Hate to bang on about it but Covid has put paid to pretty much all of our exciting plans to get together and have fun together (in person) this year, and that unfortunately seems to be set to continue into next year. However, not to be deterred we all got together for our November meeting on Zoom to enjoy a spooky but very engaging talk by our visiting speaker Sarah Slater who is a tour guide from Hampton Court Palace.
Sarah introduced herself dressed in a wonderful black Victorian mourning gown which she told us she had made herself, along with all of her beautiful costumes that she wears (in normal times) to conduct guided tours of the palace. Lots of crafty WI members' ears pricked up at this, but I just wanted to be able to go round her house and try them all on!
Sarah began by explaining the different types of ghosts that are said to haunt the palace: Lost Souls who are people who have died but have not yet 'moved into the light' for fear of being judged. Or those who simply do not realise they are dead! And Residual Hauntings which are events that are somehow recorded into the fabric of a building and only those who are sensitive enough are able to see these events being 'played back'... having just read The Shining by Stephen King for WI book club last month I can relate to the residual haunting theory completely.
Sarah then went on to explain the history of the palace before freaking us out with the ghost stories! So here's a potted version of what we learned: Hampton Court was built by Cardinal Wolsey in the early 16th century and was the residence of royalty, first Henry VIII and his 6 wives, then William and Mary in 1689, followed by Georgian royalty until 1737 when it fell out of favour with the royals and was split into apartments for impoverished 'grace and favour' aristocrats. From that moment on the complaints from the new residents of strange goings on began to come in!
There have been numerous sightings of the ‘Grey Lady’, aka Sybil Penn at the palace. Sybil was servant to four Tudor monarchs, and wet nurse to Edward VI. She nursed Elizabeth I devotedly through smallpox in 1562. The Queen recovered, but poor Sybil caught the pox and died soon afterwards. Sybil's tomb was disturbed when the church was renovated in 1829, and shortly after this, stories began to spread of a ‘grey lady’ seen to walk the corridors of the State Apartments and Clock Court at the palace.
Sybil is also linked to mysterious spinning wheel noises that were said to come from behind a wall in a grace and favour apartment. Legend has it that when the wall was removed, an old, much used spinning wheel was discovered.
The Grey Lady?
Sarah told us of her only ghostly encounter since she'd been working at the palace which involved overhearing a conversation between two 'workmen' through an open window... the story goes that in 1871, two male skeletons in shallow graves were unearthed under a cloister in Fountain Court during a routine excavation. Their discovery bought huge relief to one palace resident: an elderly woman living in a nearby grace and favour apartment. She had complained of constant banging and knocking on her walls, but no one had believed her. All disturbances ceased when the remains were properly interred. It has been suggested that the anonymous men were victims of Roundhead villainy during the Civil Wars (1642-51). They may have been hastily buried in unmarked graves, which were concealed during Wren’s building of the baroque palace in 1689. This particular day Sarah saw the window open and heard her workmen was a Sunday and as no work was every carried out at the palace at weekends and the windows were never opened she could only conclude that she had had a spooky visitation from these two particular gentlemen!
Sarah concluded by telling us of Henry VIII’s fifth wife Catherine Howard. This is an example of a residual haunting and the sightings more regularly reported. Catherine was beheaded at the Tower in 1542, aged 19, for adultery and treason. It is claimed
that after she was arrested at Hampton Court, the terrified teenager broke free of her guards. She ran along what is now called the Haunted Gallery, screaming out to the King for mercy. She never reached Henry, who was at prayer in the Chapel. Guards dragged her away and she never saw Henry again. It is said that her anguished ghost now repeats this heartbreaking journey, screaming through eternity.
So if like us this has whetted your appetite for more historical hauntings, we have decided (when it is safe to do so) to arrange a WI outing to Hampton Court Palace for a ghostly tour in person with Sarah. I hope it will be soon but with Covid we will no doubt have to be very patient.
Usually December is a month which we look forward to with relish... for the previous two years we have had spectacular parties at our President, Rowena's house, replete with beautiful decorations and open fires. The evening features wonderfully festive live music from the lovely Lucy singing Christmas jazz standards, a sumptuous buffet festive fizz, an extravagant Christmas raffle and of course secret Santa... this year of course will have to be different, at the time of going to press we are taking a vote from our members on what they would like to do for our Christmas meeting, the choices are all Zoom based but range from a Murder Mystery Game, Christmas Bake Off and 'Bring a Plate' festive meal and social evening. Watch this space!
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