Family sends for the ghostbusters!
Ghostbusters were called in to deal with things that went bump in the night at a 13th Century Northumberland house. The Lymburn family, who live at The Grange in Prudhoe, had to endure: Inhuman screams; A female voice calling their names; Pictures falling off the walls; Picture hooks found upside down; Loud noises in the bedroom.
The spooky happenings at the house, built around 1240 and used as a chantry for monks serving nearby Prudhoe Castle – started six years ago when owner Bill Lymburn, 45, and his wife Eileen started alterations. But when their children Fiona, 4, and Helen, 5, woke up crying in the night they decided it was time to call a halt to the hauntings.
Pychical expert Canon Tony Duncan, vicar of Whitley Chapel near Hexham, was then called in to carry out an exorcism. Vicar of Prudhoe the Rev. Paul Adamson then conducted a requiem service in a bid to lay to rest the souls of those who may have died without Christian burial. Mr Lymburn, a dentist, said that since the religious services the bedroom had felt better but the noises were heard again yesterday.
The Lymburns however intend to knock through a wall to add a new bathroom. Mr Lymburn believes work on the structure seemed to disturb something in the house. “It will be interesting to see if this stirs anything else up,” said Mr Lymburn.
In the 1950s human skeletons were found buried near the house, thought to be those of Cromwellian soldiers, who died there during the English Civil War. It is also said mummified bodies were once found entombed in the 4ft thick walls.
Mr Lymburn said: “I always thought ghosts were mumbo jumbo. We have had noises of one sort and another for six or seven years – at first you try to explain it away and eventually you can’t, other than as a ghost. The children have heard a voice and it’s rendered them in tears. It speaks to them and says their name. It seems to have started mainly when we were doing structural work on the house.”
Bill and Eileen Lymburn.
Newcastle Evening Chronicle, 15th March 1990.
Clergy exorcise dentist’s home.
By Anne Fettis.
Anglican clergy have exorcised a 13th Century house – after the family living there decided they could no longer tolerate a series of unexplained noises and events. It is said mummified bodies were onnce found entombed in the 4ft-thick walls of The Grange, in Prudhoe, Northumberland. the house’s owner, dentist Mr Bill Lymburn, believes these gruesome deaths may explain phenomena such as “inhuman” screams heard in the house recently.
Psychical expert Canon Tony Duncan, vicar of Whitley Chapel, near Hexham, carried out an exorcism at the home at the request of Mr Lymburn and his wife, Eileen, who have daughters aged five and four. On Tuesday the vicar of Prudhoe, the Rev Paul Adamson, conducted a Requiem service in the house, to lay to rest the soul of anyone who might have died there without the benefit of a Christian burial.
The Grange, built around 1240, was used as a chantry for monks serving Prudhoe Castle. Little of its history is documented, but in the 1950s, when a new kitchen was added, skeletons were found buried near the house, said Mr Lymburn, 45, who has lived there for 40 years. A street nearby is called Drawback, after the spot where Cromwell once withdrew his troops during the Civil War.
Mr Lymburn believes the skeletons could have been those of some of his soldiers. Mr Lymburn said manifestations started about six years ago, when he and his wife started alterations to their home. Since then they have heard screams, a female voice calling their names and loud noises in their bedroom. Pictures have fallen off walls, and, on several occasions, the picture hooks have been found to have turned upside down.
Mr Lymburn said: “It began when we started to chip plaster off walls in the living room. A trestle table there collapsed during the night and woke us up. Our daughter has woken up several times in tears saying someone has called her name. Work on the structure of the house seems to disturb something.”
Mr Lymburn said he had not always believed in spirits, but now felt there was no other logical explanation. “Canon Duncan felt there was an evil influence in a front bedroom and the dining room where the mummified bodies were thought to have been found when the wall was knocked through to make a window,” he said. “We do not know when this happened, but it is a fairly reliable story about the house.” He added: “Canon Duncan told us there are different types of haunting and some appear to be quite friendly. We gather that we have more than one kind, including evil, which the exorcism has disposed of.”
Mr Lymburn said that since the exorcism and Requiem, the bedroom had “felt better,” but the noises were heard again yesterday. He said: “We are adding a new bathroom and have to knock through a wall of the house. It will be interesting to see if this stirs anything else up.”
Canon Duncan yesterday declined to talk about the exorcism. Mr Adamson said: “The purpose of the Requiem is to lay an unhappy soul to rest, while the exorcism is to get rid of evil spirits.”
Newcastle Journal, 15th March 1990.
£165,000 to own ghostly towers.
Sitting tenants can be a problem when you are trying to sell your home – especially when the unwelcome guest is a ghost. Fortunately, Bill and Eileen Lymburn can now afford to be open about the spooky presence which haunted them. Their Grade II listed four-bedroom house is peaceful after the church was called in to help. The Grange at Prudhoe near Newcastle, is a househunters’ dream with a gleaming white modern kitchen and 20ft bathroom with a Jacuzzi. But when the ghost was active pictures used to fall off the wall without cause, and doors opened and closed mysteriously.
Bill and Eileen have lived there for 15 years and Bill’s parents were there for 25 years before that. They think the house was the chantry to Prudhoe Castle and some parts of it date back to 1240. With no written history, creepy legends have evolved, but when Bill grew up in the house he saw nothing odd.
Eileen says: “When we bought the house from Bill’s mother, it needed a lot doing to it. We put in new wiring and central heating and uncovered a beautiful fireplace. We stripped it to the original stone and that’s when things started happening. I got the impression that all was not at rest, as if we had disturbed something.”
Bill, a dentist, and Eileen don’t believe in ghosts. “We’re just normal people,” says Eileen. “I think a lot of folk are too embarrassed to admit they think their house might be haunted. But if our house was, it was very friendly.” The couple’s two daughters, Helen and Fiona, were not bothered by possible ghostly tenants. But eventually the family asked the Canon at Newcastle CAthedral to help. Prayers were said in the rooms and he recommended a requiem mass so that any soul that had not received Christian burial could find peace. “Since then, things have been peaceful,” says Eileen.
Now, six years later, the Lymburns have decided to move further into the countryside. Many people are intrigued about The Grange’s colourful past say agents GA Town and Country. Since people found out about the story there has been an increase in enquiries about the £165,000 property.
Daily Mirror, 31st January 1995.