Wetheral Priory, Cumbria

Wetheral Priory

Name: Wetheral Priory Gatehouse

Locality: 25 Greenacres, Wetheral, Cumbria CA4 8ES

Built: 14th century

Owner: English Heritage 

Grade I

Website: EH

In September 2014 whilst staying in Cumbria, we decided to go on a 'short' bike ride, which took is past the Priory, when we ended up doing, what professional cyclists call the 'SHARK' a 20 mile up hill and down-dale nightmare through the Cumbrian hills, we got very lost and I very nearly lost my breakfast due to the effort and dehydration! Not good when you are riding heavy mountain bikes on tarmac roads to haunted places. Anyway, we went back later to have a gander...

We went past Wetheral priory, which is run by English heritage. As we cycled down a quiet country lane we could see it in the distance. It was a lovely little place, a little gem. We pulled over, it was so tranquil and quiet, all you could hear were the corvus, crowing in the trees and the noises from the small farm at the back of the property; we promised each other we would go back another day.  Later we went back in the the car and I recorded a short video inside the priory. My better half went in first, he announced when he came back out that he had heard footsteps behind him, he thought I had followed in behind, but I said, no as I was sat on a wall outside having a drink of coffee. Spooky! The place does echo a bit, so he could have misinterpreted a normal sound. Whilst I was inside I waited for footsteps to follow me.. but I heard nothing.. 

English Heritage

My video of that day

Wetheral Priory - Wikipedia

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BE CAREFUL SHE MAY TAP YOU ON THE SHOULDER - Penmon Priory, Penmon, Anglesey

Wikicommons

'Spontaneous Case - Paranormal phenomena that occur in everyday life, unsought and unexpected'.

Is Penmon Priory haunted?  'Joan' a visitor to Anglesey certainly thinks so.

"In 1980 I was with my husband and two boys on holiday on Anglesey. One evening at dusk, we visited Penmon Priory near Beaumaris. We had visited the church, the well and my husband led the way to the old stone priory which was open to visitors.

He suddenly looked at me with a very surprised expression on his face and said "did you see that?" I replied "see what?" he said "that Nun - she bent down, looked at me and walked into the priory".

Puzzled, we walked towards the building and walked in. There are only two rooms, we didn't see her in the first so we walked through to the back room only to find that she had completely vanished!

Later on that evening, we spoke to the keeper about my husband's experience and he asked him to describe her. He described her in detail to which the man replied "Oh I've seen her a few times around here. When I'm walking the dog at night, I sometimes feel someone tapping me on the shoulder when I'm out at night. Often the church bells ring during the night by themselves."

It was at this point that we realised that he had indeed seen a ghost.

When we were driving away from the grounds, the car kept stuttering and stalling until we were out of sight of the priory. The car was brand new and had been running fine up until that point and was fine afterwards.

My husband was never one to invent stories so I believed him straight away. I didn't believe in ghosts back then but I sure do now!"
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Photo Paranormal Places UK

I love these kind of stories, or 'spontaneous cases' as they are called, when people are just going about their daily business without a mere thought of the paranormal and then witness something profound.  

It is interesting that the experient actually thought he saw a nun. It appears to be a very fleeting visual description and it did happen over 20 years ago. 

Thinking rationally; could he have been mistaken, why did he think she was a nun, there was no mention that they had described a nun to the keeper or that she was wearing a nuns habit or uniform in this narrative.

Maybe another visitor was present around the building. The old stone priory is a small ruin, so it doesn't take you long to get around the rooms, making it round in just a few seconds or so. And a pigeon couldn't be mistaken for a nun, surely? Unless she is really ugly! ;) 

Also the light was fading it was dusk so he may have misinterpreted what he saw. But, church bells do not ring by themselves unless someone wanted to have a good ole yank in the middle of the night. The car misfiring may have a more down to earth explanation (dirty petrol). 

I have been to Penmon priory, it is a very tranquil and still place, so you may notice if anyone is around quite easily. This reminds me of a time when I was visiting Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, one busy summer afternoon, the paranormal was far from my mind; I had gone into the old mill area, nobody was in there only me, I entered the middle section and I thought I saw a man wearing a leather waist coat, he was bending down doing something on the floor, I only saw him for a split second, it was a cross between seeing something and a hallucination, it was very odd.  Maybe my eyes and brain had done the window dressing for that location. Same applies to this story. 

On researching the priory further, it is Augustinian and there could well have been Augustinian nuns staying there at some point in history. A believer would say, 'the nun looked at the husband, this could not be a residual type haunting as there was visual interaction'. There could be a logical explanation though of course and there doesn't appear to be any other related incidences at the priory apart from what the keeper had experienced too.

Footnote: Witness testimony

Retelling old experiences can lead to confabulation, the experiencer should immediately record or write down exactly what they saw. Getting a witness soon after their experience is important (paranormal investigators)

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RIPPLES IN TIME - Timeslips at Thetford Priory

THETFORD PRIORY, NORFOLK

Name: Remains of  Priory of Our Lady of Thetford 

Locality: Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 1AZ

Founded: 1103 

Owner: English Heritage

Grade I

Website: EH

I journeyed on, once again to Norfolk, it is one of my favourite counties in the UK.

I take a collection of paranormal related books with me on my travels, flicking through the pages of  'A ghost hunters guide to Norfolk', my memory was jogged by a story told by CJ Romer, (CJ23 to his friends) some of you old school investigators and paranormalists may remember the parapsychologist who featured on 'Ghost hunters' a UK TV show, episode: 2.1 (7) Ripples in Time, (Timeslips) which was aired in 1996 'pre-most haunted'!  As it states in the book, 'a respected paranormal researcher began a lifetime career and interest in ghosts' after what happened to him and some pals back in 1987; him and his four scientifically minded friends, (clinical psychologist, computer scientists) have various personal accounts of what they saw, a group sighting of a   phantom monk and staircase in broad daylight. Whether this case is related to the murder of Stephen remains a mystery, English Heritage note the stabbing of a monk.

Singing Monks

Type: Haunting Manifestation

Date / Time: 1937

Further Comments: The monks could be heard singing in Latin, in the ruins of the building. This was followed by a single reading from an unknown text.

Thetford, Norfolk, England.

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 Witness CJ Romer (Parapsychologist) (also JPTUK Patron).

He explains what he and his friends witnessed at the priory, this is also a very good example of critical thinking related to a paranormal type group experience.

 

The area where the phantom staircase and monk was seen

Thetford Priory just within walking distance of the town centre, it is a quiet and tranquil place, an English Heritage 'freebie' so you can investigate at night.

THE BELL HOTEL in THETFORD
also a well known place for paranormal type experiences.

Location: Thetford - The Bell Hotel

Type: Haunting Manifestation

Date / Time: Nineteenth century onwards

Further Comments: Killed in 1750 by her lover, Betty now walks the corridors at night checking guests comfortable; guests may hear her heavy skirt swishing as she passes the doors and spot a flickering light like that of a candle. Other ghosts reported here include a young girl seen looking from the windows of the staff quarters, a dog lying in front of what would have been the original fireplace in the bar, jangling keys, a pair of old fashioned suede boots coming through the ceiling, and a monk. (paranormal database)