The Knocking Ghost at Barton.
Upholland is more famous now in consequence of its “haunted” house, than ever it was, perhaps, in history. It has been made the peg upon which to hang many a tale of ghostly manifestations, as I have already shown in this column. The latest story that it calls up is that of the “Knocking ghost of Barton.” Thus “Postmaster” writes to an evening contemporary as follows:-
“In your issue of the 29th ult. it is reported that the Upholland ghost has resumed its operations, and that even the double patrol of police cannot stop these mysterious visitations. The incident calls to my mind one of these supernatural mysteries with which I was well acquainted forty years ago. I believe it continues to this day; it certainly did seven years ago [1897]. It was called “The Knocking Ghost of Barton.”
Barton is situated three miles south-west from Cambridge. Haggis’s Farm, Barton, had been built about three years, and was then in the occupation of my grandfather and my uncle, the nearest house being at the toll-bar gate half a mile away. In August of 1864 my grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin and sister were having their supper, when there were three loud raps at the kitchen door. My uncle immediately went to the door and called out, ‘Who is there?’ Getting no reply, he opened the door, but could see no one, though the night was almost as light as day. He went in, thinking someone was playing a trick. He had no sooner sat down than three more knocks came, much louder. He called out as before, ‘Who is there?’ but again no reply, and he again he opened the door, to find no one about.
Then as he was locking the door three more knocks came, as if from a sledge-hammer. My uncle’s hand was not off the handle of the door. Fulling it open quickly he looked out, but no one was to be seen. The knocking continued until after midnight, the weight of the blows seeming to make the panels bend at each blow. There was no going to bed that night. Each succeeding night saw a repetition of the phenomena. Of course an occurrence like this could not be kept quiet.”
The councillors of Upholland are not the only people of responsibility who have tried to solve the mysterious, as “Postmaster” tells, in connection with this “knocking ghost of Barton,” as witness. He continues:-
“The land belonged to Downing College, and the Master, Professors, and Fellows not only from Downing College, but every other college in Cambridge, came to try to find out the cause. I must add that it was a very accommodating ghost, for with professors, clergymen, and friends inside the house, and strangers outside, it still continued its tapping.
After months of rapping at the kitchen door it turned its attention to the inside of the house. The drawing-room door, the dining-room door, and the door belonging to a closet under the stairs in the hall were its favourite places to hammer on. Later on it was not particular where it went, but it did behave itself; it never went upstairs.The coal cellar was one of its favoured places for its rantaning. The door was a battened one, with an ordinary latch, and not fitting very tight you can judge of the rattle it made.
One night the knocking was intolerable. Foreman “Dilly” stationed himself in the dairy with a double-barrelled gun, and let fly with both barrels. The college and other experts suggested that the kitchen door, where the knocking first came, should be studded with nails with very sharp points projecting outside, so close that nothing could hit the door without bending the points of the nails. This was done, and these experts had the pleasure of hearing the sledge-hammer blows, seeing the panels of the door bending, yet on examining the points of the nails not one was turned.”
There is one aged resident of Upholland, a man approaching four score years, who declared to me quite solemnly that he remembers similar manifestations at the so-called haunted house at Upholland sixty years ago. That was in the days of his youth. “Postmaster” draws upon a similar coincidence in the case of the “Knocking Ghost of Barton,” which he tells us is knocking after an interval of forty years. He continues:-
“Seven years ago, out of curiosity, I visited the old farm, and the present tenant kindly allowed me to look round. I said I should like to look at the dairy and coal cellar. As soon as I had seen both doors I turned back. The farmer said, ‘Rather a curious request of yours, to see the dairy and coal cellar, and when you get to the outside of doors you turn back. Had you any reason for doing so? I told him of the incident of Dilly firing through the door, and asked, ‘Do you ever hear anything of the knocking now?’ He replied, ‘Hush, please don’t speak,’ and led me into the garden. He then said, ‘Yes, we occasionally hear it. We don’t take much notice of it, and you will oblige me if you will not mention it in the house. We have an excellent servant now. If she stays over this month she will stay her year, but if she gets to know anything about this knocking we shan’t keep her, so please don’t mention it. We never can keep one a month.’
This knocking was a mystery when it commenced, and at the end of forty years it is a mystery still, and certainly no human agency could accomplish a mystery like this for so long a time.”
[some more regarding Upholland].
Wigan Observer and District Advertiser, 7th September 1904.