A haunted tour of Chester. (Chester in General)

Member Name: Larachristina

Product:	Chester in General
Date:	08/11/08 (386 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fabulously scary, lots of history.

Disadvantages: Im frightened now. I dont want the ghosties to get me.

I am going to show you my city. Where I was born, where I grew up, and where I still work today (I now live in North Wales, just outside of Chester).
I won't tell you what everyone else has told you though.
Nope.
I am going to take you on a haunted tour of Chester.

When I was in University, I did a lot of Volunteer work. Some of that involved entertaining kids between 14-17 when they came to Chester University for Summer Schools.
Alongside faux lectures, every year, just as the afternoon was pulling to a close, we would take them around Chester on our very own, personal, ghost tour.

So, pull your coat a little closer around your neck, turn the lights on, and sit back as I tell you about Chester's gruesome past, and spine tingling present.

Chester was founded, about 2000 years ago, as one of the three main Roman legionary fortresses in Britain.You can see our Roman heritage in our Amphitheatre (unfortunately, you can only see half. The other half is underneath some ugly protected buildings. Travesty).
In 1069, the North rebelled against King William. When he retaliated, more than 200 houses were destroyed. In 1070, to keep the town under his rule, William built a wooden castle. It was later rebuilt in stone.
In medieval times, Chester was the stronghold against the Welsh, and Handbridge, a part of Chester, was so frequently burned down, that it earned the name Treboeth, "burnt town" in Welsh.

The first stop on our tour is what used to be the Blue bell inn on Northgate Street.
The building dates from 1200-1400. It's hard to distinguish exactly when it was built, because there may have been a house there before it. As says the sign on the front, the building became a licensed pub in 1494.
In the window directly above the sign, people have sighted a forlorn ghost, named Henrietta.
In 1645, a cavalier and his family lived in the room above the inn. The cavalier was called to the battle of Rowton Moor, near Chester, on the 24th September 1645.
He never came back.
Henrietta was his wife, and people have seen her, face pressed against the window, crying, waiting for her husband's return.

Next on the list is the Coach and Horses pub, directly next to the town hall.
Along with the usual strange occurrences (sliding ashtrays, bumps in the night), the old management and bar staff tell a haunting tale of a sad old man, in need of a pint.
In 1988, an old gentleman, well dressed and alone, came into the pub. As he sat at the bar, the staff enquired if he was alright. He told them that his wife had recently passed away, and that he wasn't comfortable at home with all the bad memories.
He asked if he could book a room for the night, paid cash, gave over his details, and told them he was going for a walk, and would be back later in the evening. He never returned.
When he still hadn't returned by two o clock in the morning, the management called the police, giving them the gentleman's address and name. The police searched the city, to no avail.
The decided to check his house in Birkenhead, where they were told that the man had lived there, but had passed away shortly after his wife, eight years ago.
Makes you wonder whether the staff checked if the cash was real...

Next to the Boot inn, Apparently, it was once Chester most notorious brothel, and female moans (ooeer) and laughter can still be heard by the patrons. I think that might possibly be a side effect of the beer though. I used to regularly frequent the Boot, and never heard a whisper.

Next on to Chester Cathedral.
I performed in an opera there a few years back, and I wholeheartedly agree that the Cathedral is incredibly creepy.
Chester Cathedral is bloody ancient. It was originally build as an abbey church for a Benedictine monastery, upon an earlier Saxon church, built at the end of the 10th century.
Records of 1906 tell of a mark on a flagstone in the cloisters. People reported it was the devils mark, and when the flagstone was removed and replaced, the mark reappeared. Spooky.

Thorntons chocolate shop, on Eastgate street, is, suprisingly, probably one of the most haunted places in Chester.
Host to a number of ghosties, the most famous is poltergeist Sarah. Sarah likes to play with the chocolates.
Sarah was, as history tells it, jilted on her wedding day, and was so distraught, that she hung herself. As a result she takes out her anger on the chocolate arrangements, and the poor staff, who often report of being pushed or shoved from behind, and then finding no one there. Sarah has also proved useful to Chester police, after a burglar broke in, and swiped the money from the safe. He was so spooked out, and fled in such a hurry he left behind all his tools and a full set of fingerprints.

Sarah gets most aggressive on Valentines day, completely destroying window displays.
I suppose Valentines day brings out the worst in us all.

Next we have the Marlbororough arms, St John Street. Nope, I haven't spelt it wrong.
The Marlbororough was previously a coach house for the hotel next door, but was burned down in an awful fire that killed many people and animals.
Phantom gurgles can be heard from the cellar, where the Victorian landlord tragically felt compelled to slit his own throat.
Another story I have heard is of a group of builders who were doing work in the cellar of the Marlbororough. One by one, they quit their jobs, refusing to go into the cellar, claiming that too many weird things happened.
One builder became so distressed after being in the cellar on his own, that he refused to ever enter the building again.
A little girl can be seen in the mirror of the women's toilets.
That last snippet freaked me out so much that I used to completely avoid looking in the mirror in the toilets, just in case.

Grosvenor Park is also a haunting hotspot. Overlooked by the old ruins, people have reported that the park gates have locked, and unlocked, at strange times, inexplicably.
Don't walk through the park at night. Or outside it for that matter, down the cobblestone walkway, and steps down to the river. Very creepy. Especially with all the greenery to one side.
Whilst taking a shortcut one night, me and my friend were walking from the river, past the park, with the ruins to out left.
We could hear footsteps on the other side of the gate, following us, at the same pace as us, up the steep hill.
It could have been our imagination, but we ran like bats out of hell up the stairs to the safety of the road.

According to Supernatural Britain report, conducted by Lionel Fanthorpe, one of the UK's leading authorities on the unexplained, Chester is, joint second with York, one of the most Haunted cities in England. Derby came first, and Leeds came last. Chester was found to have 11 sightings per 10,000 people.

I shall cut this short now. I could go on forever. For pretty much every building in Chester, there is a ghost story. Most have been passed from person to person, elaborated on and exaggerated, but it has to be said, in the dead of night, away from the drunken students, the lampposts and the car headlights, Chester is a spooky old place.

Im also stopping because Im a wimp. Im on my own writing this. Perhaps not such a good idea. I shall shy away from all mirrors in my house, ignore the tappings at the windows, and keep the TV on loud.

Until I can get away to Leeds, where there are, apparently, no ghosts to be found.

To learn more about the many Chester hauntings, visit this useful website.
Also, if you happen to visit Chester, then how about booking yourself onto a proffesional ghost tour (see website),
Much better than my amateur efforts ;)

http://www.hauntedchester.com/

Summary: Chester. Englands second scariest place.