Syderstone, Fakenham, Norfolk (1833)

The noises commence almost every morning about two o’clock, and continue until daylight. Sometimes it is a knocking, now in the ceiling overhead, now in the wall, and now directly under the feet; sometimes it is a low moaning, which the Rev. Gentleman says reminds him very much of the moans of a soldier on being whipped; and sometimes it is like the sounding of brass, the rattling of iron, or the clashing of earthenware or glass, but nothing in the house is disturbed. It never speaks, but will beat to a lively tune, and moan at a solemn one, especially at the morning and evening hymns. Every part of the house has been carefully examined, to see that no one could be secreted, and the doors and windows are always fastened with the greatest caution.

Both the inside and outside of the house have been carefully examined during the time of the noises, which always arouse the family from their slumbers, and oblige them to get up, but nothing has been discovered. It is heard by every one present, and several ladies and gentlemen in the neighbourhood, who, to satisfy themselves, have remained all night with Mr. Steward’s family, have heard the same noise, and have been equally surprised and frightened. Mr. Steward has also offered any of the tradespeople in the village an opportunity of remaining in the house and convincing themselves. Indeed the rev. gentleman has several times spoken to the supposed ghost, demanding the cause of its being troubled, and has even attempted to use his spiritual authority to exorcise it, but all to no purpose. The shrieking last Wednesday week was terrific.

It has been formerly reported in the village that the house was haunted by a rev. gentleman, whose name was Mental, who died there about 27 years since, and this is now generally believed to be the case. His vault, in the inside of the church, has lately been repaired, and a new stone put down. The house is adjoining the church-yard, which has added, in no inconsiderable degree, to the horror which pervades the villagers when the family daily tell the tales of the previous night’s freaks and screams of the nocturnal visitant.

 The tale is told with great eclat in the surrounding villages; and those who previously were believers in the earthly visitations of spirits are as much confirmed in their opinions as if one plainly and openly had arisen from the dead; and the incredulous are made almost to believe: it is altogether a rare feast for the superstitious.

As to our own opinion, it is that, in all likelihood, some wily practitioner of fraud has availed himself of a knowledge of the premises, a disposition to be superstitious, and a fearful reluctance rigidly to push a proper investigation, to harrass and annoy the family; at the same time we must say, from the representations of ear-witnesses, that the thing is so cleverly and cautiously conducted as to give it a very mysterious character. — From a Correspondent.

 [Largely as above, until “pervades the villagers” – ). The delusion must be very ingeniously conducted, but at this time of day scarcely any one can be found to believe these noises proceed from any other than natural causes.

On Wednesday se’nnight, Mr. Stewart requested several most respectable gentlemen to sit up all night, namely, the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon, of Docking, the Rev. Mr. Goggs, of Creake, the Rev. Mr. Lloyd, of Massingham, the Rev. Mr. Titlow, of Norwich, and Mr. Banks, surgeon, of Holt, and also Mrs. Spurgeon. Especial care was taken that no tricks should be played by the servants; but, as if to give the visitors a grand treat, the noises were even louder and of longer continuance than usual.

The first commencement was in the bedchamber of Miss Stewart, and seemed like the clawing of a voracious animal after its prey. Mrs. Spurgeon was at the moment leaning against the bed-post , and the effect on all present was like a shock of electricity. The bed was on all sides clear from the wall; – but nothing was visible.  Three powerful knocks were then given to the sideboard, whilst the hand of Mr. Goggs was upon it.

The disturber was conjured to speak, but answered only by a low hollow moaning; but on being requested to give three knocks, it gave three most tremendous blows apparently in the wall. The noises, some of which were as loud as those of a hammer on the anvil, lasted from between 11 and 12 o’clock until near two hours after sunrise.

The following is the account given by one of the gentlemen: – “We all heard distinct sounds of various kinds – from various parts of the room and the air – in the midst of us – nay we felt the vibration of parts of the bed as struck; but we were quite unable to assign any possible natural cause as producing all or any part of this. We had a variety of thoughts and explanations passing in our minds before we were on the spot, but we left it all equally bewildered.”

On another night the family collected in a room where the noise had never been heard; the maid-servants sat sewing round a table, under the especial notice of Mrs. Stewart, and the man-servant with his legs crossed and his hands upon his knees, under the cognizance of his master. The noise was then for the first time heard there – “above, around, beneath, confusion all,” – but nothing seen, nothing disturbed, nothing felt, except a vibratory agitation of the air, or a tremulous movement of the tables or what was upon them.

It would be in vain to attempt to particularise all the various noises, knockings, and melancholy groanings of this mysterious something. Few nights pass away without its visitation, and each one brings its own variety.

We have little doubt that we shall ultimately learn that this midnight disturber is but another “Tommy Tadpole,” but from the respectability and superior intelligence of the parties who have attempted to investigate into the secret, we are quite willing to allow to the believers in the earthly visitations of ghosts all the support which this circumstance will afford to their creed – that of unaccountable mystery. We understand that enquiries on the subject have been very numerous, and we believe we may even say troublesome, if not expensive.

The New “Fakenham Ghost.”

The following circumstance has been creating agitation in the neighbourhood of Fakenham for the last few weeks. In Syderstone Parsonage lives the Rev. Mr. Stewart, curate, and rector of Thwaite. About six weeks since an unaccountable knocking was heard in it in the middle of the night. The family became alarmed, not being able to discover the cause. Since then it has gradually been becoming more violent, until it has now arrived at such a frightful pitch that one of the servants has left through absolute terror.

The noises commence almost every morning about two, and continue until day-light. Sometimes it is a knocking, now in the ceiling overhead, now in the wall, and now directly under the feet; sometimes it is a low moaning, which the Rev. Gentleman says reminds him very much of the moans of a soldier on being whipped; and sometimes it is like the sounding of brass, the rattling of iron, or the clashing of earthenware or glass, but nothing in the house is disturbed.

It never speaks, but will beat to a lively tune, and moan at a solemn one, especially in the morning and evening hymns. Every part of the house has been carefully examined, to see that no one could be secreted, and the doors and windows are always fastened with the greatest caution. Both the inside and outside of the house have been carefully examined during the time of the noises, which always arouse the family from their slumbers, and oblige them to get up, but nothing has been discovered.

It is heard by every one present, and several ladies and gentlemen in the neighbourhood, who, to satisfy themselves, have remained all night with Mr Stewart’s family, have heard the same noise, and have been equally surprised and frightened. Mr Stewart has also offered any of the tradespeople in the village an opportunity of remaining in the house and convincing themselves. The shrieking last Wednesday week was terrific.

It was formerly reported in the village that the house was haunted by a Rev. Gentleman, whose name was Mental, who died there about 27 years since, and this is now generally believed to be the case. His vault, in the inside of the church, has lately been repaired, and a new stone put down. The house is adjoining the church-yard, which has added in no inconsiderable degree, to the horror which pervades the villagers. The delusion must be very ingeniously conducted, but at this time of day scarcely any one can be found to believe these noises proceed from any other than natural causes.

On Wednesday se’nnight, Mr Stewart requested several most respectable gentlemen to sit up all night, namely, the Rev. Mr. Spurgeon, of Docking, the Rev. Mr. Goggs, of Creake, the Rev. Mr. Lloyd, of Massingham, the Rev. Mr. Titlow, of Norwich, and Mr. Banks, surgeon, of Holt, and also Mrs. Spurgeon. Especial care was taken that no tricks should be played by the servants; but, as if to give the visitors a grand treat, the noises were even louder and of longer continuance than usual. The first commencement was in the bed-chamber of Miss Stewart, and seemed like the clawing of a voracious animal after its prey. Mrs. Spurgeon was at the moment leaning against the bed post, and the effect on all present was like a shock of electricity. The bed was on all sides clear from the wall; – but nothing was visible.

Three powerful knocks were then given to the sideboard, whilst the hand of Mr. Goggs was upon it. The disturber was conjured to speak, but answered only by a low hollow moaning; but on being requested to give three knocks, it gave three most tremendous blows, apparently in the wall. The noises, some of which were as loud as those of a hammer, lasted from between eleven and twelve o’clock until near two hours after sunrise.

The following is the account given by one of the gentlemen: – “We all heard distinct sounds of various kinds – from various parts of the room and the air – in the midst of us – nay we felt the vibrations of parts of the bed as struck; but we were quite unable to assign any possible natural cuase as producing all or any part of this. We had a variety of thoughts and explanations passing in our minds before we were on the spot, but we left it all equally bewildered.”

On another night the family collected in a room where the noise had never been heard; the maid-servants sat sewing round a table, under the especial notice of Mrs. Stewart, and the man-servant with his legs crossed and his hands upon his knees, under the cognizance of his master. The noise was then for the first time heard there – “above, around, beneath, confusion all,” – but nothing seen, nothing disturbed, nothing felt, except a vibratory agitation of the air, or a tremulous movement of the tables or what was upon them.

It would be in vain to attempt to particularise all the various noises, knockings, and melancholy groanings of this mysterious something. Few nights pass away without its vibration, and each one brings its own variety.

Syderstone Parsonage. To the Editor of the Norfolk Chronicle.

Sir, – My name having lately appeared in the Bury Post, as well as in your own Journal without my consent or knowledge, I doubt not you will allow me the opportunity of occupying some portion of your paper, in way of explanation.

It is most true that, at the request of the Rev. Mr. Steward I was at the Parsonage at Syderstone, on the night of the 15th ult. for the purpose of investigating the cause of the several interruptions to which Mr. Stewart and his family have been subject for the last three or four months. I feel it right therefore to correct some of the erroneous impression, which the paragraph in question is calculated to make upon the public mind; and at the same time to state fairly the leading  circumstances which transpired that night.

At ten minutes before two in the morning, knocks were distinctly heard; they continued at intervals, until after sun-rise – sometimes proceeding from the bed’s-head, sometimes from the side-boards of the children’s bed, sometimes from a three-inch partition, separating the children’s sleeping rooms; both sides of which partition were open to observation. On two or three occasions, also, when a definite number of blows was requested to be given, the precise number required was distinctly heard.  

How these blows were occasioned was the subject of diligent search: every object was before us, but nothing satisfactorily to account for them; no trace of any human hand, or of mechanical power was to be discovered. Still, I would remark, though perfectly distinct, these knocks were by no means so powerful as your paragraph represents – indeed, instead of “being even louder, and of longer continuance that night, as if to give the visitors a grand treat,” – it would seem they were neither so loud nor so frequent as they commonly had been. In several instances they were particularly gentle, and the pauses between them afforded all who were present, the opportunity of exercising the most calm judgment and deliberate investigation.

I would next notice the “vibrations” on the side-board and post of the children’s beds. These were distinctly felt by myself as well as others, not only once, but frequently. They were obviously the effect of different blows, given in some way or other, upon the different parts of the beds, in several instances while those parts were actually under our hands. It is not true that “the effect on all present was like a shock of electricity” – but that these “vibrations” did take place, and that too in beds, perfectly disjointed from every wall, was obvious to our sense; though in what way they were occasioned could not be developed.

Again – our attention was directed at different times during the night, to certain sounds on the bed’s-head and walls, resembling the scratchings of two or three fingers; but in no instance, were they like “the clawing of a voracious animal after its prey.” During the night I happened to leave the spot in which the party were assembled, and to wander in the dark to some more distant rooms in the house, occupied by no one member of the family, (but where the disturbances originally arose), and there, to my astonishment, the same scratchings were to be heard.

At another time, also, when one of Mr. Stewart’s children was requested to hum a lively air, “most scientific beatings” to every note was distinctly heard from the bed-head; and, at its close, “four blows” were given, louder (I think) and more rapid than any which had before occurred.

Neither ought I to omit that, at the commencement of the noises, several feeble “moans” were heard. This happened more than once; after a time they increased to a series of “groanings” of a peculiarly distressing character, and proceeding (as it seemed) from the bed of one of Mr. Stewart’s children, about ten years of age. From the tone of voice, as well as other circumstances, my own conviction is, that these “moans” could not arise from any effort on the part of the child. Perhaps there were others present who might have had different impression; but be this as it may, towards day-break four or six shrieks were heard – not from any bed or wall, but as hovering in the atmosphere in the room, where the other noises had been principally heard. These screams were distinctly heard by all, but their cause was discoverable by none.

These, Sir, are the chief events which occurred at Syderstone Parsonage on the night alluded to in your paragraph. I understand the “knockings” and “sounds” have varied considerably in their character on different nights; and that there have been several nights occurring (at four distinct periods) in which no noises have been heard.

I have simply related what took place under my own observation. You will perceived that the noises heard by us, were by no means so loud and violent as would be gathered from the representations which have been made. Still, as you are aware, they are not on that account the less real; nor do they, on that account, require the less rational explanation. I trust however, Mr. Editor, your readers will fully understand me. I have not related the occurrences of the night for the purpose of leading them to any particular views, or conclusions upon a subject which, for the present at least, is wrapt in obscurity; such is very remote from my object.

But Mr. Stewart having requested me, as a neighbouring Clergyman, to witness the inconveniences and interruptions to which the different members of his family have been subject for the last sixteen weeks – I have felt it my duty, as an honest man (particularly among the false statements now abroad) to bear my feeble testimony, however inconsiderable it may be, to their actual existence in his house; and also since, from the very nature of the case – it is not possible Mr. Stewart can admit the repeated introduction of strangers to his family.

I have thought it, likewise, a duty I owed to the public to place before them the circumstances which really did take place on that occasion. In the words of your paragraph, I can truly say – “I had a variety of thoughts and explanations passing in my mind before I was on the spot, but I left it perfectly bewildered!” – and I must confess the perplexity has not been diminished by the result of an investigation, which was most carefully pursued for five days, during the past week, under the immediate direction of Mr. Reeve, of Houghton, agent to the Marquis of Cholmondeley, the Proprietor of Syderstone and Patron of the Rectory – and who, on learning the annoyances to which Mr. Stewart was subject, directed every practicable aid to be afforded for the purpose of discovery; Mr. Seppings and Mr. Savory, the two chief inhabitants of the parish, assisted also in the investigation.

A “trench” was dug round the back part of the house, and “borings” were resorted to in all other parts of it to the depth of six or seven feet, completing a chain around the entire buildings, for the purpose of discovering any subterranean communication with the walls, which might possibly explain the noises in question. Many parts of the interior of the house, also, such as “the walls,” “floors,” “false roofs,” &c. have been minutely examined, but nothing has been found to throw any light upon the source of the disturbances. Indeed, I understand the “knockings” within the last four days, for far from having subsided, are become encreasingly distressing to Mr. Stewart and his family – and so remain!

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, JOHN SPURGIN. Docking, June 5th, 1833.

To the Editor of the Norfolk Chronicle.

Sir – The detail of circumstances connected with the Syderstone Ghost, as reported in the public papers, is in my opinion very incorrect, and calculated to deceive the public. If the report of noises heard on other evenings be as much exaggerated, as is the report of the noises which five other gentlemen and myself heard on Wednesday evening, the 15th of May, nothing could be better contrived to foster superstition and to aid deception.

I was spending a few days with a friend in the neighbourhood of Syderstone, and was courteously invited by Mr. Stewart to sit up at the Parsonage, but I never imagined the noises I heard during the night would become a subject of general conversation in our city and county; as such is the case, and as I have been so frequently appealed to by personal friends, I hope you will afford the convenience of correcting, through the medium of your journal, some of the errors committed in the reports made of the disturbances which occurred when I was present. If the other visitors thought proper to make their statements known to the public, I have no doubt they would nearly accord with my own, as we are not, though so represented in the Bury Post, “those who deal in contradictions of this sort.”

The noises were not loud; certainly they were not so loud as to be heard by those ladies and gentlemen who were sitting at the time of their commencement in a bedroom only a few yards distant. The noises commenced as nearly as possible at the hour we had been prepared to expect they would; or at about half-past one o’clock, A.M. It is true that knocks seemed to be given, or actually were given, on the sideboard of a bed whilst Mr. Goggs’ hands were upon it; but it is not true that they were “powerful knocks.” It is also true that Mr. Goggs requested the ghost, if he could not speak, to give three knocks, and that three knocks, gentle knocks, not “three most tremendous blows,” were heard, as proceeding from the thin wall, against which were the beds of the children and the female servants.

I heard a scream as of a female, but I was not alarmed; I cannot speak positively as to the origin of the scream, but I cannot deny that such a scream may be produced by a ventriloquist. The family are highly respectable, and I know not any good reason for a suspicion to be excited against any one of the members; but as it is possible for one or two members of a family to cause disturbances to the rest, I must confess that I should be more satisfied that there is not a connexion between the ghost and a member of the family, if the noises were distinctly heard in the rooms when all the members of the family were known to be at a distance from them.

I understood from Mr. Stewart that on one occasion the whole family, himself, Mrs. Stewart, the children, and servants, sat up in his bed-room during the night, that himself and Mrs. Stewart kept an attentive watch upon the children and servants, and that the noises, though seldom or never heard before in that room, were then heard in all parts of the room. This fact, though not yet accounted for, is not a proof but that some one or more of the family is able to give full information of the cause of the noises.

Mr. Stewart and other gentlemen declared that they have heard such loud & violent knocking, and other strange noises, as certainly throw a great mystery over the circumstance; I speak only in reference to the knockings and the scream which I heard when in company with the gentlemen whose names have been already made known to the public, and confining my remarks to those noises, I hesitate not to declare that I think similar noises might be caused by visible and internal agency.

I do not deny the existence of supernatural agency, or of its occasional manifestation: but I firmly believe such a manifestation does not take place without divine permission, and when permitted it is not for trifling purposes, nor accompanied with trifling effects. Now there are effects which appear to me trifling, connected with the noises at Syderstone, and which therefore tend to satisfy my mind that they are not caused by supernatural agency. On one occasion the ghost was desired to give ten knocks; he gave nine, and as if recollecting himself that the number was not completed, he began again, and gave ten; I heard him beat time to the lively air of the verse of a song sung by Miss Stewart, if I mistake not, “Home, sweet home:” and I heard him give three knocks in compliance with Mr. Goggs’ request.

Mr. Editor, noises are heard in Syderstone Parsonage, the cause or agency of which is at present unknown to the public, but a full, a diligent investigation ought immediately to be made – Mr. Stewart, I believe, is willing to afford facility. If, therefore, I may express an opinion, that if two or three active and experienced police officers from Norwich were permitted to be the sole occupants in the house for a few nights, the ghost would not interrupt their slumbers, or if he attempted to do it, they would quickly find him out, and teach him better manners for the future.

The disturbances at the Parsonage House, in Epworth, in 1716, in some particulars resemble those which have occurred at Syderstone, but in these days we give little credit to tales of witchcraft, or that evil spirits are permitted to indicate their displeasure at prayers being offered for the King, &c. and therefore I hope that deceptions practised at Syderstone, if there be deceptions, will be promptly discovered, lest that parsonage become equal in repute to the one at Epworth.

I am, Sir, your humble servant, SAMUEL TITLOW.

To the Editor of the Bury Post, and East Anglian.

Sir, – The paragraph inserted in your paper of last week, respecting “the Syderstone ghost,” is very incorrect in the detail of the circumstances which occurred on Wednesday evening the 15th ult. The noises were not loud; they commenced in the bed-room of Miss Steward and the female servants, and the time of the commencement was, as we had been prepared to expect, exactly at half past one o’clock a.m.

It is true that knocks seemed to be given, or were actually given, on the side-board of a bed in an adjoining room, where two little boys were sleeping, whilst Mr. Goggs’ hands were upon it, but they were not “powerful knocks.” It is also true that on Mr Goggs requesting “if you cannot speak give three knocks,” three knocks, gentle knocks, not “three most tremendous blows,” were heard as proceeding from the thin wall, against which were the beds of the children and servants. What takes place in one of the two rooms may be easily heard in the other.

In the course of the night I heard a scream as of a female, but I felt no alarm; I cannot speak positively as to the origin of the scream, but I cannot deny that such a scream may be produced by a ventriloquist.

The family are highly respectable, and I know not a sufficient reason for suspicion against any one of them, but as it is possible for one or two members of a family to make noises which may prove disturbances to the rest, I must confess that i should be more satisfied that there is not some connexion or other between the ghost and the family, if the noise were distinctly heard in the rooms when all the members of the family were certainly at a considerable distance from them.

Mr Stewart informed me that during one night the whole family, himself, Mrs Stewart, the children, and servants, sat up in his own bed-room, that Mrs Stewart and himself kept an attentive watch over the children and servants, and that the noises, which, if I recollect rightly, he told me had seldom been heard in that room, were then distinctly heard in all parts of the room. This fact, although not yet accounted for, does not prove that all the members of the family are unacquainted with the person of the ghost.

Mr Stewart and other gentlemen declare that they have heard knockings so loud and violent, and other noises so unusual and terrifying, as certainly are calculated to throw a great mystery over the circumstances; I speak only in reference to the knockings and the scream that I heard, when in company with the gentlemen whose names appear in your paper of last week, and confining my remarks to those noises, I may be permitted to declare that I believe similar noises might be produced by visible and internal agency.

If the writer of the paragraph had been present with us, he would not have said that we were terrified, as if we had experienced “a shock of electricity;” but rather, that though there was no want of proper decorum, we were all in good humour, and in his opinion, none of the visitors unwilling to believe that the ghost is a good natured ghost.

I do not deny the existence of supernatural agency, or of its occasional manifestation; but I believe such manifestations do not take place without the divine permission, and when permitted are not for trifling purposes, or accompanied with trifling effects. Now there are effects which appear to me trifling connected with the noises at Syderstone, and which therefore tend to convince me that they are not produced by supernatural agency.

In one instance, the ghost was directed to give ten knocks; he gave nine, and as if recollecting himself that the number was not completed, he began again, and gave ten. I heard him beat time to the lively air of the verse of a song sung by Miss Stewart, and I heard him give three knocks in compliance with Mr Goggs’ request.

Mr Editor, noises are heard in Syderstone parsonage: the cause or agency is at present unknown to the public, but a full and diligent investigation ought immediately to be made. Mr Stewart, I believe, would afford facility. If therefore I may express my opinion, I would say that I felt a strong persuasion that if two or three active and experienced police officers from Norwich were permitted to be the sole occupants in the house for a few nights, the ghost would not interrupt their slumbers, or if he attempted to continue his operations, they would quickly inculcate silence upon him.

Norwich, June 3, 1833. SAMUEL TITLOW.

— We regret that the above communication, although despatched before, did not reach us till after our last publication. It would otherwise have spared the remark which was called forth by the naked contradiction of a contemporary. We are much obliged for the explanation.

(The Rev. J. Spurgin has also addressed a letter to a contemporary, “to correct some of the erroneous impressions” which our account is supposed to be calculated to make; but which letter appears to us to confirm all that was material in our statement. Mr S. states that knocks were distinctly heard at intervals from two in the morning until after sunrise:

“sometimes proceeding from the bed’s head, sometimes from the sideboards of the children’s bed, sometimes from a three-inch partition, separating the children’s sleeping rooms, both sides of which partition were open to observation. On two or three occasions, also, when a definite number of blows was requested to be given, the precise number required was distinctly heard. How these blows were occasioned was the subject of diligent search; every object was before us, but nothing satisfactorily to account for them; no trace of any human hand, or of mechanical power was to be discovered.”

But it appears that the knocks, instead of being louder, were neither so loud nor so frequent as they commonly had been. Again, “the vibrations on the side-board and posts of the children’s beds were distinctly felt, not only once but frequently, and were obviously the effect of blows on different parts of the beds – in several instances whilst those parts were actually under our hands, and that too in beds perfectly disjointed from every wall.”

Our correspondent’s comparison of the effect to a shock of electricity was not, however, it seems, a just one; and the scratchings were more like those of two or three fingers, than “the clawing of a voracious animal [say a rat] after its prey.” But Mr Spurgin wandered from the party in the dark to some distant rooms, where the disturbances originally arose, “and there, to his astonishment, the same scratchings were to be heard.”

When a tune was hummed, “most scientific beatings to every note were heard from the bed-head.” At the commencement of the noises several feeble moans were heard, and after a time “they increased to a series of groanings of a peculiarly distressing character,” and proceeding, as it seemed, from the bed of child about ten years of age; but Mr Spurgin’s conviction is that they could not arise from any effort of the child.

“Towards day-break four or six shrieks were heard – not from any bed or wall, but as hovering in the atmosphere, in the room where the other noises had been principally heard.”

The knockings and sounds, the rev. gentleman understands, have varied considerably on different nights, and there have been several nights at four distinct periods, in which no noises have been heard.

In conclusion Mr Spurgin writes – “I must confess the perplexity has not been diminished by the result of an investigation, which was most carefully pursued for five days, during the past week, under the immediate direction of Mr Reeve, of Houghton, agent to the Marquis of Cholmondeley, the proprietor of Syderstone and patron of the rectory – and who, on learning the annoyances to which Mr Stewart was subject, directed every practicable aid to be afforded for the purpose of discovery.  Mr Seppings and Mr Savory, the two chief inhabitants of the parish, assisted also in the investigation.

A “trench” was dug round the back part of the house, and “borings” were resorted to in all other parts of it to the depth of six or seven feet, completing a chain round the entire buildings, for the purpose of discovering any subterranean communication with the walls, which might possibly explain the noises in question. Many parts of the interior of the house, also, such as ‘the walls,’ ‘floors,’ ‘false roofs,’ &c. have been minutely examined, but nothing has been found to throw any light upon the source of the disturbances.

Indeed, I understand the “knockings” within the last four days, far from having subsided, are become increasingly distressing to Mr Stewart and his family – and so remain!”]

Bury and Norwich Post, 12th June 1833.

Syderstone Parsonage. To the Editor of the Norfolk Chronicle.

Sir, – Having already borne my testimony to the occurrences of the night of the 15th ult. in the Parsonage at Syderstone, and finding that Ventriloquism and other Devices are now resorted to, as the probable causes of them (and that too under the sanction of certain statements put forth in your last week’s paper), I feel myself called on to state publicly that, although a diligent observer of the different events which then took place, I witnessed no one circumstance which could induce me to indulge a conjecture that the knockes, vibrations, scratchings, groanings,  &c. which I heard, proceeded from any member of Mr. Stewart’s family, through the medium of mechanical or other trickery: – indeed, it would seem to me utterly impossible that the scratchings which fell under my observation during the night, in a remote room of the house, could be so produced, as, at that time, every member of Mr. Stewart’s family was removed a considerable distance from the spot.

While making this declaration I beg to state, that my only object, in bearing any part in this mysterious affair, has been to investigate and to elicit the truth. I have ever desired to approach it without pre-judging it – that is, with a mind willing to be influenced by facts alone, – without any inclination to establish either the intervention of human agency on the one hand, or of super-human agency on the other hand: – at the same time, it is but common honesty to state, that Mr. Stewart expresses himself so fully conscious of his own integrity towards the public, that he has resolved on suffering all the imputations and reflections which have been or which may be cast either upon himself or upon his family, to pass without remark; and as he has, at different times and upon different occasions, so fully satisfied his own mind on the impossibility of the disturbances in question arising from the agency of any member of his own household (and from the incessant research he has made on this point he himself must be the best judge.) Mr. Stewart intends declining all future interruptions of his family by the interference of strangers.

Perhaps, Mr. Editor, your distant readers may not be aware that Mr. Stewart has not been resident at Syderstone more than 14 months, while mysterious noises are now proved to have been heard in this house, at different intervals and in different degrees of violence, for the last 30 years and upwards. Most conclusive and satisfactory Affidavits on this point are now in progress, of the completion of which you shall have notice in due time.

I am, Sir, your obedient Servant, JOHN SPURGIN. Docking, June 7th, 1833.

 The Ghost.

Sir, – The late communications to your paper respecting the (at present) mysterious noises at the Syderstone Parsonage having created a strong sensation in the minds of the credulous, I am induced to explain away the impression likely to be raised by the statement of Ofield, in your last week’s paper. I perfectly well recollect the circumstance (being then a pupil of the Rev. Mr. Skrimshire) alluded to by Mr. Ofield, and can assure you that those unaccountable noises were caused by one of the pupils overturning a table (in the draw of which there were some leaden bullets) in the sleeping room.  – On the following day an investigation took place, and the pupil confessed the act, and was reprimanded. I beg to add, that I was a pupil at Mr. Skrimshire’s about five years, and during that time I never heard any noises which could not be accounted for.

I am, &c. JAMES OVERTON, Sherford.

The Syderstone Mystery.

Dear Sir, – After upwards of five-and-thirty years’ correspondence, I may presume to hope that you will not attach any doubt to the authenticity of the following communicatino on this hitherto mysterious affair.

Prompted rather by a desire of investigation than motives of curiosity, I took a journey to Syderstone parsonage on Saturday the 8th instant, where I was received by the Rev. Mr Stewart and his lady with much politeness and urbanity. After some preliminary conversation, I expressed a wish, if it were consistent with their domestic arrangements, that I might be allowed to keep watch that night (it being then nearly nine o’clock) but Mr. S. apologized by assuring me that the family had been so much harassed of late by acceding to the wishes of the public, that they had been as it were compelled to decline the admission of any farther nocturnal visits.

However, both Mr and Mrs S. were kindly disposed to be very communicative on this extraordinary subject; and I have their sanction for laying before your readers the following circumstances which have occurred since (I believe) their reception of night visitors, and which I have not yet read of in the public journals.

Mr S. assured me that the family had of late been disturbed by most strange and alarming noises! On one night (very recently) after the family had all retired to rest, he distinctly heard the creaking sound of footsteps upstairs, similar to that produced by a person wearing new shoes; that in a very short time the same creaking footsteps were heard in his bed-chamber, proceeding deliberately round the room, and on leaving the same, the chamber door was struck upon with great violence.

At another time, while in bed, he was alarmed by a tremendous crash which conveyed to his mind the impression that a ponderous globe of metal had fallen through the roof upon the floor above him, bounding and re-bounding, till at last the sound gradually died away in the distance.

Again, while Mr and Mrs S. were late one night in conversation in the parlour, on a sudden, the door therof was heard as though wrenched from its hinges and hurled with violence against the floor, though upon strict examination no trace of violence could be discovered; and on Mrs S. taking up the candle to retire to bed, an astounding blow was instantaneously struck upon the table, the vibration of which she distinctly felt.

Not least appalling among these alarming noises are the “sobs” and “moans” which are sometimes heard, as though proceeding from a female suffering under acute anguish of mind.

Upon the whole, Mr Editor, whatever may be my sentiments on this mysterious visitation, I cannot but perfectly coincide in opinion with one of the rev. gentlemen who has lately favoured us with his communications on the subject, that a thorough investigation ought immediately to be set on foot, in order to appease the excitment at present existing in the public mind; and I sincerely hope that Mr Stewart will not feel offended if I suggest that the whole family should vacate the premises pro tempore (say for a week or ten days) and allow three or four, or even half a dozen, shrewd, intelligent, resolute young gentlemen in the neighbourhood (in preference to “police officers“) to “hold their nocturnal vigils;” and I feel almost persuaded that through their exertions and the medium of Mr Stewart (who I am most willing to believe is anxious to unravel this “tale of mystery“) we may very soon ascertain whether these alarms be effected by “supernatural,” or “human,” agency.

I am, dear sir, your’s truly, G.W. LEMON. Downham Market, June 17, 1833.

—- May we ask whether, on hearing the “creaking above mentioned, Mr Stewart made any attempt to discover the mysterious wearer of bad shoe-leather by immediate examination outside the walls and door of his room. Every one who has inquired into the subject of ventriloquy knows that the whole of its illusion is founded on our inability to distinguish the direction of sounds. – EDITOR.

Bury and Norwich Post, 19th June 1833.

 

Syderstone Parsonage.

For the information of the public, as well as for the protection of the family now occupying the above residence, from the most ungenerous aspersions, the subjoined documents have been prepared. These documents, it was proposed, should appear before the public as Affidavits, but a question of law having arisen as to the authority of the Magistrates to receive Affidavits on subjects of this nature; the Declarations here under furnished have been adopted in their stead. The witnesses whose testimony is afforded have been all separately examined – their statements in every instance, have been most cheerfully afforded – and the solemn impression under which the evidence of some of them particularly has been recorded, has served to shew how deeply the events in question have been fixed in their recollection.

Without entering upon the question of Causes, one Fact, it is presumed, must be obvious to all, (namely,) “That various inexplicable noises have been heard in the above residence, at different intervals, and in different degrees of violence, for many years before the present occupiers ever entered upon it:” – indeed, the Testimony of other respectable persons to this Fact might have been easily adduced, but it is not likely that any who are disposed to reject or question the subjoined evidence would be influenced by any additional Testimony which could be presented.

“Elizabeth Goff, of Docking, in the county of Norfolk, widow, now voluntarily declareth (and is prepared at any time to confirm the same on oath and say); that she entered into the service of the Rev. William Mantle, about the month of April, 1785, at which time her said master removed from Docking to the Parsonage at Syderstone, and the said Elizabeth Goff further states that at the time of entering upon the said parsonage two of the sleeping-rooms therein were nailed up; and upon one occasion, during the six months of her continuance in the service of her said master, she well remembers the whole family were much alarmed in consequence of Mrs. Mantle’s sister having either seen or heard something very unusual, in one of the sleeping-rooms over the kitchen, which had greatly terrified her.

– This Declaration was made and signed this 18th day of June, 1833, before me, Derick Hoste, one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the County of Norfolk. The mark X of Elizabeth Goff.”

“Elizabeth the wife of George Parsons, of Syderstone, in the County of Norfolk, blacksmith, now voluntarily declareth (and is prepared at any time, to confirm the same on oath and say):  – that she married about 19 years ago, and then entered upon the occupation of the south-end of the Parsonage at Syderstone, in which house she continued to reside for the space of nine years and a half. That she, the said Elizabeth Parsons, having lived at Fakenham previously to her marriage, was ignorant of the reputed circumstances of noises being heard in the said house, and continued so for about nine or ten months after entering upon it; but that, at the end of that time, upon one occasion during the night she remembers to have been awoke by some “very violent and very rapid Knocks” in the lower room occupied by them, immediately under the chamber in which she was sleeping; that the noise appeared to her to be as against the stove which she supposed must have been broken to pieces;

That she, the said Elizabeth Parson, awoke her husband, who instantly heard the same noise; that he immediately arose, struck a light, and went down stairs; but that, upon entering the room he found everything perfectly safe, as it had been left upon their going to bed; that her husband hereupon returned to the sleeping-room, put out the light, and went to bed; but scarcely had he settled himself in bed, before the same heavy blows returned; and were heard by both of them for a considerable time. This being the first of the noises she the said Elizabeth Parsons ever heard, she was greatly alarmed, and requested her husband not to go to sleep while they lasted, lest she should die from fear; but as to the causes of these noises, she, the said Elizabeth Parsons, cannot, in anywise, account.

And the said Elizabeth Parsons further states, that, about a year afterwards at midnight, during one of her confinements, her attention was particularly called to some strange noises heard from the lower room. These noises were very violent, and, as much as she remembers, were like the opening and tossing up and down of the sashes, the bursting of the shutters, and the crashing of the chairs placed at the windows: – that her nurse hereupon went down stairs to examine the state of the room, but, to the surprise of all, found everything perfectly in order, as she had left it.

– And likewise the said Elizabeth Parsons further states, that besides the occurrences hereinbefore particularly stated (and which remain quite fresh in her recollection ) this was, from time to time, during her residence in Syderstone Parsonage, constantly interrupted by very frightful and unusual knockings, various and irregular, sometimes they were heard in one part of the house, and sometimes in another, sometimes they were frequent, and sometimes two or three weeks or months or even 12 months would pass without any knocking being heard.  That these knocks were usually never given till the family were all at rest at night, and she has frequently remarked, “just at the time she hoped she had got rid of them, they returned to the house, with increased violence.”

And finally the said Elizabeth Parsons declares, that during a residence in the Syderstone Parsonage of upwards of nine years, knocks and noises were heard by her therein, for which she was utterly unable to assign any cause. – This declaration was made and signed this 18th day of June, 1833, before me, Derick Hoste, one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the county of Norfolk. Elizabeth Parsons.”

“Thomas Mase, of Syderstone, in the county of Norfolk, carpenter, now voluntarily declareth,  (and is prepared at any time to confirm the same on oath, and say): – That one night, about 11 years ago, while Mr George Parsons occupied part of the Parsonage at Syderstone, he happened to be sleeping in the attic there, and about midnight he heard (he thinks he was awoke out of sleep) a dreadful noise, like the sudden and heavy fall o part of the chimney upon the stove in the lower sitting-room.

That the crash was so great that, although at a considerable distance from the spot, he distinctly heard the noise, not doubting the chimney had fallen and dashed the stove to pieces: that he arose and went down stairs, (it being a light summer’s night) but, upon examining the state of the room and stove, he found, to his astonishment, everything as it ought to have been.

And the said Thomas Mase further states, that, upon another occasion, about eight or nine years ago, while sleeping a night in Syderstone Parsonage, in a room at the south end thereof, (the door of which room moved particularly hard upon the floor, requiring to be lifted up in order to close or open it, and producing a particular sound in its movement) he distinctly heard all the sounds which accompanied its opening. – That he felt certain the door was opened, and arose from his bed to shut it, but, to his great surprise, he found the door closed, just as he had left it.

– And finally the said Thomas Mase states, that the circumstances above related, arose from causes which he is wholly at a loss to explain. – This declaration was made and signed this 18th day of June, 1833, befoer me, Derick Hoste, one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the county of Norfolk. Thomas Mase.”

 “William Ofield, of Syderstone, in the county of Norfolk, gardener and groom, now voluntarily declareth, (and is prepared at any time, to confirm the same on oath and say): – That he lived in the service of the Rev. Thomas Skrimshire, about nine years ago, at which time his said master entered upon the occupation of the Parsonage at Syderstone, and that he continued with him during his residence in that place. The said William Ofield also states, that, as he did not sleep in the house, he knows but little of what took place therein during the night, but that he perfectly remembers, on one occasion, while sitting in the kitchen, he heard in the bed-room immediately over his head, a noise resembling the dragging of furniture about the room, accompanied with the fall as of some very heavy substance upon the floor. – That he is certain this noise did take place, and verily believes no one member of the family was in the room at the time.

– The said William Ofield likewise states, that the noise was loud enough to alarm part of the family then sitting in the lower-room, in the opposite extremity of the house; that he is quite sure they were alarmed, inasmuch as one of the ladies immediately hastened to the kitchen, to make enquiry about the noise, though his said master’s family never seemed desirous of making much of these occurrences – that the said Wm. Ofield was ordered to go upstairs to see what had happened, and upon entering the room he found everything right – he has no hesitation in declaring that this noise was not occasioned by any person in the house.

– The said Wm. Ofield likewise states, that at different times during the evenings, while he was in his said master’s service, he has heard other strange noises about the house, which he could never account for, particularly the rattling of glass and china in the chiffionier standing in the drawing-room, as if a cat were running in the midst of them, while he well believes no cat could be there as the door was locked.

And the said Wm. Ofield likewise states, that he has been requested by some of the female servants of the family, who had been frightened, to search the false roof of the house, and to quiet their alarm, he has done so, but could never discover anything out of order.  – This declaration was made and signed this 18th day of June, 1833, before me, Derick Hoste, one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the county of Norfolk. William Ofield.

Elizabeth the wife of John Hooks, of Syderstone, in the county of Norfolk, labourer, now voluntarily declareth and is prepared, at any time, to confirm the same on oath, and say: – That she entered the service of the Rev. Thomas Skrimshire, at Syderstone Parsonage, about seven years ago, and continued with him about four years, that in the last year of her service with Mr. Skrimshire, about Christmas time, while sitting by the kitchen fire side, she heard a noise resembling the moving and rattling of the chairs about the sleeping-room immediately over her; that the noise was so great that one of Mr. Skrimshire’s daughters came out of the drawing-room, which was removed a considerable distance from the spot in which the noise was heard, to make enquiry about it: that the man servant and part of the family immediately went upstairs, but found nothing displace; and moreover that she verily believes no member of the family was upstairs at the time.

The said Elizabeth Hooks also states, that, upon another occasion, after the above event, as she was going up the attic stairs to bed, with her fellow servant, about 11 o’clock at night, she heard three very loud and distinct knocks, as coming from the door of the false roof. These knocks were also heard by the ladies of the family, then separating for the night, who tried to persuade her it was some one knocking at the hall door. The said Elizabeth Hooks says, that although convinced it was from no person out-doors, yet she opened the casement to look, and, as she expected, found no one. Indeed, being closest to the spot, on which the blows were struck, she is sure they were on the door, but how and by whom given, she is quite at a loss to conjecture.

And finally the said Elizabeth Hooks states, that at another time, after she had got into her sleeping-room, (the whole family besides being in bed and she herself sitting up working at her needle) she heard noises in the passage leading to the room, like a person walking with a peculiar hop: that she was alarmed, and verily believes it was not occasioned by any member of the family. – This declaration was made and signed this 18th day of June, 1833, before me, Derick Hoste, one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the county of Norfolk. The Mark X of Elizabeth Hooks.

Phoebe Steward, of Syderstone, in the county of Norfolk, widow, now voluntarily declareth (and is prepared at any time, to confirm the same on oath, and say): – That about 20 years ago, a few days after Michaelmas, she was left in charge of Syderstone Parsonage, then occupied by Mr. Henry Crafer; and about eight o’clock in the evening, while sitting in the kitchen, after securing all the doors, and no other person being in the house, she heard great noises in the sleeping-rooms over her head, as if persons “running out of one room into another” – “stumping about very loud” – and that these noises continued about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour: – that she felt the more alarmed, being satisfied there was, at that time no one but herself in the house.

And the said Phoebe Steward further states, that on Whitsun Tuesday 18 years ago, she was called to attend, as nurse, on Mrs. Elizabeth Parsons, in one of her apartments, then living in Syderstone Parsonage: – that about a fortnight after that time, one night, about 12 o’clock, having just got her patient to bed, she remembers to have plainly heard the footsteps, as of some one walking from their sleeping-room door, down the stairs, step by step, to the door of the sitting-room door open, and the chair placed near one of the windows moved, and the shutters opened. All this the said Phoebe Steward is quite sure she distinctly heard, and thereupon immediately, on being desired, she came down stairs, in company with another female, whom she had awakened to go with her, being too much alarmed to go by herself: but on entering the room she found everything just as she had left it.

And the said Phoebe Steward further states, that about a fortnight after the last-named event, while sleeping on a bureau bedstead, in one of the lower rooms in Syderstone Parsonage (that is, in the room referred to in the last statement), she heard “a very surprising and frightful knock, as if it had struck the head of the bed and dashed it in pieces:” that this knock was so violent as to be heard by Mrs. Crafer in the centre of the house: that she, the said Phoebe Steward, and another person who was at that time sleeping with her, were very much alarmed with this heavy blow, and never knew how to account for it.

And finally, the said Phoebe Steward states, that, during the 45 years she has been in the habit of frequenting the Syderstone Parsonage (without referring to any extraordinary statements she has heard from her sister, now dead, and others who have resided in it) that she, from her own positive experience, has no hesitation in declaring, that in that residence noises do exist which have never been attempted to be explained. – This Declaration was made and signed this 18th day of June, 1833, before me, Derick Hoste, one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the county of Norfolk. The mark X of Phoebe Steward.

Robert Hunter, of Syderstone, in the county of Norfolk, shepherd, now voluntarily declareth (and is prepared, at any time, to confirm the same on oath, and say): – That for 25 years he has lived in the capacity of shepherd with Mr. Thomas Seppings, and that one night in the early part of March, 1832, between the hours of 10 and 11 o’clock, as he was passing behind the Parsonage at Syderstone, in a path-way across the glebe land near the house, when within about 12 yards of the back part of the buildings, his attention was arrested all on a sudden by some very loud “groanings” like those “of a dying man, solemn and lamentable,” coming (as it seemed to him) from the centre of the house above: that the said Robert Hunter is satisfied these groans had but then just begun, otherwise he must have heard them long before he approached so near the house. He also further states, that he was much alarmed at these groans, knowing particularly that the Parsonage at that time was wholly unoccupied, it being about a month before Mr. Stewart’s family came into residence there: that these groans made such an impression upon his mind, as he shall never lose, to his dying hour.

And the said Robert Hunter likewise states, that, after stopping for a season near the house, and satisfying himself of the reality of these groans, he passed on his way, and continued to hear them as he walked, for the distance of not less than 100 yards. The said Robert Hunter knows 100 yards is a great way, yet (if he had stopped and listened) he, the said Robert Hunter, doubts not, he could have heard them to a greater distance than 100 yards: so loud and so fearful were they that never did he hear the like before. This Declaration was made and signed this 19th day of June, 1833, before me, Derick Hoste, one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the county of Norfolk. The mark X of Robert Hunter.

We, the undersigned chief inhabitants of the parish of Syderstone, in the county of Norfolk, do hereby certify that Elizabeth Parsons, Thomas Mase, William Ofield, Elizabeth Hook, Phoebe Steward, and Robert Hunter, who are now residing in this parish, and whose declarations are hereto annexed, have been known to us, for some years past, and are persons of veracity and good repute. – Witness our hands, this 18th day of June, 1833. Thomas Seppings. John Savory.

To the Editor of the Norfolk Chronicle.

Sir, – One of your Correspondents having in a second letter, not only expressed himself as called on to state publicly the events which occurred at Syderstone Parsonage one Wednesday night, but also to make a particular reference to my letter addressed to you, I must request him, through the medium of your Journal, to read my letter again, and with more care than, I presume, he exercised in the former perusal.

I may not be able, or not permitted, to investigate and elicit the truth so fully as himself, but he should remember that I have a right to express an opinion even though it accord not exactly with his own. The observations he thought it expedient to make, respecting “imputations and reflections” supposed to “be cast upon Mr. Stewart or his family,” might have passed unnoticed by me, had not “the most ungenerous aspersions” been alluded to in the information contained in your paper of last week; it is probable that information was either prepared by the same gentleman, or subjected to his approbation, and therefore I consider it a duty which I owe to myself to declare, that I should be extremely sorry to cast a false imputation or unjust reflection on the character of any person. The conjectures formed by your Correspondent are not, in my humble estimation, the result of a calm and wise judgement, and I wish him to understand, that for conjectures formed on any other judgment I am not responsible.

The family residing at Syderstone Parsonage need no commendation from me, and I only stated for the information of the public, so far as my own observation extended, that they “are highly respectable;” I also stated that “I know not any good reason for a suspicion to be excited against any one of the members” in particular, but as I am not so bigoted as to imagine I may not be mistaken in some matters, so I am vain enough to think another man may be mistaken, and therefore that the Rev. John Spurgin, of Docking, or his friend, the Rev. Mr. Stewart, of Syderstone, may be suffering under the effects of a deception. I observed, “as it is possible for one or two members of a family to cause disturbances to the rest, I must confess that I should be more satisfied there is not a connexion between the ghost and a member of the family, if the noises were distinctly heard in the rooms when all the members of the family were known to be at a distance from them.” I see no reason, Sir, to change one word of these remarks.

It is generally reported that Mr. Stewart is firmly persuaded that the noises heard are caused by supernatural agency, or by an evil spirit; if he be so persuaded, it is the more to be regretted that such an investigation is not immediately made, which is the only one considered satisfactory by the more enlightened and better instructed part of the community. Mr. Stewart’s friends hearing continually of various rumours, and conceiving that the family are on this account involved in most uncomfortable circumstances, have offered to assist in the investigation, and I believe the whole family would be cheerfully received for a week or fortnight, by their friends in Syderstone. I heartily wish that Mr. Stewart may for his own sake, for the credit of the family, for the satisfaction of the public, and, I may add, for the sake of religious principles, be convinced of the necessity of deviating from the course hitherto adopted, and I do sincerely hope that if his persuasions really accord with truth, the most unbelieving may be convinced; or if he be suffering under the effects of a deception, that deception may be quickly discovered.

Mr. Stewart should not be offended because I speak openly and freely, I feel myself strongly compelled to do so; the subject is not of a private nature, it has been spoken of in all parts of the kingdom, and our characters as clergymen are connected with it. The public do not expect us to give implicit credit to every strange report, or to acknowledge any thing to be true without proper enquiry; and they also expect that, if satisfied of the truth of any unusual occurrence, we should not be backward in assigning our reasons for the belief of it, nor ashamed to confess it, however we may be exposed to contumely and reproach. So far as I am enabled to judge from the occurrences of the Wednesday evening, and from what I have since heard, or read in the newspapers,  I do not consider there is any evidence to justify the conclusion of supernatural agency.

 I am not prepared to admit that “a diligent search” was made by the other gentlemen and myself; we were the hearers of noises, but particular circumstances prevented our being active in any examination, and as my views are not in unison with those of your Correspondent, it is not probable that I shall be present at such an examination; it seems an intimation is given to me, that though Mr. Stewart in the first instance courteously invited me to sit up at the Parsonage, such a favour must not be again expect, as “Mr. Stewart intends declining all future interruptions of his family by the interference of strangers.”

Your Correspondent appears also to be surprised at my having suggested that ventriloquism and other devices might be resorted to. It is rather a remarkable coincidence, that I was credibly informed, after  my former letter was in your possession, that another Clergyman had previously proposed some such question as the following to Mr. Stewart- “Is there not, Sir, a ventriloquist in your family?”

It seems that your Correspondent is more disposed to believe in supernatural agency than I am, and therefore, as he has voluntarily referred to my letter, and as it is the desire of us both “to be influenced by facts alone,” he must allow me to doubt whether his conclusions are always legitimately deduced. He does not “indulge a conjecture that the knocks, vibrations, scratchings, groanings, &c. which he heard, proceeded from any member of Mr. Stewart’s family;” and therefore, not influenced by any such suspicion, he proceeds to a distant room, without exercising that precaution another man would. Now, supposing it possible for him to be mistaken, might not the ghost or ghosts, possessed of flesh and blood, watch his movements, and follow him in the dark, and to a remote room of the house? I cannot affirm such to have been the case; but I ask whether it is not possible? And if it be possible, it is certain that “at that time every member of Mr. Stewart’s family was removed to a considerable distance from the spot?”

It is correctly stated that at the commencement of the noises several feeble moans were heard; and your correspondent admits that the impressions produced on the minds of others might be different to those which he received. It is a fact, Sir, that at the commencement of the noises or very soon after, feeble moans were heard but at that time Miss Stewart, in the opinion of more than two of the gentlemen present, was much distressed in a dream. The circumstance was communicated to her mother, and Mrs. Stewart went immediately to the little girl and awoke her. It is also a fact that noises were heard in a remote corner of the third room, towards the fatal south end of the house, but they were soon ascribed, and I think rightly, to those voracious little animals called rats.

In reference to the number of shrieks or screams I ask permission to correct an unintentional error in Mr. Spurgin’s first letter: he speaks of four or six shrieks being heard towards day-break, and adds, “These screams were distinctly heard by all.” It is not my business to call in question what Mr. Spurgin heard, but I am not the only person who cannot recollect more than two. I distinctly heard one scream, “I cannot speak positively as to the origin of the scream, but I cannot deny that such a scream my be produced by a ventriloquist.” I ascribe no importance whatever to the digging of a trench around the house; at least I think it should have been first proved that the ghost is not  a visible inhabitant of the house; and under existing circumstances, the digging of the trench may have afforded no little amusement to the unhappy ghost.

The public, Sir, are capable of duly appreciating  the Declarations so carefully prepared, and so correctly copied into your paper of last week. I have no doubt that the poor people of Syderstone, whose names or marks are affixed, “are persons of veracity and good report,” but, I ask, could no assistance be derived from those who live in a higher class of society, and are more likely to make a full inquiry? Are all the relatives of the Rev. T. Skrimshire dead? With due deference to the judgment of others, I cannot but express my surprise at the allusion made to some ghost stories, the most ridiculous imaginable.

Surely it was not necessary to put Mrs. Elizabeth Goff, of Docking, to any trouble on account of the Syderstone ghost. She declares that 48 years ago, her late master, the Rev. William Mantle, removed from Docking to the Parsonage at Syderstone, and that “at the time of entering upon the said Parsonage two of the sleeping-rooms therein were nailed up!! and upon one occasion during the six months of her continuance in the service of her said master, she well remembers the whole family were much alarmed in consequence of Mrs. Mantle’s sister having either seen OR heard SOMETHING very unusual in one of the sleeping-rooms over the kitchen, which had greatly terrified her!!!” One benefit results from the Declaration of Mrs. Elizabeth Goff; she has aided in the removal of the obloquy attempted to be thrown upon the memory of her master, and the good people of Syderstone, if hereafter they hear the terrible noise as of one walking in a silk gown, need not fear the approach of his departed spirit; let us hope his spirit lives in an happier world; and I would say in respect to the ghost at Syderstone, Spiritus requiescat in pace.

Your’s truly, SAMUEL TITLOW. Norwich, June 25th 1833.

P.S. Since writing the above letter I have been informed that the Rev. Mr. Skrimshire is living near Fakenham, though in so weak a state of health as not to allow of any application being made to him. One of his three daughters lives with him; the other two, who are married, live within five or six miles of Syderstone. Two sons live in London; Mr. W.W. Skrimshire, the younger, was in Norwich on Monday, June 17th, when he visited a friend, who for many years assisted his father in conducting a large school. Mr. S. and his family resided in the Parsonage about five years, and all the rooms were occupied. Mr. W.W. S. not only declared to his friend that he never heard of any unusual noises in the house, but expressed his surprise at the strange reports. Had the ghost manifested himself to the boys at school, most assuredly they would have paid him proper respect; they would not have been terrified with his gentle or loud knockings, but have diligently observed ‘qui spiritus illi qui vultus, vocisve sonus, vel gressus eunti’; the ghost, however, was too cunning to be to them a nocturnal visitant or interfering stranger; quae sapientia non cadit in hunc aetatem.  S.T.

The Rev. Mr Spurgin has addressed another letter to the editor of the Norfolk Chronicle, in which he says that Mr Stewart has not been resident at Syderstone more than fourteen months, while mysterious noises are now proved to have been heard in this house, at different intervals, and in different degree of violence, for the last thirty years and upwards. Most conclusive and satisfactory affidavits on this point are now in progress, which will be made public in due time.

True Sun, 1st July 1833.

 

The Syderstone Ghost.

The public will not, we think, be surprised to learn that the Syderstone Ghost is a very old Ghost. He is none of your modern Reform creations, come to warn the nation of its sins; but a real old-fashioned ghost, such as those which, according to Addison, were found in every village in the days of the wisdom of our ancestors. A long list of declarations, not sanctioned by oaths only because the Magistrate, Mr. Hoste, had a doubt of his right to administer them, is published in the Norfolk Chronicle; and we can only say that those persons who are not convinced by this evidence must be sadly deficient in faith, and had better go to Oxford to be taught greater humility!

List, Reader! –

Elizabeth Goff is ready to swear that whilst she was living in the service of the Rev. W. Mantle, in 1785, the whole family were alarmed by Mrs. Mantle’s sister having seen “something very unusual” in one of the chambers. Two of the rooms were nailed up when Mr. M took possession of the house.

Elizabeth Parsons, a blacksmith’s wife, who lived nine years in the house, was awakened one night by violent knocking, as if the stove in the room beneath was broken to pieces; she and her husband went down, but found nothing, and the noise was renewed on their return. A year after, there were noises like throwing the sashes up and down, bursting the shutters, and crashing the chairs, but the nurse attending her found every thing in order below. During the nine years she was constantly annoyed by frightful knockings in the night and the cause was never discovered.

Thos. Mase, a carpenter, eleven years ago, whilst sleeping in the attic, heard a dreadful noise like the fall of part of the chimney on the stove below, but found nothing wrong; two or three years after he heard the sound of his door opening and grating on the floor, but when he got out of bed to close it – found it fast shut!

W. Ofield, and Elizabeth Hooks, servants of the Rev. Mr. Skrimshire, one evening heard the sound of furniture dragged about the room over the kitchen, and the fall of a heavy substance; at another time a knocking in the false roof, on a third occasion noises in the passage like a person walking with a peculiar hop; and many other strange noises, particularly the rattling of the china on the drawing-room cheffonier, when there could be no cat there, because the door was locked.

Phoebe Steward was alone in the house, about 20 years ago, and heard “great noises as of persons running out of one room into another and stumping about very loud,” over the kitchen, about eight in the evening. Two years after, she heard footsteps from the room where she was nursing, down the stairs, the parlour door opened, a chair moved, and the shutters undone; but on a search, nothing was disturbed. A fortnight after the witness and another woman were awakened by a frightful knock on the head of the bed. And for 45 years she avers that unexplained noises have been heard in the house.

But most horrible of all – Robert Hunter, a shepherd, one night in March last year, was passing the parsonage (then unoccupied) when he heard “from the centre of the house above” (what a very fine ear!) “very loud groanings, like those of a dying man, solemn and lamentable, – the like of which he did never hear before, and which made an impression on his mind that he will never lose to his dying hour!”

We must say that if this be a real ghost, he is sadly deficient of originality; for there is not one of these “hearings,” which has not been distinctly affirmed of the “good devil of Woodstock,” “Old Jeffery” of Epworth, and a hundred other “visitations,” which have been traced to deception or reasonably ascribed to natural causes.

In fact, there is not one of them which may not have been produced by rats, cats, bats, owls, and “such small deer,” aided by the imagination. By the way, in noticing the History of the Wesley Family, recently published, the Westminster Review suggests that a cause for the disturbance at Epworth might be found in the strict restraints imposed upon four or five lovely young women, or the storing of the tithe corn in the attic. The latter conjecture is favoured not a little by the fact that the only visible shape which “Old Jeffery” assumed was that of a “badger,” or a “rabbit“. Perhaps a marten, a ferret, or a stoat, in pursuit of rats, might afford a solution to the mystery. And is there not a barn close to the Parsonage at Syderstone?

Had such a visitation occurred at one of the Bishop’s houses in Ireland, when the Commissioners of valuation were about their sacrilegious work, it might have been considered as a sign of the wrath of heaven, like the freaks of the “Good Devil” to drive away the Commissioners of the Long Parliament; but when it is confessed that the apparition – or non-apparition, rather, has been forty-five years at work with no other effect than that of alarming a simple shepherd and a few old women, (we mean no offence to the reverend visitors,) we must be excused if we remain incredulous.

Bury and Norwich Post, 3rd July 1833.

Syderstone Parsonage.

To the Editor.

Sir, Being the first that brought this mysterious case under the notice of the public, in a paragraph which appeared in your paper of the 8th of May, I assure you and the public that I did it under an expectation that what had been daily frightening the villagers in teh neighbourhood of the parsonage, when the previous night’s diversions of the supposed “Ghost” were glibly detailed by someone of Mr Stewart’s family, would, on its being more fully known, excite a sufficient degree of interest in the public mind to prompt such an investigation as would lead to the discovery of the deep-laid scheme of deception, and expose a trick so much calculated to foster superstitious feelings and opinions.

This paragraph, though it excited a great sensation, and caused a number of visits to Syderstone, called forth no public remarks; but learning that several gentlemen had been sitting up in Mr Stewart’s house all night, with the intention of discovering the cause of the noises, and hearing from some of the parties concerned a part of the particulars that occurred on each occasion, I wrote you another paragraph, which I am happy to find has succeeded in drawing some of them out.

The result is now, in some measure, before the public, and they will be able to judge for themselves. I am rather fearful, however, that in following the rev. gentlemen through their rather long letters we should lose the right cue. I did expect that other facts  connected with that night’s ghost-hunting as well as its previous and subsequent visitations, would have come out; and I understand from tolerably good authority that there were other rather interesting circumstances that occurred that night. I should like to know why they have been so carefully kept behind the scenes?

Hardly a single important fact has been developed connected with the conduct of this “Ghost” since it has disturbed Mr Stewart’s family but those detailed in the two paragraphs above named (except Mr Lemon’s letter) although I understand a daily journal of its freaks and noises is kept for future publication.

Now I do not feel inclined to blame any of the rev. gentlemen concerned, but I do say, let the public have some more facts. If “ghosts” themselves act mysteriously and cautiously, let us act openly and honestly. Let us submit their various actions to the test of reason and investigation; and if they should be of such a nature as to afford any support to the doctrine of “separate spirits,” they will certainly be attended with very important advantages in correcting the religious opinions of mankind, while a desire to envelope them in mystery will on the other hand assuredly lead to scepticsm, or at least remove none of the doubts of which we are so frequently the subjects.

The circumstances as detailed in the second paragraph called forth some few strictures from the Rev. Mr Titlow, as being too exaggerated, but have received full confirmation in subsequent communications from himself and Mr Spurgin, except as to their not being quite so loud as described. This appears to me to be a matter of no importance; for it cannot be supposed to be less of a ghost for not knocking or shrieking tremendously just then; especially while we have Mr Stewart’s word for its having done so at other times; and although Mr Titlow appears to have written very fairly on the question, there is one reason which he assigns for this not being a spiritual visitant which does not appear to me to be conclusive, viz. that the cause of its appearance is not of sufficient importance.

Allowing it to be a ghost, does Mr Titlow know the cause of its appearance? Does not all the noise that has been made throughout the country add a great importance to its visitations, especially as connected with a circumstance I shall hereafter allude to? I say, if it is a ghost the alleged cause of its visitations does not appear so “trifling” as Mr Titlow would assume. I say, too, if it is a ghost, let the truth of its visitations be known, and, however important its mission, seek not to hide it; if you do, the public will, in all probability, soon say it has told its tale, but because it is sought to be hidden, it continues its mournful visits.

Allow me to say, Sir, that there is not a circumstance that comes before the public, as connected with this ghost tale, but is looked upon by them very cautiously; and especially every part of Mr Stewart’s conduct has been, and will be, the subject of their commentaries. When it first happened, we find him admitting ladies and gentlemen frequently into his house to sit up and satisfy themselves; and all these, they say, heard the noises. We then find five or six clergymen, &c. sitting up, and these also heard the noises. In consequence of certain suspicions, which one or two of them entertained, we then hear a fuller investigation proposed; viz. that Mr Stewart and all the family should leave the premises for a certain time; an investigation which, if it did not discover the cause of the noises, would fully exculpate Mr Stewart; but this is objected to by him lest the noises should not be heard in the interval, and he should in consequence be suspected.

Did not these fears operate when others were admitted? or could Mr Stewart ensure the noises more then than he can now? Would a spirit, or a “rat”, whose visitations are now so frequent, be frightened away for a whole fortnight by a set of strangers? Would not such a plan clear Mr Stewart’s character from any unfaourable imputations, which I am sorry to acknowledge do now attach themselves to him? This reluctance must be acknowledged to be most extraordinary, although I do hope that Mr Stewart’s stated motive for resisting such an investigation is the true one; but Mr Stewart ought to know the inferences which all classes of society are drawing.

He would not find riends wanting, as well to render all necessary assistance as to secure his property, &c. and it would, I think, be better thus at once to clear himself of suspicion. A determined adherence to his own plan will, I fear, but confirm the public in their unfavourable opinions, as they are now declaring that this is precisely the argument a person who had caused the noises himself would adopt.

Mr. Spurgin’s last letter in the Norfolk Chronicle appeals to those finer feelings of our hearts, and seems to recommend that strictly just and correct course which our own consciences tell us is necessary and honourable to human nature. But has this course been pursued by themselves in getting up the declarations from the people in the village of former noises heard in the Parsonage? I think not. I have heard the tales of several of them, and they have all told me that they believed the noises were connected with the death of the late Rev. Mr. M–. Why attempt to get such as suited their own purpose only; and to bring up a Mrs Elizabeth Goff, of Docking, to speak of noises heard previously to his death, when, according to the villagers, nobody else knows of such noises? This was to give it a turn of their own; but the people in Syderstone say these noises have been heard only since the death of Mr M–. One of them told me he recollected well that when that person was living, he has attended his priestly duties so inebriated that he has been obliged to be propped up, that he died in a state of intoxication, with the bottle at his mouth and such were the frightful noises heard immediately afterwards that Mrs M. could not live any longer in the house. There is hardly an old person in Syderstone but will tell such tales as these – if not connected with this house, with some other.I do not attach any importance to these tales, but Mr Spurgin praises these people up as being worthy of credit, and then in effect says he does not believe them.

As to the servants of the Rev. Mr Skrimshire being warned of noises by some one when they went to Syderstone Parsonage, such a hint might be humorously given, but I have the fullest assurance that one of these servants knows nothing at all about it; that that servant lived in the house a long time and heard no unaccountable noises, and was not aware of any such a rumour. ‘Tis true Ofield was one of these servants, but he is a week-minded creature, and his extraordinary noises are explained by one fo the pupils, who, I dare say, played many tricks with him. But should the tales of these poor old women be true (and a thousand such might be collected in a week) is it of “trivial” importance to send this poor “ghost” across the Styx, when his message is likely to be circulated throughout the country by the newspapers, to let his brethren and the world know the spirit of a dissipated parson cannot be happy, but that it is – “Doomed for a certain term to walk the night, / And for the day confined to fast in fires, / ‘Till the foul crimes, done in its days of nature, / Are burnt and purged away?”

I remain you’s, &c. &c. J RICHES. Briston, Norfolk, July 20, 1833.

Bury and Norwich Post, 24th July 1833.

Syderstone Parsonage.

The nightly mysterious noises at this Parsonage, now generally known through the country by the name of “The Syderstone Ghost” still continue without any discovery having been made. Indeed, it seems they grow more violent and distressing than ever; although every attempt is made to keep them from the knowledge of the public.

Died. On Wednesday last, at his residence, Berwick House, Stanhoe, Derrick Hoste, Esq., aged 49 years. Mr Hoste was for many years in her Majesty’s Commission of the Peace, and a Deputy Lieutenant for the country. It was before him that certain voluntary oaths (then lawful) were taken some 15 years ago, with reference to the long continued disturbances of the Syderstone Ghost, some of the eldest females in the village of Syderstone swearing (it will be remembered) that the noises of the ghost existed when they were girls. It is more than a little remarkable, by the bye, that the real cause of these extraordinary noises has never been discovered. […] The deceased was highly respected amongst his brother Magistrates and neighbours; and the poor will remember him as one of the most affable and kind of the Hoste family.

Sequel to the Syderstone “Ghost.”

Percy Harrison of Syderstone, a lad about 14 years of age, was charged with assaulting Louis Dawes of the same place, agent for the Prudential Insurance Company. The complainant stated on the evening of the 15th inst., as he was driving down Syderstone Street, the defendant came out of his father’s yard and struck him with a stick. He got out of his cart and ran him indoors.

Mr F. Andrews, who appeared for the defendant, explained to the Bench that what defendant did was nothing but a boyish freak, and that the complainant was merely struck with a bladder tied on the end of a piece of string fixed to a stick, and that proceedings would never have been taken against the lad had it not been for the illfeeling existing against the lad’s father, on account of the latter having unravelled the Syderstone “ghost” sensation, with which the complainant was alleged to have been “associated,” while the boys in the village had termed the complainant “The spring heel ghost.”

The case was finally disposed of by the lad paying 6s. 6d. costs.

Notes and Queries.

The Syderstone Ghost (Query 142).

The letter from the Rev. John Steward, rector of Syderstone, to the author of “Bealings Bells: an account of the mysterious ringing of bells at Great Bealings, Suffolk, in 1834,” referred to by “Fr. N.,” states that there had been unaccountable disturbances in Syderstone-parsonage for nine years. The rev. gentleman adds: – “In 1834 I had prepared my diary for publication. My work was purchased by Mr Rodd, the eminent bookseller of Newport-street, London; but as the end had not arrived, I postponed my intention from day to day, and year to year, in hopes of such consummation. My diary has now assumed a rather formidable appearance.”

There is no evidence that this diary was ever published.

A correspondent in “Notes and Queries” (2nd Series XI.) states that on more than one occasion a clergyman from Norwich went over to hear the knockings. A party of young fellows from Fakenham offered to investigate the matter, and effectually to put a stop to the ghostly manifestations at the parsonage, on condition that the rector and all his family should for one or two nights vacate the house and premises and give them absolute permission. The offer was rejected, and the spirit continued his pranks, probably, much longer than he would have done had these young gentlemen been allowed to take him in hand. This latter incident proves to a certain extent that suspicion rested upon the occupants of the parsonage. – ILEX.

Syderstone.

A Folk-lore correspondent writes that Syderstone is believed to have been the birthplace of Amy Robsart, the unfortunate lady of whom Scott makes too much, and concerning whose sad fate at Cumnor Place, Sept. 8, 1560, there has been much fierce debate. Sir John Robsart, her father, was lord of the manor of Syderstone, and her mother, as the widow of Roger Appleyard, held the manor of Sandfield in Wymondham, where in 1549 Amy met that Robert Dudley, afterwards Earl of Leicester, whom she married on June 4 of the following year.

The old rectory at Syderstone was replaced by another in 1846, and the “Syderstone ghost” went with it. It was not Amy’s ghost, she “walked” at Cumnor, and was only laid after much to-do. The rectory ghost on the rampage in 1833 was of the knocking and moaning variety, and it died a natural death in time after the manner of its kind. The manifestations attracted much attention while they lasted.