HAUNTING AT CHINGLE HALL
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LONGEST LIST OF THE LONGEST STUFF AT THE LONGEST DOMAIN NAME AT LONG
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The story of the haunting at Chingle Hall.
England is known to be
one of the most haunted countries in the entire world and therefore,
it’s extremely hard to determine which building can be considered to
be the most haunted. But if there were such a list of contenders,
there’s no doubt that Chingle Hall would be high on the list.
Chingle Hall, which was once known as
Singleton Hall, was built by Sir Adam de Singleton in 1260 and it
lies just outside of Goosnargh, which is close to Preston, England.
The house is famous for 2 reasons: it is the oldest brick building
in all of England and, it is known that there is a high amount of
paranormal activity within the house. In 1585 the Wall family, who
were relatives of the Singletons, moved into the home. It was here
that John Wall was born in 1620. However, by the time John was 21,
he was a Roman Catholic priest and it was a very ill-fitted time to
hold such an occupation. It was during the time of Catholic
Reformation and it was considered to be highly illegal to practice
any kind of Roman Catholic mass. For this reason, priests would
conduct masses in secret and Chingle Hall was a common place for
such secret masses to take place. Inside the hall, there were many
priest holes and secret compartments that the priests and the
congregation could hide in if the king’s soldiers were to come and
look for illegal activity. Father John Wall was extremely dedicated
to the church and he held the most secret masses.
However, Father John Wall’s secret
activities didn’t go entirely unnoticed and in 1678 he was
apprehended as he was tendering the Oath of Supremacy, which would
confirm him as being the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
Wall was taken to the Worcester jail, where he was offered his life
in exchange for giving up the church and everything associated with
it. But John Wall was forever a religious man and he in no way would
give up his love for the church. Because of this, he was drawn and
quartered after which he was buried in St. Oswald’s churchyard.
However, the friars kept his head at the friar house and they all
considered it to be extremely valuable until that house dissolved
during the French Revolution. It’s believed today that his head is
either buried on the property of the hall or within the building
itself. In 1764 the hall was owned by the Farrington family and
during this time it became known as a place of heavy religious
activity. The Roman Catholic traditions were still clung to and
tunnels were built through the walls to surrounding properties so
that people could make quick escapes.
The hall’s long history makes it a
great place for many legends and stories. However, the things known
about Chingle Hall are neither stories nor legends. They are
true-blue, authentic hauntings! There is known to be a poltergeist
in the kitchen who is fairly harmless but does move around the pots
and pans occasionally. Also within the hall, guests and those living
within the hall have also seen visions of monks quite often and one
that is particularly active is the monk who lives in the priest’s
room upstairs. He is often seen walking out the window – which is 12
feet above the ground!
There’s also a room that is known as
Eleanor’s Room and this is where Eleanor Singleton’s quarters were.
However, ‘quarters’ may actually be too kind a word. In this room,
Eleanor Singleton was held as a prisoner for 12 years and died there
at the young age of 17. Many believe that she was also murdered in
that room. It’s said that by going into this room, people
immediately become overwhelm with a feeling of profound sadness. A
faint scent of lavender also often comes into this room inexplicably
and guests have often felt their clothing being pulled or tugged at
only to look and find no one there. Some visitors have seen orbs in
the room as well although they have only been visible to one or two
people when they come in groups to this room. In 1997 Darren Done, a
parapsychologist, was filming a movie outside of the window, on the
landing just outside of Eleanor’s Room. He says that while trying to
film he was hit in the face so hard that he fell to the ground and
had bruising and swelling around his nose. A witness says that he
was pushed back forcefully enough to knock him back 18 inches.
In 1980 on Christmas Day, two ghost
hunters by the names of Gerald Main and Terence Whitaker were
keeping vigil and recording so that they could detect any ghostly
presences. They said that they heard rapping sounds coming from one
of the holes the priest used to hide in. They also documented that
while these sounds were heard, it got extremely cold in the area and
they could see a shape moving across the floor. Then in 1985 a
visitor was staying in the priest’s room and they said that they
could hear bricks being moved around inside the priest’s hiding
hole. The brave soul looked inside and could see a partial outline
of a human’s hand moving a brick around. Once he looked, the hand
disappeared and the bricks stopped moving. The same person later got
the sound of someone walking on tape. Bricks were also later found
on the floor of the chapel.
But perhaps the most famous story about hauntings at Chingle Hall is
the one about the wooden beams that suddenly caught fire. There was
no indication that there was anything wrong with the wood or
anything near them that would cause them to suddenly start ablaze.
No harm was done however. Just as quickly as the flames had started,
they extinguished, with as little help as they had getting started
in the first place.
Chingle Hall is currently owned by a
married couple, one of which is a historian. There is still
continuing investigations into the home and its history. The owners
of the home do not allow anyone to stay overnight and they stress
that the home, its garden, and the land on which it sits is private
property.
Chingle Hall
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