The Haunted Close.
Strange manifestations in Chichester Priest-Vicar’s House.
Former Dean re-visits Earth?
“Observer” Special.
One of the four beautiful old houses in the Vicars Close, Chichester, possesses the unusual but intriguing reputation of being haunted. Ancient buildings are often the subject of romantic, eerie stories of visitations from those not of this world – indeed, some places would not be considered complete without any such associations, but of all the historic structures in this city, few could be found more appropriate for the uneasy wanderings of an unquiet spirit than the Vicars Close houses. Belongint to the Priest-Vicars of the Cathedral, these houses were built in the 12th century, and although they were altered considerably when subjected to repair in the eighteenth century, their charm, their old-world atmosphere, remains unimpaired.
At present the first two and the fourth are in the habitation of the Rev. J. Nocholetts, the Rev. P.R. Barrington-Brown, and the Rev. R.G.T. Gillman, the third being used by the Theological College as a hostel. It is the Rev. P.R. Barrington-Brown’s house in which the ghost is said to have its being, and hither an “Observer” representation called the other day, bent upon getting to the bottom of matters. He was most hospitably received by Mr Barrington-Brown, who, in reply to his queries, willingly and with impressive sincerity told him all her knew.
Mr Barrington-Brown has lived at the house with his mother and his brother, Major T.R.Barrington-Brown, for the past three years, and during that time each of them has been repeatedly subject to apparently spiritual phenomena, until now they have come to regard it as quite a matter of course. The most common happening occurs in the quietude of the night, when, sharply and distinctly, there comes the “rap, rap, rap” of Someone knocking on one of the doors. Nearly all the doors in the house are fitted with small brass knockers, and it is the sound of these that is heard, but although our representative shook one of the heavy doors vigorously, banged upon it, and stamped heavily on the floor, he could not even raise a tinkle from the knocker which “Something” had used so decisively.
Often when these knocks are heard they cry “Come in!” but only once has the behest apparently been obeyed, and that was when Mrs Barrington-Brown was lying in bed. Then, she declares, the handle turned and the door swung slowly open!
Major Barrington-Brown’s bedroom is to the right of his mother’s, and once, hearing his dog growling deeply and fiercely on the landing, he went out and there saw the animal, hair bristling, legs stiff, growling still, and glaring threateningly at – nothing!
Ghostly footsteps sound on the landing, and on the quaint, narrow stairs, but although such steps have been heard to go from the top of the flight to the bottom, silence alone follows. With regard to this, the Rev. Barrington-Brown showed a cupboard at the side of the front door, which faces the bottom of the stairs, and said that he believed it was once the original front door. Certainly, from the formation of the stonework at the top, it affords every appearance of being such.
Sometimes there is a sound as if someone has stumbled on the landing or the stairs, and this was once so loud, that the Rev. Barrington-Brown, thinking his mother or brother had fallen, went to the stairs in alarm, but found no-one there.
Our representative was shown various parts of the building, upstairs and down, where manifestations had been observed, and was also invited to inspect alcoves, turned into cupboards and such-like, which had obviously once been windows, doorways, and, in one case, the entrance to a circular staircase. The place possesses a cellar, now used as a storage place for lumber; it is tiny, and has many crooks and crannies, one of which has the appearance of the commencement of a circular stairway. The wall to the front of the house looks immensely strong, being over fivve feet in thickness, while the floor is paved. It was while our representative was examining this cellar that he was told that the whole of the four houses in the Close were built upon the site of the Churchyard of St. Peter Juxter Forum.
“What do you think is the cause of these happenings?” asked our representative of Mr Barrington-Brown, who replied: “Well, my theory is that Dean Maidenhythe, formerly of Chichester, who took a great interest in the houses in the Vicars Close, restoring them and leaving half his money for their upkeep when he died in 1407, comes back at times to the spot which held such a prominent place in his affections.”
“You really believe the manifestations are spiritual, then?” “I am quite prepared to believe it,” was Mr Barrington-Brown’s reply, and in answer to another of our representative’s questions, he declared, smilingly, that he did not at all dislike living in a haunted house. “If my mother and brother went away and I were left alone, I should not mind remaining here. It is a charming old place, and – well, I’ve become used to the strange little occurrences of which we have been speaking!”
Bognor Regis Observer, 8th February 1928.
Chichester Cathedral Close Mystery.
Who goes there?
A story so strange that were it not vouched for by the most credible persons it would seem foolish to give it currency, comes from the Cathedral Close, Chichester, and concerns the house in the picturesque row of old dwellings known as the Vicar’s Close, in which for several years the Rev. P.R. Barrington Brown, one of the priest vicars, his brother, Major Barrington Brown, and their mother, have lived.
It appears that ever since they have been in occupation they have from time to time been puzzled by curious happenings, of which, up to the present, no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming. The doors of the house are fitted with old-fashioned knockers, which have a habit of giving unaccountable rat-tats “without visible means of support,” as police charge-sheets say. Mrs Barrington Brown has thought she has heard footsteps descending the stairs at night, and on occasion has found her bedroom door, which she shut on retiring, open in the morning.
No one seems ever to have seen or – apart from these strange incidents – to have heard anything of any stranger in the place, but Major Barrington Brown relates that last July, while he was awakened between two and three one morning, and found his dog glaring and growling at the door of his bed room. Thinking there might be a burglar about, the Major got a stick and went round the house, but saw and heard nothing. Another time he was sitting in the dining room with the door open, when its knocker knocked suddenly, but when he called to know who was there, there was no reply, and he could find no one.
The Rev. R.G.T. Gilman, another resident of the Close for a number of years, says that a former resident in the house, the widow of a Civil Servant, was convinced that there was something strange about it, and used particularly to mention that plates which were put overnight in one place would be found in the morning in another.
Probably there is some simple explanation of the manifestations if close enough investigation were made, but hitherto it has not been discovered, and the strangeness of the occurrences, in so appropriate a setting as the Cathedral Close, has naturally started talk of a “ghost story.”
West Sussex Gazette, 9th February 1928.
“Haunted” Close.
Strange occurrences at Chichester.
The stories to which publicity has been given during the past few days concerning unaccountable “manifestations” which have occurred at one of the houses in the Vicar’s Close – the residences of the Priest Vicars of Chichester Cathedral – have naturally given rise to considerable interest in the City, but the general impression in well-informed circles is one of amusement rather than of alarm. Those who have considerable experience of Cathedral cities are aware that a good many “ghosts” are supposed to frequent various places connected with the precincts of these historic edifices. The monk who walks the Close at Winchester is a well-known exampple, and the tradition about ghosts in the precincts of Chichester Cathedral is – well, a tradition!
There are supposed to be two of them, one of whom is alleged to be associated with the Vicar’s Close. Those who believe in the existence of the supernatural – and, of course, practically everybody does, the sceptic even against himself – cannot deny the possibility of there being ghosts, but there does not appear to be any positive evidence that these Chichester ghosts have ever been seen.
One has heard spiritualists attach consdierable importance to unaccountable rappings on doors and walls. The writer was once at supper with a company which included two men who claimed to have mediumistic powers, and who glanced at each other quite unconcernedly, with the query, “Do you hear them?” The sounds were apparently only audible to them, but both were satisfied that they had heard a spirit manifestation, and went on with their supper as though it were quite an ordinary incident.
Presumably one must not rule out entirely the possibility of such mysterious incidents as seem to have been happening in the house occupied, in Vicar’s Close, by the Rev. P.R. Barrington Brown and his mother and brother (Major Barrington Brown) all of whom speak of occasional unaccountable knockings on the doors of rooms, of doors being found open in the morning which were closed overnight, and of sounds like footsteps on the stairs.
There may, however, be an explanation which closer investigation would reveal, even of the Major’s story that his dog awakened him on one occasion, with bristling back and growling mien. A rat or a mouse in motion might well produce such a result.
A resident in the Vicar’s Close for nearly 40 years agrees that there is a ghost story attached to one of th ehouses, but cannot recall previous “manifestations” at this house, to which the present occupants only came in recent years. A lady of mmore than 80 summers, who is still resident in the city, and who was a close friend of a lady who formerly lived in the house, where she was a frequent visitor, states that she never heard her friend speak of any untoward happenings.
A more recent resident has stated that she has always thought there was something strange about the house, but went no farther than that. If the noises have a supernatural origin, they have apparently become more pronounced in recent years.
Hampshire Telegraph, 17th February 1928.