does this resemblance prove that this is not a legitimate picture of a ghost not with certainty but the fact that something is unfalsifiable does not make it true as it stands the evidence points to fabrication the photographers by the way were almost certainly aware that the house was claimed to be haunted the owner at the time glattus dower marianist townand had even recently published a book the year before in which she discussed her experiences in her home one fabricated image doesn't discredit the entire story but the rest of the story is unfortunately only a story with no other known evidence to be reviewed it is worth noting that there is a noticeable connection between The Ghost and Christmas the brown lady was first allegedly observed around Christmas time Florence Marriott noticed the connection as well and wrote a Christmas ghost story based on the ghost as we know most famously from Frederick Marriott's friend Charles Dickens the victorians loved not only a ghost story but a Christmas ghost story and it is entirely possible that beliefs about spirits of the Dead returning to visit on Christmas not only influenced the popularity and Persistence of the legend but may have helped to give rise to it as well as some of the other incidents explored in this presentation the public seems to have lost interests in the ghost not long after the photograph was taken around the time that they would have been turning their attention to the beginning of the second world war likely not by coincidence there has been somewhat of a Resurgence of interests in recent times some have even claimed to have witnessed her in nearby residences specifically hton Hall Once owned by Dorothy's brother and Sandringham Hall however sightings today still do not seem to be as common if somehow there is truth to this story then let us hope that her infrequent appearances are a result of the spirit having found peace lerer a ceremonial County in central England for centuries residents of this area have told disturbing Tales of a kind of entity which could be regarded as one of the most malicious and evil beings on the whole of the island she was said to live in a cave marked by an oak tree in the DNE Hills which you left only at night upon such nights people went missing this Sinister being is known as black Anis black Anis also called black Agnes or black Anna is regarded as a kind of witch or demon she appears as a tall monstrous old woman with deathly blue skin long white teeth and some say only one eye on her hands are iron claws which some say she used to dig out the cave in which she lived referred to as black an's Bower clothes she also wears a skirt made of tan skins these being the skins of her victims she is said to primarily hunt and consume the Flesh of humans in particular children though Legends tell of livestock and other animals falling victim to her hunger as well according to British folklorist Katherine Briggs who wrote of the creature in her book an encyclopedia of fairies black Anis might have been encountered at night hiding in the oak tree in front of her cave waiting to pounce upon any unfortunate passers by she would venture out to hunt in the countryside and surrounding Villages as well going so far as to enter people's homes through their doors and windows to capture her prey according to British folkl Ruth Tong who recorded information given by a local child in 1941 in her book forgotten folktales of the English counties residents of the area would be able to hear her howl from 5 miles away upon hearing this horrifying cry they would lock their doors Place skins over their windows and place protective witch herbs around their homes it was said that if she came near your house you would be able to hear her grinding her teeth outside it was added that windows in the area were traditionally made quite small so that black Anis couldn't get more than a single arm through most Legend state that her victims were taken back to her cave and skinned alive then she would suck all of their blood and consume the remaining flesh the Skins were then left dry on her oak tree to prepare them for her skirt it is notable that the witch was also sometimes portrayed as or said to be able to transform into a cat as is common in witch mythology although this Association is vague some say that she would run in cat form through a tunnel that connected her cave to The Cellar of nearby Lester castle for centuries a fair was held in the area around Easter time which included a drag hunt every Easter Monday this began near black an's Bower the locals used the dead cat covered an aned as bait in this hunt possibly in relation to the legend the aned may be the origin of her name but this is not likely as it seems to be a variation of Agnes the origins and age of this Legend are uncertain there are some such as TC Lethbridge and Donald Alexander McKenzie who have tried to link black anus to one of several ancient figures found in the pre-christian Pagan mythology of the island Pagan goddesses in particular caution should be taken with such claims it is true that sometimes certain aspects of modern folklore do reach back all the way to the beliefs and mythologies of ancient peoples and therefore such possibilities should always be considered when dealing with topics like this however it was also very common for Scholars in the 18th to early 20th centuries in particular to take any element of folklore and culture for which there was no obvious origin and tried to connect it to paganism in some form regardless of whether or not there was any evidence supporting a connection and even if it were quite a stretch there were several examples of pagan candidates from whom black in may stem but none of them seem to go beyond mere speculation although again it remains possible according to Bob trubshaw in his 2006 paper the making of a legend black anent or Bower the cave was first mentioned in a book published by William Burton in 1622 Burton Associated the cave with a woman who lived a few centuries earlier named Agnes Scott Agnes Scott was assumed to have been an anchoress A type of religious hermit who enclosed herself in some sort of cell the suggestion being that this cave served as her cell historian Ronald Hutton suggests that the memory of the Holy woman may have been transformed into that of a witch by Protestants who disagreed with Catholic monasticism however this is considered unlikely by Traw and the inspiration for the figure May simply be lost the first clear reference to a witch or Monster by that name seems to date to a poem written by John HCK in 1797 called on a cave called black an's Bower wherever the legend comes from and however old it is what is clear is that its hold over the people of the area has been much reduced in recent decades there are multiple stories detailing the supposed death of the witch for example the child from 1941 claimed that the witch was killed when a man struck her in the face with an axe causing her to bleed which is terminal for a witch she added that she was finished off by the sounding of Christmas bells it seems however that modernization may have truly put the witch to rest the undeveloped area of the DNE Hills in which the witch was said to have roamed became the site of houses in modern development shortly after the second world war the oak tree from which she observed her prey no longer stands and the entrance to the cave in which she dwelt was said to have been filled in did such a monster ever lurk in the area was she truly killed did ceiling off her cave enclose her under the Earth or should residents of the area still take extra caution to remember to lock their doors at night before we continue with the next story it is very important that I interrupt and annoy you by reminding you that if you are enjoying the video so far clicking the like button and subscribing to the channel helps the channel out tremendously and will make it easier to keep up with the videos like this that we produce in the future now then on to the next story Southern Warwickshire 1642 a peaceful resolution of the ongoing disputes between Parliament and King Charles I have been unsuccessful and have led to the declaration of war it was here at EDG Hill on October 23rd of that year that the parliamentarian and Royal forces met in the first major battle of what became the English Civil War the Battle of EDG Hill the parliamentarian forces under Robert Deo the Earl of Essex and the royalist forces commanded by Prince rert of the Ry each consisted of around 15,000 men battle raged throughout the day by Nightfall around 1,000 men had been killed and another 3,000 wounded with neither side having gained the advantage over the other both sides then became reluctant to fight and so the king's Army left without being pursued thus the Battle of EDG Hill remained inconclusive yet there are those who claimed that this was not quite the end of the battle and that even when the armies cleared away and the fighting moved elsewhere there were some who continued to fight on this Pacific Battlefield seeking its resolution according to Legend a few months after the battle on Christmas Eve a few local Shepherds were walking around the battlefield when they began to hear the sounds of battle the beating of drums the Clashing of metal the explosions of gunpowder and the cries of the dying the source of this sudden eruption of noise could not be identified by the Shepherds in what seemed an otherwise still night they became frightened and turned to run but as they did an astonishing sight suddenly appeared above them a great light Shone and the apparitions of soldiers and horses manifested in the night sky the spirits appeared to be clashing with each other engaging in the battle that had recently taken place below only months prior the scene reportedly lasted for roughly 3 hours when it ended the men went straight to the nearby Village of kineton and informed the locals of it Village officials were skeptical at first but it was said that some of the men were of approved Integrity thus the vicer named Samuel Marshall and the Justice of the Peace named William wood agreed to visit the battlefield the night after while there they reportedly observed the same thing manifest before them terrified they retreated to their homes and began praying to God this scene was to become a regular sight to the villagers of kineton appearing once every few nights causing locals a great deal of Terror word of this phenomenon spread and attracted a great amount of Interest including according to Legend from King Charles himself at this time stationed in Oxford still engaged in war though the fighting was much reduced in the Winter According to contemporary pamphlets Charles sent a commission of six men to investigate these claims a colonel Kirk Captain Dudley Captain Wayan and three other Individuals described as gentlemen of credit while visiting they too witnessed the battle taking place in the heavens above for themselves as Veterans of the battle they were even able to recognize specific individuals that they had known in life who had fallen at edel present in the ranks of the ghost armies including Sir Edmund verie the king's standard Bearer they returned to the king and reportedly swore an oath affirming that they had indeed seen the apparitions in January two aforementioned pamphlets describing the apparitions were published a great Wonder in heaven and the New Year's wonder which preserved this story for history it is from the former that the information in the story thus far has mostly come to quote a great Wonder in heaven in the place where the the battle was strucken have since and doth appear strange and pretentious apparitions of two jarring and contrary armies As I Shall in order deliver it being certified by the men of most Credit in those parts as William wood Esquire Samuel Marshall Minister and others on Saturday which was in Christmas time as if the savior of the world who died to redeem mankind had been angry that so much Christian blood was there spill and so had permitted these infernal armies to appear with the corporeal armies had shed so much blood end quote before long an explanation was proposed for the Phantom armies the burial of 1,000 men was a massive task that had not been fully completed and so many of the bodies had been left rot in the open for months their inability to rest it was argued was a product of their lack of a Christian burial encouraged by this explanation the villagers worked to give the remaining corpses such a burial there is disagreement on what happened after this some believe that soon thereafter the scene ceased to appear in full others such as Betty Smith in her book Tales of old Warwickshire took the position that the spirits had not quite been put to rest indeed though much diminished from the spectacle it was initially claimed to be it is said that unusual things still take place in the area that The Echoes of the battle can still be heard and that the apparitions of its participants can still occasionally be witnessed to this day in particular on the anniversary of the battle as specific examples Smith claims a white horse can sometimes be seen wandering the area still looking for his slain Master flowers appear on the tomb of Captain Kingsmill with no clear origin blood manifests in an old barn where an injured officer once lay dogs are said to refuse to Venture near an area where a mass grave was dug unfortunately determining the accuracy of the available information let alone anything beyond it is a difficult task and so much of the case may unfortunately be lost to history real or not though the ghosts of the battle of Ed Hill remind us of a very important truth that even when Wars are resolved and become subjects reserved for history books the scars they leave never truly fade Devon a county in Southwestern England a mystery remains unsolved in the south of this County which has puzzled residents since their ancestors first observed them nearly 170 years ago ever since then many individuals have attempted to provide an explanation for what was not only observed but also to an extent studied yet to date none have been able to satisfactorily explain what I refer to as the Devil's Footprints the morning of February 9th 1855 was another harsh winter morning in what has been described as an unusually cold and snowy winter it had been snowing the previous night and a fresh white sheet of snow covered the landscape by Sunrise when residents of several locations across Devon and some in the neighboring County of Dorset first stepped outside they observed a series of tracks had already Disturbed the fresh snow the tracks were likely not considered remarkable at first but as locals examined them more closely they started to find themselves confronted with Oddities that they could not explain the tracks were horseshoe shaped but were a according to most reports too close together to be those of a horse or a donkey furthermore they appear to align with The Locomotion or movement of a bipedal creature not a quadruped and they were arranged in a single file line most perplexing of all residents soon realized this line of footprints did not necessarily deviate for anything if the tracks Came Upon an obstacle they would sometimes be found crossing over it seemingly without impediment the trail would approach walls reported to be 14 ft in height and reappear directly on the other side as if the culprit had simply crossed right over it tracks would reach a river and appear on the other side as if the cber had walked on the frozen ice or swam through the water sources differ on the state of the water when they came upon a house Footprints were observed crossing the rooftops in cases in which the tracks did avoid obstacles they seemed to Venture near doorways and windows as local authorities became involved and the news of such anity spread various communities across the area all realized that they had each observed a phenomenon which stretched from miles in total over 30 communities reported tracks such as exmouth totnes topsum East budley touth and cly St Mary although it is difficult to determine exactly where they went as some reports were more substantial than others in total there were claims that the footprints extended for a distance of anywhere between 40 to 100 Mi or 60 to 100 km it was not a continuous path however the tracks would suddenly stop in certain locations only to reappear much further down as if the culprit had manifested and vanished in places like the middle of a field no one in any Community seems to have claimed to have witnessed anything that night there were no reports of any unusual noises and only one individual is recorded to have claimed his dog was barking there were no clear reports of any deaths damage or crimes in the vicinity of the tracks but though no clear harm had come the tracks were so unusual and so lacking in any clear explanation that Curiosity and fear lingered given that the tracks appear to be the tracks of a hoofed biped it was quickly assumed by many that these were the Devil's Footprints that Satan himself had manifested on the earth and prowled the night Countryside paranoia swept throughout the region according to John Godwin in his 1968 book this baffling world people barred their doors and boarded up their windows hunting parties formed who attempted to follow the tracks and hunt down the culprit ultimately these hunting parties did not discover much of anything apart from one which reportedly discovered what were described as whitish grape-sized oblong Globes of excr along one of the trails it is not clear what this would belong to where does this story come from and what evidence exists that would allow us to examine it there is sufficient evidence to say that this incident did happen at least to some extent records exist dating to only days after the incident which describe it a contemporary English newspaper the London Illustrated news recorded information that would be very important to the case much of the evidence also comes from the records kept by individuals such as HT elome vicer of the Parish of cly St George Welsh writer Mike Dash pieced the existing evidence together and published the paper the devil's hoofmarks in the journal 40 in studies in 1994 what then can be said of the tracks the tracks were unfortunately not photographed but sketches were made of some and descriptions made of many however these descriptions and depictions did not always align with each other the tracks were often said to be cloven meaning divided in two like the foot of a ruminant but they were not universally reported this way the prints were said on average to be about 3 and 1/2 in long and about 2 in wide but it seems reports of size also varied by a few in the stride or the distance between the heels of each foot was reported between 8 and 16 in the footprints themselves are large enough to potentially be those of a horse or a donkey but the stride is too small numerous animals were proposed as culprits at one point or another cats wolves Badgers various types of birds otters as a prominent example a brewer named Thomas Fox wrote To The Illustrated London news attributing them to mice indeed when mice like wood mice encounter snow they may hop through it leaving a v-shaped pattern in the snow that could resemble a horse hoof a hypothesis that has retained some popularity although it's not clear how mice created a single file line of tracks resembling those of a biped stretching from miles in a single night exotic animals like monkeys and kangaroos theorized to have escaped from menageries were also considered the rural folk of the area would have likely been famili amiliar with the tracks of most local Wildlife but not these although this lacks evidence but what animal exotic or native could have let alone would have walked or run in a straight path for 40 to 100 miles in a single night averting all obstacles as they did so Crossing rooftops rivers and hay stacks without issue well as Dash points out it's not actually anywhere near certain that this was what the evidence suggested happened as mentioned the tracks would abruptly stop and appear in various areas however it was more than that Dash notes that the extent of the tracks was simply assumed and that while they were reported over a great distance no one seems to have actually followed a single stretch of them for more than 5 miles in situations like the crossing of the river X it seems it was simply assumed that the culprit had crossed the river without difficulty simply because communities on both sides reported tracks no one seems to have actually identified tracks specifically suggesting that the culprit had crossed the river no individual actually seems to have observed all the examples of tracks from each community that reported them either which is a point of concern evidence shows that they were reported not only in somewhat different sizes but shapes as well some seeing features like claws others being confident that they were clo as another important point it doesn't seem that all the tracks did appear on the same night it seems new ones were reported for at least four more days after the originals according to the Western times the lines also weren't always as straight as was reported Dash notes that some communities described tracks that were as he said Meandering and crisscrossing much more animall likee although they did it seems cross over roofs and avoid obstacles still these points provide a great deal of support to the idea that animal activity may have been to blame in fact given the variation and reports of the tracks a variety of different animals may have been to blame including some which could have walked on roofs but could people who live so close to Nature truly have failed to identify the tracks of the animals around which they lived Dash notes that the winter was only harsh relative to the area and that there are reports showing that the night snow had turned to rain by the early morning which then froze as the temperature dropped again this may have easily distorted the tracks rendering them unrecognizable other explanations have been proposed though one of which is a balloon this explanation came from Jeffrey household's 1985 book The Devil's Footprints the great Devon mystery as it was reported In 1855 household spoke to a major Carter whose grandfather had allegedly worked at the devonport dockyard at the time of the incident he claimed that what he called an experimental balloon was accidentally released that night household suggested that the tracks were from two trailing shackles at the ends of the balloon's Mooring ropes dangling down from it as it floated across the sky Carter also claimed that his grandfather said that the dockyard did not report the incident because the balloon did cause damage to several structures in its path this would explain why the tracks were not perfectly continuous as it could have been moving up and down in the air why the tracks were difficult to recognize and also why it did not seem to deviate from obstacles like a conscious creature would however it isn't clear how dangling hoof-shaped shackles would have left what were normally described as Footprints or tracks that stretched from Miles which makes this explanation seem extraordinarily unlikely as a final consideration this was far from the first time in history that mystery tracks had appeared in an area overnight in fact Dash discovered that there were at least two separate incidents of this on the island the same winter one in in veress in Scotland the other only a month prior in the black country this might suggest the role of hoaxers inspired by the fame and commotion surrounding these incidents it would also suggest that people may have been on edge about such things to begin with ultimately the answer may very well not be a single one perhaps a hoax or the distorted tracks of a donkey triggered the Curiosity and once word spread people began going out and finding the tracks of things like wood mice and Badgers associating any nonobvious man perhaps even some obvious ones with the excitement unfortunately the case was not examined closely enough for researchers to refine their theories thus while numerous conceivable explanations exist none thus far are able to truly satisfy all questions the simple fact is that to this day we do not know what the Devil's Footprints were and as researchers like Dash conclude we likely never will chatwi a village in Shropshire just north of the Town of Newport this area is said to be home to a spirit whose sadness and despair has caused her to remain bound to the Earth the subject of these claims is a figure known as Madame pigot numerous stories exist attempting to explain the origins of this Phantom the main one however links her death to an incident of heartlessness and tragedy the names of the figures involved and the time in which they lived was not preserved but the legend but it seems that by 1883 when Georgina Frederica Jackson published her book shupure folklore a sheet of gleanings they were already considered figures of the past in life it is said that Madame pigot was married to Squire pigot and that the two live together in the mansion in chetwin their story is not exactly a tale of romance The Squire is said to have neglected his wife and cared little for her this we see when Madam pigot struggled during the birth of the child according to Legend during the birth Squire pigot was informed by a midwife that his wife's life was at stake and that he had to choose between the life of his wife and child The Squire chose the child callously saying quote one should Lop the root to save the branch end quote unfortunately however both Madame pigot and the child died left to die by her husband and having lost her child in her final moments her spirit is said to have have been too grief stricken to pass on into the Afterlife peacefully it was not long before her troubled Spirit was sighted wandering around the area the legend maintains that she would emerge from a trapo in the old chetwin rectory around midnight and begin wandering the roads and Pathways of the area in the direction of edgemond as she walked along her preferred path she would cross a boulder which she would then turn over then she would usually proceed up a Hill Called Cheney Hill colloquially known as madam pigot's Hill and sit upon either a twisted tree root known as Madame pigot's armchair or an Old Stone Wall nearby these were both located next to the pathway it is said that she would wait there throughout the night sometimes brushing the hair of the ghost child as she waited when a rider came by on the path at night it is said she would jump on the back of the horse and cling to the rider remaining latched to him in spite of any effort to shake her off it was sometimes said that she was accompanied by a black cat who would join her when jumping onto the horse and that she would be more likely to jump on the back of a man on an errand for a pregnant woman she would remain with the writer until he passed the stream of running water which she could not cross her intentions with this are not made clear and there do not seem to be any examples in which Madam pigot explicitly harmed any of those she haunted however Jackson states that encounters with her were nevertheless so disturbing that sometime in the late 18th century the locals sought to put her to rest this event appears to be more well attested as Jackson quoted locals who knew figures who reportedly took part in it it was said that one night 12 local clergymen gathered and read psalms aloud to her encouraging her to pass on into the Afterlife they persisted at this for some time so long that all but one of them gave up it was the curate of edgmond Mr Foy who persisted and eventually succeeded in this goal or so it seemed for years nothing was heard of Madame pigot but then in the 1820s about a decade after the death of Mr Foy sightings began again indeed though the original chetwin rectory was torn down and the tree upon whose root she sat was cut in the latter half of the 19th century sightings continue to this very day people often report seeing the figure wandering throughout the area sometimes holding her child in modern times she typically dwells along the a41 Route some witnesses report that The Apparition can sometimes be seen pushing a pram or what Americans call a stroller which at some point down the road shifts into a horse others say she may suddenly manifest inside Vehicles as they pass through the area in 2014 Madam pigot became elevated from folktale to the subject of debate when this Photograph was captured on a41 the picture was sent anonymously to Nick Duffy co-founder of the West Midlands ghost Club on New Year's Day day of that year the photograph is quite blurry but it seems to depict an illuminated figure in white alleged by the witness to have been an apparition is this Photograph legitimate and if so is this the Madam pigot of folklore unfortunately little can be determined by the photograph with confidence Beyond it there is little more pertaining to the story available to examine besides Stories the subject of the story again cannot even be identified with certainty in any records thus all one is left to do is Wonder and perhaps remain extra vigilant should one find oneself in the area Madam pigot is said to roam before we end this video it should be mentioned while I strove for accuracy the stories featured in this presentation were summaries likewise while I tried to represent multiple different perspectives on each story in the interest of presenting them within a reasonable amount of time I could not include every detail in or explanation for these stories still I hope you enjoyed this video If so I invite you to come check out the rest of fire of learning and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future to support the channel further there is a link to our patreon in the description a special thanks to our current supporters listed here we also have a science channel much like this called lucx so be sure to check that out too thank you for watching and be sure to join us next time around the [Music] campfire

Channel: Fire of Learning

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Length: 40min 27sec (2427 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 03 2023