And Things That Go Bump In The Night

In Somerset there is a farm, Higher Chilton Farm at a placed called Chilton Cantelo.

On the 18th August in the year 1670 the owner of the farm died at the age of sixty-nine. On his deathbed he requested that his head should be removed from his body and should be preserved in the house for evermore. His name was Theophilus Broome.

During the English Civil War he had been against the monarchy and supported the Roundheads. He had originally lived in Warwickshire but after the war ended he moved to Somerset. He was fearful of retribution and he had no wish to share the fate of Oliver Cromwell whose body was disinterred, hanged at Tyburn and eventually consigned to the rubbish dump, his head having been displayed on a pole.

So, Broome’s wishes were carried out and his skull was kept in the farmhouse.

Any attempt to move it or rebury it were met with horrible noises, groans and screams.

Broome’s tomb, located in the north transept of Chilton Cantelo church, was opened and the skeleton inside was indeed found to be minus its head, thus authenticating the story.

That last attempt at burial was somewhere in the 1860’s when a sexton dug the grave personally in the churchyard with a view to giving the skull a proper resting place once and for all but, just as he completed the digging, his spade snapped violently into two pieces and he heard a piercing scream. He vowed “never more to attempt an act so evidently repugnant to the quiet of Broome’s head.”

In 1977 some researchers examined the skull, two of them moving it around with their bare hands and making jokes about it. On the way back to London one of the men thought he saw a car coming straight towards him and he swerved and crashed, injuring himself. There was no oncoming car. The other man was badly burned in an accident. Both men were convinced that their misfortunes were the result of handling the skull.

The skull is usually kept in a cabinet specially made for it over a door in the hall of the farm where is has been for well over two hundred years.

England has several “screaming skulls” - at Bettiscombe, Warbleton Priory, Chapel-en-le Frith and Wardley Hall to mention several,  but one of the most famous is the skull at Burton Agnes Hall.

This wonderful Elizabeth house was built by Sir Henry Griffin between 1598 and 1610. Sir Henry had three daughters, the youngest of them was Anne. Anne had watched the building of the house and could talk and think of little else. It was to be the most beautiful house that had ever been built. She was totally in love with the place. She loved living there. One afternoon she went to visit some friends who lived about a mile away. Halfway home she saw some men under  trees at the side of the road. Feeling uneasy she hid her hands thus disguising her diamond rings. Unfortunately one of the men had already noticed. They approached her and asked for her jewellery in return for her safe passage but when she resisted they beat her with a cudgel and fled. Anne managed to crawl as far as the gateway of her beloved home where she was found by a servant. She was taken to her bedroom but was so badly injured that she died about five days later.

Sometimes, delirious, sometimes sensible, she told her sisters she would never rest if she had to leave her beloved home. She wanted some part of her to remain in the house and requested that her head should be removed and preserved in the hall forever.

Her family were appalled and could not bring themselves to do as she requested. She was buried in the churchyard. That night her ghost walked the corridors and scared the wits out of everyone as, not only did they see her, but the night was filled with loud wailing noises and banging doors. Nobody could sleep. She was seen night after night and, in the end, the family consulted the local vicar. They agreed to open the grave. They received a shock when they were faced with Anne’s bare skull grinning at them whilst the rest of her body was intact. Anne’s head was removed and taken into her home. All the noises stopped immediately.

Many years later, another family moved into the house. They wanted no part of the skull and got their maid to throw it into a cart containing rubbish. The horse pulling the cart bucked and reared, seemed very afraid and no amount of whipping could get it to move. On another occasion Anne’s skull was buried somewhere in the gardens. For days afterwards the Hall was plagued by shrieks and screams, banging and hammering until the skull was located again.

It was eventually encased into one of the walls of the Hall where it remains to this day. Some say it is behind the portrait of Anne that is on the main staircase. It is also said that now and then her ghost can be seen coming from the portrait and down the staircase, where she walks through the house and then disappears into the garden. She is thought to be visiting once more the rooms of the home she loved so much.

What was that?  As I am sitting here typing this I can hear a strange noise.  Probably Mike, oh wait - Mike is out with the dogs.  So what is that strange shuffling noise, that heavy breathing sound,  oh God the room has gone so cold, Mike is that you, answer me, is that you?  Oh no, oh my God it can't be, it is in the hall and it is coming towards me, sweat is trickling down my body, icy sweat, my heart is racing and thumping.  Help me, somebody help me...........................oh please help.  Oh ...........

there for a moment.  Well, it is Halloween!!!