The Grim Haunted History Of England's Tower Of London | Historic Hauntings | Timeline

this channel is part of the history hit network stick around to find out more [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] england's glorious history has been steeped in ambition greed treachery and betrayal its castle walls have witnessed centuries of bloodshed the anguished whales of the forlorn still echo through the corridors cut off by tragic death these restless spirits have been trapped in limbo between heaven and hell [Music] manifestations of the paranormal have many names in britain wraiths spunkies chagrins church grims hags of the dribble from the ancient druids to dickens a christmas carol spirits have been a palpable presence in the english landscape on the west coast of england's remote cumbrian region stands manchester castle where two bloody murders triggered a series of strange events that cannot be explained this rugged and beautiful landscape has echoed to the gruesome cries of the inhabitants of manchester castle for today the castle is plagued by eerie hauntings odd happenings and disturbing manifestations [Music] the present owner of the castle is patrick gordon duff pennington sometimes when i open the doors and open the shutters in the mornings people pull the doors out of my hand the last curator he used to see a grey lady walking up and down the red passage outside our room the tapestry room people have slept in there and asked to be moved they hear people cry when they feel cold they think it's a nasty place to be in and people who feel anything at all they come out not quite the same as they went in residents and guests of the castle also report the distinct sound of thumping on the stairs evidence of paranormal occurrences were so strong at manchester castle that the family called in a team of specialists to investigate on september the 18th 1993 the experts set up an array of monitoring equipment for a scientific study of the hauntings they waited for nightfall [Music] [Applause] [Music] at 10 40 pm the investigators felt the temperature dropped dramatically [Music] a minute later avars began shaking then a loud thud was heard followed by three wraps the investigators noticed a movement past the door [Music] the team observed so many unexplained events that they reported it is hard to come to any conclusion other than that manchester castle is inhabited by supernatural energies not a few of the supernatural happenings have been attributed to a malevolent spirit that inhabits the castle and in manchester's long story there's no more malevolent character to judge by events than thomas skelton [Music] malicious vicious witty and cruel no one could play a trick more thoroughly than tom skelton [Music] he loved to sit under a chestnut tree near the castle and wait for passersby seeking directions those he didn't like he'd sent to their deaths in the quicksands below [Music] history hit is like netflix just for history film with exclusive history documentaries covering some of the most famous people and events in history just for you from uncovering ancient neolithic cultures to the dawn of the space race history hit has hundreds of exclusive documentaries with unrivaled access to the world's best historians and it's not just documentaries either we have a network of incredible history podcasts bringing you new episodes every day sign up now for a 14-day free trial and timeline fans get 50 off their first three months just be sure to use the code timeline at checkout [Music] in 1585 a scandal broke around the daughter of the castle lord hell wise pennington earned her name as a fiery passionate and fatally headstrong young lady although betrothed to the son of a powerful neighboring family hell-wise fell in love with the village carpenter [Music] but their encounters were not to remain secret when word reached hell wise's father sir william he sought out tom skelton meeting him here under what became known as thomas's tree he told him to put an end to the scandalous affair [Music] skelton summoned the carpenter to the castle under the pretense that he was to meet his beloved hell-wise once there he applied the carpenter with cider until he was drunk and insensible [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] then skeleton used the carpenter's own tools a mallet and broad chisel to hack off the young man's head [Music] he was heard to say when the lazy adult wakes up he'll have trouble finding his head [Music] always want to please his master skelton presented hellwise's father with the young carpenter's head history does not record sir william's reaction i thought it was rather silly in the story but then when we've been here a little while we used to work terribly hard started in the office at six in the morning and after tea i would walk across the hall sometimes and my footsteps used to follow me [Music] you don't think it could possibly have been an echo no i tried that out no it wasn't and i've tried it with sort of a shoes that didn't make a noise but i always heard the behind me the thumping heard in the hallways could well be the sound of skeleton dragging the young carpenter's body through the castle [Music] and the mournful crying could it be hell-wise weeping over her murdered lover [Music] afterwards the heartbroken hell-wise disappeared into a nunnery and eventually went mad [Music] as for thomas skelton he never paid for his crime but fate has a way of meeting our justice he drowned in the river-esque is manchester still haunted by the presence of tom fool waiting to play one last trick [Music] two hundred years later these dark waters were to claim more lives and give rise to another apparition one that prefers this road leading to manchester castle good morning grace simmons an employee of the castle has seen the ghost it'll be about october in 1985 that uh i've been out for a night and coming back up the road driving up the road from husband and just come around the corner and we saw this lady standing she was leaning against the wall i'm seemed in distress so i said to my husband would you stop and i'll get out the car and go back and make sure she's all right and yeah i went back when i got back to the corner she'd gone the woman in white began appearing after a gruesome murder in 1822. love seems to be ill-fated at manchester castle mary bragg a servant in a nearby village was madly in love with the castle steward but the housekeeper and miss little dell had taken a fancy to the same man one night her jealousy turned to rage two ruffians appeared at mary's door concocting a lie they claimed her beloved had fallen ill and she must rush to him alarmed mary went with the two men she never made it to her lover's side [Music] near a tree on the road through manchester wood the abductors pulled mary bragg from the carriage a pistol was rammed into her mouth [Applause] but poor mary's body had more indignities to suffer to get rid of it the murderers left it in a field for the castle dogs to devour when that failed they tried to find a hiding place they hoped the waters of the riveresque would do their dirty work but mary bragg's body refused to stay hidden months later it was found washed up further down river badly decomposed at the coroner's inquest the doctor claimed it was impossible to determine the cause of death some say he'd been bribed to cover up the murder [Music] but those involved with mary bragg's murder did not escape their fates they met with bizarre ends one of her assassins went insane another was hanged as a highway robber mary's rival miss little dell who had heard the killers became the subject of rumor and suspicion eventually she was banished to a remote village where she was shunned as a murderess the doctor at the inquest drowned in the river-esque not a hundred yards from where mary's body had been dumped [Music] in 1993 the tree under which mary bragg died was cut down [Music] the timber was reputed to be cursed [Music] blood began to ooze from the cut logs [Music] no one locally would have anything to do with the wood it had to be shipped to london to be sold [Music] the apparition of the woman in a long white dress was seen on the very spot where the tree stood brutally murdered and mistreated in death could it be that mary bragg still wanders in search of justice [Music] no unearthly presence is more powerful than one that haunts sudley castle in the southwest of england [Music] nestled amongst the rolling hills of gloucestershire suddenly sits in an ancient wooded valley that has changed little since it was established in saxon times today the grounds are known for their majestic oaks and deer-filled royal parklands suede castle began as an extravagant royal wedding present in the 10th century it went on to be owned by a succession of kings including richard iii and henry viii despite its pastoral beauty suedly castle has a history of otherworldly events including the chilling discovery of the strangely preserved corpse of a queen some say these incidents can be traced back to a tragic event that resulted in an apparition which still haunts sudley castle to this day employees report strange sights and sounds in the castle the smell of an apple scented perfume the frequent forlorn sobs of a child and the appearance of a tall beautiful woman in a long green dress [Music] catherine parr was a striking figure nearly six feet tall with auburn hair she was intelligent and artistic a lover of music and poetry she is famous for being henry viii's sixth and last wife catherine power managed to keep her head and outlive him catherine always had a passion for this man thomas seymour he was handsome selfish a buccaneer a political adventurer he was determined to be near the crown after henry viii died in 1547 seymour proposed to his daughter princess elizabeth when she refused he turned to the king's widow catherine [Music] they were married later the same year and came to live here at seudley within months catherine was pregnant at the age of 35 it must have seemed a miracle and everyone in the castle prepared for the birth with excitement and celebration soodley's great banquet hall echoed with parties music dancing and laughter [Music] then tragedy struck gloom silenced the castle catherine gave birth to a baby girl named mary but a week later catherine died from a fever mother and infant daughter were forever separated but the tragedy did not end there with catherine barely dead thomas seymour abandoned his newborn daughter and headed for london thomas seymour went straight to princess elizabeth's bedroom and proposed to her for the second time and the 15 year old had the good sense to turn him down again undeterred off he went and asked her half sister mary she too turned him down thomas seymour's lust for power in the end was to prove his undoing indeed he was beheaded for treason when he died princess elizabeth wrote this day died a man of much wit and very little judgment [Music] catherine was buried in the chapel at sudley in 1550 during civil war a century later the chapel was ransacked her casket disappeared 140 years later a local farmer digging in the grounds came across a casket sealed in lead he forced it open and what he saw astonished him the body of a woman perfectly preserved her complexion still milky white her hair orban but within seconds the corpse started to wither and turned to dust and the terrified man hastily re-buried the casket [Music] it wasn't until a century later when this new chapel was built catherine parr was finally entombed in a manner befitting a queen of england [Music] apparently catherine parr's spirit was not to rest margaret parker who's worked here at the castle for 23 years is the latest witness to the queen's return must be about nine years ago in the middle of winter the castle was all locked up and there was just five girls and myself cleaning and it was an artist upstairs in catherine paul's room painting knowing the woman artist was about margaret parker wasn't surprised when she saw a figure standing in the window morning but the artist had only just come down from the nursery [Music] did she frighten you no i don't think the dead can hurt you can i [Music] unlike some ghosts the former queen is a melancholy spirit who keeps to herself but for those who live and work here she's become a friend no night katie after catherine's death her daughter mary mysteriously disappeared from history no one knows what became of the unfortunate little orphan four centuries later are these two tragic cells seeking reunion [Music] as if to purge itself of sorrow soonly lay in ruins for 180 years then in the 19th century soodly came alive again restored to its former glory it was once again a home but with a new generation of owners came a new occupant from the spirit world [Music] during the victorian era people were fascinated by ghosts they were everywhere the glimpse of spirit was to be reunited with the loved one who had passed on it seems only natural that a victorian apparition is behind sudley's latest haunting a haunting that has been witnessed quite recently [Music] well her name is janet and she was the housekeeper here for many many years she was here for 50 years she came in 1896. [Music] my late husband mark used to tell me stories about her when he came home from school that she was still here and everyone's still terrified of her and she was still ruling the roost with the iron glove [Music] and so that's why i think she's still here she just won't give it up [Music] the upkeep of a grand victorian household such as suedly required armies of servants housemaids footmen and gardeners all had their allotted place in the hierarchy as housekeeper janet was in a superior position together with the butler she was responsible for the strict running of the castle ensuring that everything ran like clockwork and taking orders from the lady of the house but how supervision didn't end there in accordance with the rigid moral code of the day she took particular interest in keeping the female workers chased many of them were young unsophisticated girls from south wales who were away from home for the first time janet took it upon herself to safeguard their morals sternly keeping amorous boys at bay it was said that at night janet stood watch at the top of the stairs protecting the virtue of her housemates even today death has not loosened janet's hold over her domain young girls who enter suedly seem to attract the housekeeper's attention as one teenager found out in the summer of 1993 when she was on a tour of the castle at the heavily guilted gold frame you will find a picture suddenly without warning a strange feeling overcame the girl urging her up the staircase [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] if sudley's ghosts seem to linger out of duty or longing that is not the case with our next castle there the letting of blood has spawned a legion of anguished spirits for this is the tower of london [Music] for almost a thousand years this revered landmark has been at the center of the grand drama that is english history it is said he who holds the tower holds the power good morning ladies and gentlemen welcome to the royal palace and fortress of her majesty's tower of london the largest and oldest permanently occupied fortress in europe it covers over 18 acres 200 years to build comprises of 20 towers not one probably the best known although one of the smallest is the bloody tower here behind you as a royal residence the tower was home to england's kings and their courts it was also a fortress and arsenal bristling with weapons the royal mint was located here and to this day the magnificent crown jewels are still kept under guard within the tar he walls the saxon army slayed on the theory that one should keep one's friends close but hold one's enemies even closer dangerous foes of the state were kept here as prisoners torture and violent death were an ever-present possibility for the people of england hundreds fell victim to the red-hot poker the spikes of the iron maiden and the executioner's axe the tower was witnessed to bloody deeds terrible torment and unbearable suffering have a very good day thank you very much thank you thank you as daylight is extinguished visitors leave the tower [Music] gates fall shut an uneasy silence descends over the tower walls [Music] as the ancient stage for dramas of cruelty ambition and revenge the tower is said to be the most taunted castle in england after trials for crimes real or invented prisoners were brought by boat to this entrance traitor's gate then under guard the condemned were led into the tower grounds the ravens watched them pass legend has it that as long as the ravens stay the tower will stand and england will remain unconquered world war ii the blitz london is under siege from german plains [Music] [Music] the tower on the river thames is not far from the docks and factories in the east end of london the target of the attack in the midst of this chaos a terrifying vision formed at one of the tower gates [Music] it was the autumn of 1940 a soldier was standing guard he was completely unprepared for what was about to happen who goes there out of the mist appeared four men they were carrying a litter as they neared the soldier could see a figure under a bloodstained blanket [Music] then the procession vanished into thin air the uniforms later described by the century were exactly what sheriff's officers would have worn in the 14th century and the procession took the route always followed after executions when headless bodies were brought to this chapel to be buried but the most persistent haunting is said to take place just over there in the bloody tower two young boys have been glimpsed playing in the tower they are believed to be the spirits of two princes nine-year-old richard and the heir to the throne twelve-year-old edward the victims of a shocking crime the boys were nephews of richard iii england's favorite villain richard's enemies described him as malicious wrathful envious little of stature crook backed still a controversial figure 500 years after his death some blame richard for a series of treacherous murders while others passionately defend him [Music] what is known is that after the death of their father king edward iv the two young princes were put under richard's protection some say it was like assigning the fox to guard the chickens for the princes stood between richard and the crown richard had his nephews declared illegitimate and thus ineligible for the throne he then confined them to the tower for their own safety he said [Applause] for months they were seen playing on the battlements and in their room [Music] but suddenly in the autumn of 1483 the two boys disappeared never to be seen again [Music] no one knows exactly what happened but with his nephews out of the way the last obstacle between richard and the throne was removed allowing him to be crowned king of england forty years later sir thomas moore himself later executed at the tower described in a book what he believed to be the fate of the boys [Music] he said richard had dispatched two of his men to the tower as the boy slept they stole into the room [Music] then they smothered the two sleeping princes moore wrote they gave up their souls unto the joys of heaven leaving to the tormentors their bodies dead in the bed [Music] according to moore they were buried under a great heap of stone in 1674 workmen uncovered a chest just near here in it were the skeletons of two children in 1933 these were scientifically examined from the bone formation and the structure of the teeth it was concluded there were the skeletons of two boys a twelve-year-old and a nine-year-old matching the ages of the princess as befitting a future king of england and his brother the two small bodies were interred at westminster abbey but their hapless spirits linger in the bloody tower betrayed abandoned murdered they cling to each other in death as they did in life the ghosts of the two little princes a reminders of the ruthless history of britain's early monarchy and the spirit that appears in this area of the tower is connected to another king's murderous determination these rooms are the home of a particularly gruesome apparition [Music] anne boleyn is the controversial figure in this story some champion her as a modern woman vibrant headstrong and intelligent her enemies saw her as an ambitious schemer with an arrogant tempestuous spirit anne's boldness and independence enchanted king henry viii the attraction would precipitate a major turning point in english history and a personal tragedy for anne the king was married to catherine the vatican but after 22 years she failed to produce a male heir for the young flirtatious anne boleyn it was easy to bewitch the king he pined for her he wrote her passionate love letters matters came to a head when she became pregnant expecting the son he so desperately wanted and needed to ensure the succession the king convened parliament and had his marriage with catherine annulled and the divorce which followed caused the celebrated break with rome and the beginning of protestant england of which anne boleyn finally became queen but she gave birth to a girl the future queen elizabeth the first her second child along for a boy was stillborn henry grew tired of waiting for anne to produce a son his passions were aroused by a young lady in waiting jane seymour where anne had been the other woman she was now the aggrieved wife and had become an obstacle to henry's dynastic ambitions she had many enemies in court rumors of witchcraft adultery treason even trumped up charges of incest with her brother gave henry the opportunity he needed anne was arrested and taken to the tower tried and found guilty she was sentenced to be executed [Music] as she awaited death anne had violent mood swings one moment she was laughing the next crying then a calm overcame her [Music] she sent a message to henry requesting that her head be cut off with a sword not an axe the axe was messy and often took more than one stroke [Applause] the morning of may the 19th 1536 the flock of scavenging ravens gathered to watch as anne boleyn was led into the courtyard of tower green when the inevitable moment came the executioner readied the sword behind her back and looked forwards and before she knew what was happening eyewitnesses reported the executioner smote off her head at a stroke immediately after the execution the executioner picked up the head and displayed it to the crowd we would gather to see the execution and the story goes that the eyes continue to move and the lips continue to move for several seconds after they beheading the body was then put into an arrow chest apparently there was no coffin available for some reason put into a narrow chest with the head tucked under her arm and she was then buried in the chapel of saint peter advincula which was immediately behind the execution site [Music] within 24 hours of anne's burial king henry married his new wife [Music] but headstrong in life anne boleyn's spirit was not to be denied by death [Music] an apparition has been cited near where and spent her last days in 1864 a tire of london employee working there suddenly felt a cold mist around him a woman's figure emerged [Music] as the workers stood watching in wonder the figure turned towards him but where her face should have been there was nothing [Music] do you believe in ghosts there are things which happen to people they haven't happened to me but they've happened to my wife for example and other people i know uh in the tire which are difficult to explain um by any sort of normal physical explanation [Music] a frail apparition dwells in a parallel universe trapped between reality and the beyond [Music] are these restless souls condemned for eternity to walk this blood-stained earth tormenting the human psyche [Music] [Applause] we've encountered some victims of england's long harsh history perhaps we had to leave this haunted tower before we too lose our heads [Music] have we persuaded you that the castle ghosts of england are real i'm convinced that right now somewhere a ghost is preparing to make its nightly runs and another haunting will soon be underway [Music] [Applause] foreign

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

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Id: MWbqn1C2X3M

Length: 44min 20sec (2660 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 27 2022