Is this barn haunted?
By Peter Dewhurst.
Gizmo the pig, Charlie the sheep, Katie the donkey and their animal friends may not be the only occupants of the old cruck barn at Pendle Heritage Centre in Barrowford. For things have been going bump in the night at Park Hill. Level-headed farmer James Begley and centre gardener Michael Heath admit they are baffled by unexpected events.
In recent weeks, flowers have re-arranged, an animal drinking trough has moved several yards on several occasions, and a mystery “hay rake” appears on a video security screen – but not inside the barn itself. The strange goings-on began a few weeks ago during the centre’s open garden weekend. Mavis Cash, part-time secretary to the director, Mr John Miller, said: “I came here back in 1983 on the first Manpower Service Commission scheme, and there was certainly nothing then. In July, we had a display of the Japanese floral art of Ikebana in two rooms in the gallery upstairs. They are in the older part of the house, dating from 1590.”
Arrangements were left overnight, and when staff arrived the following morning, one stem had been taken out and placed on the other side. Mavis said: “We had looked up on the Saturday night, and non one had been in. There was no way it could have fallen out.”
The following night, a rose was taken out of a display and placedon the other side, and Mavis said: “With Ikebana, flowers are placed in pinholders, so they could not fall out to the positions they did. I am just baffled by it. My sister-in-law, came here and said she could feel a presence in that room and in the barn. She said it was a pleasant feeling, not anything threatening. I have never felt the centre was anything but a peaceful and calm place to work.”
The cruck barn stood at Cliviger for hundreds of years. Some of the wooden crucks are believed to have come from the original Towneley Hall, and the building was re-built at Park Hill about 18 months ago. The animals moved in just before last Christmas.
The first unusual thing about the barn was a mystery shape which appear on the security monitor. There is a clear T-shape in one corner, which looks like an old-fashioned wooden farmer’s rake left on the floor of the barn. Then Michael Heath asked James Begley, the farmer who looks after the popular animals in the barn, if he had moved a water trough. Mr Begley said he had not. Mr Begley said: “The drinker had been moved into an alleyway where the animals walk – several yards. The animals could not have done it without knocking it over. And it happened a couple of other times. It was during the day, but if anyone had been in, they would have been picked up on the security camera.
“As far as the “rake” is concerned, you can always see it on the screen, but if you go to the barn it is not there. I wouldn’t like to say what it is. It is inexplicable when things move. I go in late at night quite often, and I have never seen or felt anything. It is a pleasant atmosphere.”
Barnoldswick and Earby Times, 15th October 1993.