Emily Allen / Monday 4 October 2010
Heretic bishops have been burned at the stake and soldiers
shot down during the English Civil War so it’s not surprising Oxford is
regarded as one of the most haunted cities in England. But this spooky spectre
took one tourist by surprise when it appeared in her photograph. The grainy
grey image appears to show a woman in historical dress walking along New
College Lane in Oxford. Sue Tomlinson, 50, was visiting the city with her
sister-in-law Tina Bennett, 52, from Shropshire earlier this month.
They decided to brave Bill Spectre’s Ghost Tour to discover
more about the city’s past and the lamppost caught Mrs Tomlinson’s eye. She
said: “I thought it looked so beautiful glowing with All Soul’s College in the
background I had to take a photo. “When I first saw it I thought it looked
strange and wanted to get home and put it on the computer so I could see it
bigger. “I don’t know if it’s someone walking past – I didn’t notice because I
was concentrating on taking the photo – or if it’s something wrong with my
camera, but all my other pictures are fine. “I don’t believe in ghosts – if
someone else had taken the photo I would say someone had fixed it. “It looks
like someone carrying a bag or a basket and wearing a dress from olden times.”
Bill ‘Spectre’ Ritchie said: “I can guarantee I had nothing to do with this
photo, she sent it to me out of the blue in an email. “Interestingly, it was on
that same lane, New College Lane, that a couple of years ago a Russian girl
sent a similar slightly blurry photo. “An Australian woman who claimed to be
sensitive to the spirit world was on the ghost trail not long ago, and claimed
that New College Lane was the most haunted place she had ever been. “Another
local woman said that at 2am last Christmas morning, she was walking along
Holywell Street, which runs parallel to New College Lane, when she heard the
sound of horses hooves echoing along the silent streets of New College Lane.
“You can imagine her reaction when I told her the lane was indeed haunted by
the ghosts of Royalist Cavalrymen who would assemble there before battle.”
Oxford’s top five haunted spots are said to be:
- The headless spectre of John Crocker haunts the site of his
tomb in the chapel at Exeter College. The Elizabethan scholar appears in a
yellow jacket, gown and breeches.
- In 1645, Archbishop Laud was beheaded for his belief in the
church against Parliament and was buried beneath the altar in the chapel of St
John’s College. The ghost has apparently been seen bowling its head towards the
feet of anyone unlucky enough to meet it.
- Magdalen College was founded in 1458 by Bishop Waynflete,
Bishop of Winchester. The original site included the13th century St John’s
Hospital whose buildings extended east as far as the river. Isis magazine
reported on June 5, 1968, that very Sunday morning, a student who was walking
across the college lawn saw with astonishment a black-clad figure moving from
the cloisters towards him, without a head. He said that the figure glided
rather than walked in complete silence.
- The landlord of The Priory in Grenoble Road has had his fair
share of encounters and believes the building, which began life as a dormitory
for Benedictine nuns is haunted by their spirits. He has heard the sound of
children running up and down his landing and often hears a woman in high heels
walking past the pub in the middle of the night.
- Empress Matilda allegedly haunts the stairs of Oxford Castle
in her white gown. She began living at the castle in 1141 but it was besieged
by her cousin King Stephen and she was forced to flee in the night, in white to
disguise herself against the snow.
Source: oxfordmail.co.uk