Ghost Trails of Lancashire by Clive Kristen

Author:Clive Kristen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ghosts, Lancashire, spirits, ghouls, boggarts, haunting, haunts, local history, travel, manchester, bolton, blackburn, haunting, most haunted
ISBN: 9781781662953
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2012
Published: 2012-05-28T00:00:00+00:00

Samlesbury Hall

The original hall was built by the D’Ewyas family and situated on the bank of the river Ribble. It was destroyed by Robert the Bruce, after the Battle of Bannockburn, when the Scots ransacked and pillaged homes along the banks of the river.

Warrington born Gilbert de Southworth married Alice D’Ewyas in the early 1320’s, and five years later built the Great Hall - the oldest part of the building. In 1678 the Hall was bought by Thomas Bradyll, who also owned Corishead Priory.

John Cooper bought the Hall in 1850 and leased it as a high-class boarding school for girls. In 1862, Joseph Harrison, a wealthy Blackburn philanthropist, bought the hall and carried out a restoration. His friend, Charles Dickens himself was a guest whilst touring Lancashire shortly before his death in 1870.

Harrison was a lavish entertainer and spent way beyond his means. Facing imminent ruin and disgrace, he shot and killed himself in 1878. From that time on the property became dilapidated. In 1924, an appeal was launched and a group of trustees formed Samlesbury Hall Trust to rescue and preserve the Hall for future generations.

In 1426 Lady Dorethea Southworth met a young de Houghton. Because de Houghton was a Protestant, Dorethea was told never to see him again on threat on banishment to France. They continued to meet in secret and by night.

One night the lovers are discovered by Dorethea’s brothers and de Houghton had his throat cut. Dorethea was immediately sent to France and died two weeks later - allegedly of a broken heart.

Dorethea’s ghost is often seen near a pair of trees, a yew and a horse chestnut, staring at the ground and crying hysterically.

One description of her haunting comes from 1878. The towns of Preston and Blackburn were experiencing cotton riots and troops were billeted in the area. The officers had the Long Gallery at Samlesbury for their quarters.

Colonel Wolsley, of the South Wales Borderers, was in his bed when he became aware of the sound of crying. Looking outside he could clearly see a female shape, standing between a yew tree and a horse chestnut.

The Colonel dressed hurriedly and ran outside to her aid. He was horrified to see that the woman had no face. In its place was a hollow cavity. The Colonel, who had seen bloody action in the Crimea, returned hastily to his bed.

The following morning he had breakfast with the Harrisons and told them his story. They laughed and told him ‘don’t worry Colonel you have seen the White Lady, Lady Dorethea Southworth.’

The Great Hall is the most impressive room of the building with massive wooden framings and a cosy Tudor fireplace overlooked by the Minstrels Gallery, which is said to be haunted by former owner Joseph Harrison.

In Henry VIII’s day a priest who resisted Henry’s Reformation was brutally beheaded in the Great Hall. It was said that the stain of his spilled blood was impossible to remove.

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