Littledean's Haunted Heritage

Down in the Forest of Dean near the River Severn, you will find yet another candidate for the title of 'Most Haunted House in England'. But the stark, forbidding mansion of Littledean can certainly also claim that according to the Guinness Book of Records it is probably the oldest continuously inhabited English house. It has evolved and developed over the centuries from a Saxon hall built over the ruins of a Roman temple, believed to be a shrine to Sabrina, the river goddess, and its situation where several ley lines intersect and its often violent past may have a significant influence on Littledean's history of paranormal happenings.

At the time of the Civil War in 1644, Royalist troops using the Hall as their headquarters were involved in a fierce swordfight with Parliamentarians and the Royalists who were slaughtered left bloodstains on the dining room floor, said to be impossible to remove, even after floorboards were replaced.

Until the end of the 19th century the house was owned by generations of the Pyrke family, and Littledean saw yet another tragedy when two Pyrke brothers shot each other across the dining room table with duelling pistols when they found they were both in love with the same woman. And in 1741 Charles Pyrke was murdered by his previously devoted West Indian servant, when the man's sister gave birth to a baby, reputedly fathered by Charles. The murderer was hanged, and the spirit of a young black servant has been seen on the landing, holding a candle.

Small wonder that some of its many visitors, residents and staff feel that the house has an oppressive, even hostile atmosphere. All kinds of phenomena have been witnessed, such as swirling mist, orbs of light, also sounds such as rapping, slamming doors, screams and the clash of swords and pistol shots. The various apparitions include a monk, Royalist soldiers and a lady seen in the haunted bedroom. Smells vary from the pleasant scent of roses to the nauseating smell of decaying flesh, and some people sensitive to the atmosphere in the house have reported dizziness, nausea and palpitations, while others are aware of cold spots, and have even felt themselves pushed or punched by unseen hands.

A former employee had a frightening experience in the tea room in the 1990s when she noticed 'a sort of black mist' emerge billowing from a crack in the wall. As she watched, it formed into a dark mass which wrapped itself around her, and she felt she was physically prevented from moving. Then suddenly she felt herself given a strong push and found herself out of it.

The house is, of course, a target for paranormal researchers, some equipped with the latest high-tech spectre-detecting equipment although this is often unsuccessful in contacting the supernatural. A clergyman who visited Littledean a few years ago was so concerned about the oppressive presence he was aware of that he asked to be allowed to perform a cleansing ritual in an attempt to exorcise the malevolent influence in the house. He conducted his ritual and afterwards those present could definitely feel a lifting of the atmosphere.

Since the 1950s the house has belonged to the Macer-Wright family, and Donald Macer-Wright, who grew up there sharing his home with its many paranormal manifestations, tried to sell it in 1991 without success. He has said that the very look and feel of Littledean creates an expectation of supernatural phenomena and it is tempting to attribute every unusual occurrence to ghosts. But he has been awakened by the sounds of clashing swords, and on another occasion when the barking of his dog roused him, he sat up in bed and suddenly felt such a hard push in his back that he was thrown across the bed. There was no one to be seen in the room.
Littledean, in the mysterious and beautiful Forest of Dean, is a place where it is easy to conjure up images of times past. Its often violent and tragic history seems to have left psychic traces in the very air of this strange old house.

This chapter is taken from Supernatural England 

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