Day 253 - Whitby Ghosts

Angela has probably told you about Bram Stoker and Dracula and their connection with Whitby.  But that is not the only horror story that can be attributed to this town.  There are a number of ghosts that haunt our surroundings here and I thought that today I would tell you about a few of them.  The most famous is the ghost of St. Hilda who at night can be found roaming around the ruins of Whitby Abbey and will look down upon you from one of the top windows.  But she is not alone.  There is also Nun Constance who is said to have broken her vows of chastity and was then bricked in to a wall of the Abbey.  If you listen carefully you can walk up to the wall at night and hear her pleading to be released.

At one of the nearby lighthouses around Whitby there is the one-armed ghost who had fallen to his death at its base and when you visit there in the evening you will find his spirit trying to trip you so that he can be joined in the netherworld.

The town also has its own hound from hell.  Known as the Barguest Hound, it finds its way around the streets of Whitby and if you hear its growl then you are on your way out, and I don't mean on the bus. 

It really isn't very safe for the tourists because many of the hotels in town are homes to ghosts.  The Bagdale Hall hotel is haunted by a former owner.  Browne Bushell was his name and he was hung as a pirate but his spirit has come home to the hotel and he can be heard wandering through the halls and in the stairways.

If you want to frequent St. Mary's churchyard, which lies above the east cliff and in front of the Abbey, you will encounter at night the Burguest Coach which is pulling the skeletons of sailors by headless horses.  It will be the third day after the funeral of a sailor that they will arrive to pay their respects and then bring the corpse of the dead sailor back to where they came from.

I leave you with the most horrific tale.  In Grape Lane on the east side of the harbour, a father had his his young daughter run down to the bakery to have his supper warmed up.  The baker allowed the girl to put the dinner in the oven and when he turned his away he heard the scream and found the poor girl with her hair in flames.  Later that night she passed away from her burns but if you walk that way you may come across her ghost, flames all around her and the scent of burnt hair everywhere.

Thanks to the Whitby Guide for the introduction to the creepier parts of Whitby.

Ale of the Day: Black Death Stout, Whitby Brewery, Whitby, North Yorkshire