Haunted by phantom hound.
Huge ghostly dog through which kicks pass unobstructed.
Screams and rustling.
(From our own correspondent).
Matlock, Nov. 13. – Just over the border of Derbyshire, in Staffordshire, at Ipstones, stands a farmhouse three centuries old, which is reputed haunted. It is called The Hermitage, and is tenanted by a prosperous agriculturist named Bennett Fallows. Local legend relates that generations ago resided at The Hermitage an old miser. More than a few people believe that to this day the little old miser’s ghost haunts the place. Mr Fallows and his family have become, in a measure, “ghost hardened,” so frequent have been the manifestations during their thirteen years’ tenancy.
I asked Mr Fallows what the feeling was like when the ghost made his presence felt. He replied: – “When we go upstairs sometimes we feel as though a wind was passing by, and there is a feeling as though someone was walking past, accompanied by a rustling. But we never see anything. The strange feeling we have is that someone is passing by.”
But a weird “spook” dog, described as being “as big as a donkey,” a sort of “Hound of the Baskervilles,” is one of the most terrifying apparitions at the Hermitage. Mr Fallows told me: “One man kicked at the beast, and his foot hit nothing at all but the air – it went right through the animal.”
Among the manifestations recounted by the family are: –
Mrs Fallows, while in bedroom on south front, was pulled down to the floor. She “felt something take hold of her.” She could see no one.
Servant lad, Charles Gilmore, said a hand was laid on his face during the night.
“People” walk, scream and move furniture in bedroom on north side. Doors cannot be kept shut.
Daily Mirror, 14th November 1913.
Ghostly Tricks.
Christmas is emphatically the time for ghost stories. It is the traditional time when we sit in the firelight, half-quaking, half-sacred, but full of fearful delight, as some one tells us eerie tales of spooks and haunted houses. And new ghostly experiences crop up from different parts almost every day. Quite recently a story was told of a haunted farmhouse in Staffordshire.
The Hermitage is three hundred years old, and according to local tradition is haunted by the ghost of a little old miser who used to reside there. the present occupiers have had some uncanny experiences. The doors of some of the rooms cannot be kept shut. They are repeatedly opened apparently by ghostly hands. Mysterious footsteps, screams, and the sound of furniture being moved about are heard in one of the bedrooms. Often when the family go upstairs they have a weird feeling that some one passes them on the staircase. They see nothing, but feel the sensation of rushing wind, the sound of rustling, and the distinct sensation of a presence.
The only visible ‘ghost’ is the apparition of a huge dog that is said to appear in the house. On one occasion a man kicked at the phantom animal, but his foot went right through it without encountering any resistance.
Northern Weekly Gazette, 2nd January 1915.