S: I’m Steph
A: and I’m Andrew.
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house Enjoying Norfolk told
some festive Norfolk Ghost Stories…
And we start with the Brown Lady of Raynham Hall: One of the most famous hauntings in the UK.
It is said to be the ghost of Lady Dorothy Walpole, who was allegedly confined to the Manor House by her husband, Charles Townshend, after she was accused of adultery. Legend claims she died there in 1726, and her spirit is said to appear in a brown dress and has been seen by guests during the Christmas season of 1835, appearing as a lady in an old brocade and coif.
There is also a famous 1936 photograph claiming to show her image on the grand staircase. Oooooo you will have to look that up!
S: The Ghost of Worstead: A persistent legend says that the church is haunted by the spirit of a 'white lady'. Unlike many ghost stories, the white lady is said to be a kindly spirit, and a healer, who is said to appear when there is an illness. Visitors to the church have reported being healed from their ailments.
However, another version says that she appears in the church on Christmas Eve, and that anyone who sees her will suffer premature death. In 1830, a man who had been drinking with friends boasted he would kiss the White Lady if he saw her on Christmas Eve. His friends later found him collapsed in the church belfry, gibbering, "I have seen her, I have seen her," before he died. The pub was renamed "The White Lady" in honor of this legend.
A: The "Ghost Angels" of Whitlingham Church: These are a local legend about four
stone figures, possibly representing the four evangelists, that are said to walk around the parapet of the ruins of the church's circular tower at midnight on certain nights, such as New Year's Eve. According to the tale, they meet and shake hands before returning to their places.
S: Sandringham House: The Victorian residence of the Royal Family has been said to have some sort of poltergeist-like activity, especially in the servant quarters of the house, where blankets are pulled off the beds. They hear mysterious footsteps in the dead of night and the doors are closing and opening by themselves.
The most haunted place seems to be the sergeant footman’s corridor where the maids only go in pairs or groups. The lights turn on and off and there has also been a heavy and haunted breathing from the empty rooms in the service corridors, and at one point, servants were refusing to go into certain rooms as they thought the heavy breathing was the ghost of a former footman.
Christmas cards have also been seen to move around and are thrown all over the floor on Christmas Eve.
Multiple incidents are said to have occurred in the library, including a frightening encounter for a young King Charles and a footman felt chased by an unseen presence and fled the room. Books have also been reported flying off the shelves in this room.
A downstairs bedroom where King George VI lived before his death in 1952 is said to be haunted. Staff reportedly felt restless and refused to work in the room, leading Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother to arrange for a religious service to cleanse it.
One footman has also reported seeing the ghostly apparition of Queen Elizabeth's favorite steward, Tony Jarred.
A: Wow, that is a haunted place…
Next up we have The Legend of the Mistletoe Bough: This is a ghost story which has been connected to many old houses and mansions in Britain, including Brockdish Hall in Norfolk.
The story tells how a young bride got married at Christmastime to Lord Lovell.
After the ceremony she suggested playing a game of hide and seek to keep everyone amused, as a game could involve both adults and children. As it was her wedding day it was decided that the young bride should be the first person to hide and off she went.
It was the last time her husband, or any of the wedding guests would see her!
The guests looked until they finally had to go home. They thought she must have fallen asleep whilst hiding and would return as soon as she awoke, much to the amusement of the other wedding guests.
Her new husband, father and servants searched for her late into the night, and the next day. Still nothing was found. There was no clue at all as to where she had got to or what had happened to her.
The days passed into weeks, then months and eventually years. Still the young bride had not been found or any trace of her discovered. Her story was told to newcomers to the village and passed down from parents to children. The bridegroom, Lord Lovell grew into an old man never knowing what had happened to his beautiful young bride.
The family house was sold to a new family and the story of Lord Lovell’s bride became legendary in the area. But still, no trace of her was ever discovered.
One day, many, many years later the attics of the old house were emptied. Amongst the old paintings and furniture was an old oak chest that seemed to be locked. After much difficulty, the lid was finally lifted. There, in the chest, still in her wedding dress and holding her bridal bouquet was the young bride, hiding from the other wedding guests in a chest in the attic. She had closed the lid of the chest and it had stuck fast, locking her forever in the chest.
S: Song - [Verse 1]
The mistletoe hung in the old castle hall
The holly branch shone on the old oak wall
The baron's retainers were blithe and were gay
A-keeping their Christmas holiday
The baron beheld with a father's pride
His beautiful child, young Lovell's bride
She with the bright eyes was destined to be
The star of the goodly company
[Chorus]
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
[Verse 2]
"I'm weary of dancing, of dancing," she cried
"Here tarry a moment, I'll hide, I'll hide
And Lovell, be sure you're the first one to trace
The clue to my secret hiding place"
Away then she ran and their friends all began
Each tower to search and each stairway to scan
Lovell he cried, "Oh, now where does thou hide
I'm lonely without thee, my own dear bride"
[Chorus]
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
[Verse 3]
They searched all the night and they searched the next day
They searched all around till a week went away
In the highest and lowest, the lonesomest spot
Young Lovell sought wildly but found her not
And as years went by so did grief then at last
Now told as a sorrowful tale long past
When Lovell appears all the children they cry
"See the old man weeps for his fairy bride"
[Chorus]
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
[Verse 4]
At length an old chest that had long been lain hid
Was found in the castle, they raised up the lid
A skeleton form lay a-mouldering there
In a bridal wreath of a lady so fair
Oh, sad was her fate that in playfullest jest
She hid from her lord in an old oak chest
That closed with a spring and that new bridal bloom
Lay withering there in a lonely tomb
[Chorus]
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
[Outro]
Oh, the mistletoe bough
Oh, the mistletoe bough
S: There is also a Ghost Bride of Terrington St Clements: This spectral figure is said
to appear specifically around Christmas time to join in the carols on the Sunday before Christmas.
