Extraordinary Ghost Story.
Are there such creatures as ghosts? Can the spirits of the departed hold converse with earthly beings? Are there such things as omens, tokens, presentiments, heralds of alarming events, and the like? No one will care to say when opinions differ so much. Certain it is that something has happened in Wisbech Fen which has set the people talking and wondering.
There is a farm-house in Wisbech Fen occupied by Mr Wilson and family – an ordinary farmhouse, very comfortable inside, with very peaceful surroundings, but rather dreary in the dark winter. Some weeks ago, the occupants began to hear noises which they could not mistake and could not understand. They were surprised a little at first and perplexed as there appeared no solution of the mystery.
At a certain hour the ear of human beings heard noises as of a human hand beating a door of wood. The door was opened, but there was no arm and no body and no person standing near responsible for the blows. The noise was then heard from another quarter, and it grew in loudness and force until it was as though a horse of great leg power kicked and kicked the door until the rooms resounded.
This unaccountable manifestation of mysterious force was repeated night after night until the mistress of the house, the children and the servants became so terrified that they left. The farmer was not the man to be befooled by hob-goblins, and fought against the idea of leaving the house, but eventually he left, and the house in Wisbech Fen was actually closed owing to this extraordinary mystery.
Nor is this all. As might be expected, great curiosity was excited by the tantrums of the spirits (if they were spirits) and the friends of the family came down to hear what there was to hear. But they one and all, so to speak, fled, when at a certain hour the unearthly noises commenced and continued far into the night.
A case-hardened butcher is not the kind of man to tremble at a little by-play of witches of the hoarse murmur of winds; but certain it is that a well-known Wisbech butcher – the best known of those in the town – came down to hear and see for himself, and having heard, but not having seen, the invisible Vulcan, he was glad enough to get away himself and excuse his relatives for their alarm.
The notion that the noises were a bogus business was held by many until five farmers – muscular, stout-hearted men, men with nerves of leather and sentiment nil – decided to spend the evening at the haunted house. They sat for a time, drank their ale and smoked, until the noises commenced. They flung open the doors and tried their best to ascertain the cause, but failed to solve the mystery. They remained for some time, but confused, bewildered and unnerved, they too were glad enough to get away before the “witching hour of midnight.”
Still the notion of noises was scouted and at Wryde station (Thorney) one of the farmers present staked £10 if a well known Thorney farmer who ridiculed the story would spend the night alone in the house with a loaded gun. The offer was declined.
The facts are indisputable, but the mystery is unsolved. Three hundred people went one Sunday to see the house and a spiritualist has been down. Everything has been done to ascertain the cause, but the only result at present is that those who have heard, speak in amazement, and those who have not been to the house shake their heads incredulously.
Spalding Guardian, 4th January 1896.
A farmer stated on Tuesday that the haunted farm house in Wisbech Fen continues to be visited by the curious. The tenants have returned to it, but the mysterious noises have not ceased.
Spalding Guardian, 18th January 1896.
The Haunted House in Wisbech Fen.
Interest in the extraordinary ghost story from Wisbech Fen does not seem to flag. It seems, as we announced, that the tenants of the house in question determined to brave the things uncanny and went back to the house. But the noises and mysterious visitations continued, and the nerves of the tenants were unable to endure the spookiness of the place.
A spiritualist has been down, and it is said that by an ingenious and telepathic arrangement of wires he traced the ghost or ghosts to the foot of an apple tree in the garden. Digging operations have commenced.
The above information was supplied by a police officer of undoubted veracity.
Spalding Guardian, 25th January 1896.
According to a daily newspaper a fen ghost has proclaimed its presence. I have heard of a fen buzzard, but this is my first intimation of the existence of the “peculiar cuss” referred to. The village of Thorney, between Wisbech and Peterboro’ is the happy – or otherwise – hunting ground of the new arrival. A farmer named Wilson and his wife have been compelled to leave their once happy home to give place to the visitor.
The manifestations of the spook consist of dreadful knockings, starting very lightly, but increasing by a crescendo movement to a row somewhat like what may be expected from an army of perturbed spirits of defunct auctioneers, trying to sell themselves to Satan. The ghost or ghosts does not appear to have been seen, but possibly resembles a lot of knocks tied together, or a bung-hole without a barrel. According to my source of information no one can stay in the house, in fact it is a complete “knock-out.”
The school inspector and parson have visited the farm-house, possibly to try force and persuasion, but they were compelled to leave the place. A strong-nerved man from Wisbech, said to have the strongest nerve in the eastern counties, also beat a retreat. The whole district appears to be greatly troubled, and yet no mention is made of salting its tail, except the little bit I am now applying.
Boston Guardian, 1st February 1896.
A Noisy Ghost in the Fens.
A Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph tells the following extraordinary story: – The inhabitants of the fen district between Peterborough and Wisbech have been thrown into a state of great excitement of late by the report that an old farmhouse near Thorney was haunted, and that the residents, a farmer named Wilson and his wife, had been obliged to leave their abode.
It appears that the inmates of the house were first made aware of the presence of the mysterious visitors by hearing several knocks on the door of the house, and this continued for some time, until matters got to be so unbearable, and the wife became so upset, that, had she continued in the house, serious consequences might have resulted. The “ghost” invariably commenced operations by a series of very gentle taps on windows and doors, the force of the knocks gradually increasing until they finished up with a terrible crash, which shook the house.
The fame of the “haunted” house soon spread, and thousands of persons have visited the place, including several spiritualists, one or two taking up their abode in the house for the night, but being obliged to leave it before morning dawned. A school inspector, who had been examining some children, paid a visit to the farm out of curiosity, and the knocks were heard as he held the door open. This gentleman became so deeply impressed that he wrote to the neighbouring clergyman that he was convinced it was a spiritual manifestation. Another gentleman from Wisbech, said to have the strongest nerves in the eastern counties, was obliged to take his departure from the house after hearing the knocks, and many people from long distances, bent on investigation, have been unsuccessful in their endeavours to lay the ghost.
Northern Chronicle and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland, 5th February 1896. (plus many other copies)
The Wisbech Fen “Ghost”.
More remarkable statements.
The fame of “The Wisbech Fen Ghost” has spread to all parts of the country, and something concerning “it” has appeared in most of the London and provincial papers. Various accounts have been written about it, and below we give one of them which will no doubt be read with interest.
The village of Thorney and the fen district round about has been raised to a state of great excitement of late by the report that a farm house, situated between Murrow and the “model village,” was haunted, and that the residents, a farmer named Wilson and his wife, had been obliged to leave their abode.
It appears that one evening during the month of November, about six o’clock, as Mr and Mrs Wilson were sitting in the living-room a soft knock was heard at the side door of the house, and Mr Wilson proceeded to open it to ascertain who the visitor was. To his surprise he saw no one, but the knock was repeated, and he again rose and opened the door. Thinking that, perhaps, someone was playing a prank upon him he took no further notice of the knocks, and later on retired to rest.
In the days which succeeded the knocks were again heard, and one morning between eight and nine o’clock several distinct taps were heard upon the door, but no one was in sight outside. Mr Wilson, somewhat anxious as to the origin of these mysterious rappings, determined to try an experiment. He had the door wedged, and while one person stood on the outside another stood in the room, and to the surprise of all the knocking was repeated. The conclusion that there was something supernatural in all this was quickly arrived at. These events soon began to tell on Mrs Wilson, and although they inhabited the house by day, Mr Wilson and his wife determined to sleep at the house of a friend.
On another occasion it is asserted that several distinct raps were heard on the table.
The fame of the haunted house soon began to spread, and persons from all quarters visited the place out of curiosity, and whilst many returned without hearing anything, several were considerably alarmed. One gentleman who became interested visited the house from Eastbourne, whilst another made it his business to travel from Attleborough on a similar errand. Several gentlemen from Wisbech – amongst whom were one or two Spiritualists – paid a visit for the purpose of investigating the matter and took up their abode in the house, but left before the day dawned, being unable to withstand the frequent knockings. A man named George Tansley, of Wisbech, said to be a person whose nerve was unequalled in the Eastern Counties, was much upset by the repeated rappings on doors and windows, and left the house, whilst a woman is said to have taken to her heels on hearing the knocks, and run a distance of two miles to Murrow Station without stopping.
Shortly before the Wilsons left their house matters got worse. The knocks could be distinctly heard on the various doors of the house, following the inmates into every room they went. Once, it is said, several raps were heard on the drawing-room door, whilst several persons stood in the living room. Then the knocking moved into the corners of the room near the ceiling, and finally a tremendous crash shook the house, as though a heavy weight had fallen in the room above.
The knocks are said by Mr Wilson to have commenced with gentle taps, as though “the ghost,” although compelled to make its presence known, wished not to alarm the inmates of the house more than was necessary. The sounds gradually increased in power until the frame of the door rattled, and the noise created was like that which would be made by a horse kicking at the door.
A school inspector, who was examining the children at Guyhirne school, visited the house, and as the residents and those employed on the farm were assembled in the room while the Inspector stood near the door, a knock was suddenly heard and the door opened by the gentleman. No one, as expected, appeared outside, and he was about to close the door when, to his surprise, the knock was repeated. This so concerned the visitor that something “uncanny” was taking place that he wrote to the Clergyman of the Church near by that “he was convinced it was a spiritual manifestation.”
The garden path which stretches from the side door, and the door stone, have been taken up with the object of discovering anything that might lead to a solution of the mysterious affair, but all in vain, and just before he left the house Mr Wilson ceased to a great extent to endeavour to investigate the matter, and although frequent visitors appeared in the day-time they invariably left before night.
The Peterborough Express assures us that not a stone has been left unturned which might lead to an explanation of the proceedings, but after all the constant strain had much effect on the nerves that the house was left, and Mr and Mrs Wilson have gone to reside elsewhere. From Peterborough a large number of people have visited the house, whilst from the villages the populace trooped in hundreds. It may be stated that Mr Wilson offered a reward of £20 to any person who satisfactorily proved the origin of the ghostly knocks. The “haunted home” is a brick and slate dwelling with a nice lawn in front, and the whole surroundings are particularly cheerful.
An old lady of eighty years of age, who lives in a cottage near, avows that fifty years ago from the month of November to January a similar mysterious affair took place at the house, and raised the quiet drowsy fenfolk to a state of intense excitement. Several bold spirits at that time tried their fortune at discovering “the ghost” as it was then generally termed, but many a hardy young man left the house with unstrung nerve and trembling gait, and for some period the place remained untenanted. Mr Wilson has lived on the farm for seven years, but has never previously had any similar experience whilst residing there. So far the matter remains unexplained. Investigation on all sides has proved nothing, but the explanation, if forthcoming, would doubtless point to a very simple origin.
The “Ghost” does not appear to have been very active of late, and we understand that the house is now inhabited again. During the past week or so several workmen from Wisbech have been employed at the house in putting in new windows and other work, and they all say that during the time they have been there nothing unusual has occurred. They have not heard any mysterious noises and they all laugh at the reports that the house is haunted.
The sensational accounts of the “doings” of the “ghost” that have been published in the London and other newspapers have caused such numbers of persons to flock to the house that they have become an intolerable nuisance to Mr Wilson. Day after day those who have been at work at the house have been interrupted in their duties and greatly annoyed by the people who have visited it. These unbidden, and in many cases ill-behaved guests, have seemed to be under the impression that they were at liberty to roam about the house and do just what they pleased. The result has been that a notice is now exhibited in a conspicuous place informing all and sundry that “Trespassers will be prosecuted,” so that any would-be “ghost-killers,” “haunted house experts,” and other foolish people who visit the place unbidden and commit damage by their excursions on private property, may in the future find themselves called upon to explain their totally unjustifiable conduct before a Bench of magistrates. It is to be hoped that this posted notice will be the means of effectually “laying the ghost,” and that there will once more be peace in Wisbech Fen.
Spalding Guardian, 8th February 1896.
Original Poetry. The Haunted House at Wisbech Fen.