With more than 14,000 listed and ancient buildings, Essex can officially call itself the epicentre of all things scary.
And when better that Halloween to get up and close and personal with this history of blood and gore than to take a closer look at some of these spooky places and attractions?
Borley Rectory, near Sudbury
Widely proclaimed the "Most Haunted House in England", this Victorian mansion is said to be plagued by the ghosts of a monk and nun who fell in love.
They attempted to elope and, when caught by elders, the monk was beheaded and the nun imprisoned in the vaults beneath the rectory.
The ghost of the nun was so frequent that Reverend Bull, who built the house, had another house built overlooking the area where the nun’s apparition walked!
The rectory was destroyed by a fire in 1938, but its reputation lives on with apparitions reportedly still seen where the house once stood.
Chelmsford’s Civic Theatre
The Civic Theatre in Chelmsford is said to be haunted by a former technician who was killed in nearby Duke Street. Many visitors are shocked when they’re told the man who showed them around was actually the residential ghost.
Startled theatre-goers have also reported seeing a spirit which takes the form of a white butterfly, but only during one show in Christmas week.
Canewdon
Known as ‘The village where witchfinders feared to tread,’ it is apparently home to witches and warlocks galore and has dozens of ghost stories, mostly focused on the church.
Legend has it if you if you walk around it seven times on Halloween you’ll see a witch, 13 times you will become invisible and if you run round it anti-clockwise, the Devil will appear, meaning Essex Police often seal this area off on October 31 to avoid an influx of people prepared to give it a go.
The most widely seen apparition is that of a faceless grey lady who has been spotted floating on moonless nights from the church’s west gate towards the river.
Many of these ghosts are believed to be the spirits of supposed witches who wander the earth unable to rest due to injustices committed against them when they were alive.
Maldon’s Old Railway Station
The Jacobean-style Victorian Railway Station in Maldon closed its doors to passengers many moons ago…except for one. Before it was closed, an apparition of a white lady was sometimes seen groaning eerily and late night passengers passing through would often get a ghostly chill.
In the 1980s, the station temporarily became a restaurant though many complained of sudden temperature drops, some even seeing a white ghostly mist coming from near the restaurant toilets.
Manningtree
Home to legendary 17th century ‘Witch Finder General’ Matthew Hopkins, it is thought he and his assistant ‘Witch Pricker, John Sterne’ sent up to 400 souls to their deaths – 19 of whom were hanged.
The old, one-legged animal lover Elizabeth Clarke was his first victim, accused of nourishing five animals through having unnatural teats. Other methods Hopkins used included pricking – puncturing the skin of victims looking for areas that didn’t bleed, acting as the mark of the devil. The swimming method was also used where the individual was bound and thrown in a pond – if they did not sink they were a witch, though of course all tests resulted in the victims drowning.
Hopkins was buried at Mistley Heath and his spectre is said to appear at full moon by the village pond, a scene of many of his witch trials. He is also said to haunt Hopping Bridge, the Mistley Thorn Hotel, The White Hart Inn and The Red Lion.
Colchester
Colchester, Britain’s oldest recorded town, naturally has a wealth of tales. Among these, in 1991 a member of staff at a shoe shop reported seeing an apparition of a woman in a long white dress in the stock room, and after hearing unexplained footsteps and witnessing boxes of shoes jumping off the shelves, she refused to work in the room ever again.
Colchester Castle is Europe’s largest Norman keep and was built on the foundations of the Roman Temple of Claudius. It is said James Parnell was a Quaker imprisoned for his beliefs and died in the castle’s prison in 1656.
Legend has it that every time he wished to eat, his captors would make him climb a rope. One day, too weak to hang on, the 20 year old fell to his death and haunts the dungeon still.
Tilbury Fort
Queen Elizabeth I famously rallied her troops at Tilbury Fort as they prepared for the arrival of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and her ghost is said to appear there. Locals also say a ghostly soldier can be seen patrolling along the walls of the fort at night, but he vanishes when you approach him. Phantom soldiers have also been heard marching, day and night, coming from the parade ground.
Thorpe-Le-Soken
This was once home to notorious bigamist Kitty Canham who is said to haunt the Bell Inn. In 1972, a guest of the pub awoke to find the room’s heavy wardrobe had been moved and the spare bed looked slept in, and many have felt a presence watching them in that same room.
In 1999, a fire destroyed most of the pub and attached cottage, but Kitty’s painting on the pub’s wall remained undamaged…
It is also where Sir William Gull, doctor to Queen Victoria, is reportedly buried, though many people speculated that he may actually have been Jack the Ripper!
Layer Marney Tower
A man in full armour on horseback has been seen climbing the staircase of Layer Marney Tower, and it is believed to be Lord Marney himself. It is thought the Lord haunts his former home because he is unhappy the building was not completed to his liking, his son dying two years after he did (1523), leaving no male heirs to continue the construction.
Although the building dates back to Tudor times (Elizabeth I stayed here), the majority of the ghosts seen in the grounds are wearing Victorian clothing. Poltergeist activity in the east wing has been witnessed with objects moving in front of people, and the ghosts of servants and workers have also been seen in the building.
Harwich Redoubt Fort
The most common apparition seen here is a headless soldier, thought to be the ghost of a man who was decapitated when a cable attached to a heavy cannon snapped. There is also said to be ghosts of a shabby looking man and figures peering through the windows from empty rooms.
The Curse of John Francis
John Francis was a British soldier whose brother was killed in the massacre at Cawnpore, India in 1857. The butchered body parts were flung down a well by the rebel Indians, and John volunteered to retrieve them, coming across the severed head of his brother. On returning to Brentwood, he cursed the people for their lack of compassion.
In 1921, Doctor Walker visited the area and woke in the night to find a ghost of a man carrying a severed head. In 1847, a woman in the high street also saw a similar picture, though this time the severed head was dripping blood onto the pavement.
A lot of pubs in the 1950s and 60s in Brentwood reported poltergeist activity including the Golden Fleece, Swan Inn and White Hart Inn/Sugar Hut, believed to be John Francis’ apparition, haunting them still.
The Red Lion Hotel, Colchester
It is one of the oldest inns in East Anglia and is said to be plagued by the ghost of Alice Catherine Miller with sightings dating back to the 1800s. She was a chambermaid at the hotel and brutally murdered by her lover there in 1638. A couple centuries ago the hotel owner was so terrified by the ghost he bricked up her old room to stop the hauntings, but in vain.
Staff and guests have since witnessed her ghostly apparition in various rooms and heard her talking to them, and she has also been seen disappearing through one of the walls to her bricked up bedroom. The assistant manager also saw her in an old rocking chair, and when he asked if she was alright, she replied ‘yes’ before vanishing into thin air.
The Spiderman of Stock
The 400 year old Bear Inn is said to be haunted by a man named Charlie, nicknamed the Spider, who worked at the inn in the 1800s. To make more money to fund his drinking habit, he developed an alter-ego of Spider to entertain guests. He would disappear up the chimney in one of the rooms with a pint of beer, drinking it before descending down a different chimney and appearing in a different fireplace.
However, sometimes drunken locals played a trick on him, lighting a fire to smoke him out. On Christmas Eve they tried this but he never came down again, believed to have died in the chimney though his body was never recovered. Since then, witnesses have described seeing a ghostly apparition of a man exiting the chimney whilst two ex-landlords described the cheerful ghost as likable! Sooty footprints have also mysteriously appeared on the pub’s carpet without explanation.
Chelmsford Prison
Halloween 2017
In the mid-1800s, many prison wardens lived with their families within the prison complex. This included the second governor of Chelmsford Prison, Captain Henry McGorrey.
His four children all died under the age of 11 as well as his wife, and since then, a woman in a crinoline dress and bonnet has been witnessed by many startled prison officers as well as hearing the eerie sound of phantom children, reported by inmates as well. Could these be the spirits of McGorrey’s tragic family?
