Shrewsbury Chronicle, Friday 16th September 1904.
A Leominster “Haunted House.”
The “Hereford Journal’s” Leominster correspondent writes:
A cottage situate in a remote part of the northern portion of the county, lying between Wigmore and Leintwardine, has recently been the venue of a most startling affair. The cottage is an isolated one, and this fact makes the proceedings more mysterious. For some time past small pebbles and sand stones have been falling close to the house.
The occupiers of the cottage, a man, his wife, and several children, have seldom gone outside the door without having the sensational experience of a stone falling close to them. Where the stones came from was a mystery; often the stone was not seen, but it was heard as it alighted on mother earth. Sometimes the stones fell on the roof of the house, and when the family were indoors the stones promptly followed them by way of the chimney. Efforts to find out the cause of this strange occurrence for a long time failed, in fact, it is not publicly known if any solution has been arrived at,though it is hinted that the police have solved the mystery.
The “haunted house” became the talk of the countryside, and many were the visitors from the district and from Shropshire. The “stone dropping” has now ceased, the stock evidently being exhausted a week ago, but the country folk still talk about it, and declare that it is “supernatural.” The occupiers of the lonely cottage have become unnerved by the weird affair.
Ludlow Advertiser, Saturday 3rd September 1904.
A Leintwardine Ghost Story.
The inhabitants of the quiet village of Leintwardine, near Ludlow, were startled last week (says the “Midland Evening News” Wolverhampton) by the rumour that a ghost was in the neighbourhood, and that his special form of amusement was smashing windows with stones and pieces of brick varying in weight from 1oz. to 10lb.
The villagers assembled in small groups, and discussed the extraordinary occurence, and determined to unravel the mystery, but without success. A visit to the supposed haunted house only served to mystify the onlookers more than ever, for they saw stones falling in all directions, some through the windows and others down the chimney while several lodged in the bedroom.
A correspondent says that the local police have been requested to lay the ghost, but although they have kept a strict watch night and day, they have not yet fathomed the mystery. Thousands of people have visited the house, which is situated in a quiet lane between Wigmore and Leintwardine, and is occupied by an insurance agent named Caleb Randell.
Hundreds of stones have been gathered by visitors in the vicinity of the house, but it is impossible to state how they got there.