Amersham's Ghosts & Mysteries

It seems most places have stories about ghosts and Amersham is no exception. Whether you believe the stories or not, below are the details of some of Amersham's mysteries. Most ghost stories seem to be associated with pubs!

The Crown

Apparently, so the story goes, a ghost has been seen several times, when the pub is empty, leaning against one of the old posts. Some people have felt the presence of a spirit while sitting in the bar (which used to be the court room for Amersham many years ago) and the wall pictures were seen to move. Of course this could just be the effect of the beer or the heavy traffic which passed before the by-pass was built might have moved the pictures! There are also reports of a maid appearing in one of the rooms.

The Griffin (now Ask)

There is a story of a coachman based at the Griffin who was chosen to drive the King (George IV, it is believed). On the anniversary of his great honour, the coachman would get blind drunk on his coach in the yard, blowing a coaching horn. When he retired, the Inn allowed him continue his celebration, though they removed his horn. It is said that on the anniversary of his great day, he can still be heard blowing his horn in the courtyard of the Griffin.

(With thanks to Thom Poole now from West Sussex for the above details)

The Chequers

If there are such things as ghosts, then perhaps the Chequers pub has the most in Amersham. The pub has been exorcised three times in 1953, 1963, 1982. In 1506 and 1521 members of the Lollard Movement were burnt to death after refusing to recant their beliefs - their own children were forced to light the fires. Tradition says a group of six men and a woman spent the night under guard at the Chequers before they met their death the next day. The pub is said to experience sudden drops in temperature when the atmosphere becomes icy cold. Dogs become agitated in the pub. A white hooded figure is seen and eerie moaning and screaming noises that defy explanation are heard. It is likely that this is the work of the spirits of the murdered martyrs. There are also reports of the warden who tended the Martyrs haunts the pub.

Thom Poole now from West Sussex for the above details provides more information about the Chequers. A grey woman has been seen wandering around outside the Chequers pub. The Millstream, next door to the pub, (now Ambers and before that a restaurant), was at one time a Silk Mill, perhaps the "Grey Woman" is something to do with that.

The Elephant & Castle

Reports of a figure dressed in black disappearing through walls

The Saracens Head

According to The Saracens Head web site here , rumour has it, two ghosts roam the pub. One is supposed to be a young serving wench from the 17th Century. The other still remains a haunting mystery

The Boot & Slipper

Reports of someone or something brushing past people and touching them, sounds of voices - but no evidence of anyone being there!

Rectory Woods & Martyrs Memorial

I received an email once from someone who claims to have seen a hovering man with a wheel barrow on rectory hill and in the grave yard in Old Amersham. I also heard many years ago that Dick Turpin's ghost rides through the woods, but there again his ghost apparently rides through everywhere between London and York!

Thom Poole now from West Sussex provides the following details. The Martyr's Memorial is there for a group of religious martyr's who were associated with the group that included Thomas Harding (re: the school in Chesham). Most of the martyrs were burned at the stake just to the left of the memorial (West of it), and their ringleader was placed in a barrel filled with tent pegs and sharp sticks, and rolled down the hill. It is said that the route the barrel took is now the footpath, as nothing grows where the blood was spilt. The ghosts of the martyrs are supposed to haunt the area. A ghost of the ringleader was said to have been seen behind the Bus Station (now Tescos), rising from the Misbourne.

Woodrow High House

Woodrow was the home of Mrs. Oliver Cromwell and her four daughters during her husband's Civil War campaigns. The house is the reputed haunt of the Green Lady, the ghost of Lady Helena Stanhope who took poison at the shock of finding her betrothed, Sir Peter Bostack, slain in the grounds of the house. Sir Peter had followed the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth and after the rout at Sedgemoor (1685) found refuge at Woodrow High House until poor Lady Helena unwittingly betrayed his hiding place.

The Ghost of Beacon Boys' School

I have received the following details from Dave James, now in Australia.

"The true story is that three of us youngsters, myself, my sister, and my friend Tommy Ramage, lived in the 'Top Camp' of the two Beech Barn ex-army camps along the Chesham road from Amersham just past the Bois Avenue then Mayhall Lane junctions (the 'Top Camp' area now being 'The Leys' housing area). Our families were 'Squatters' - people (in those days) who, after losing their homes & families to bombings or being left behind in the confusion and aftermath of war, had nowhere to live just after WW2 and who moved into the huts of the camps as they were vacated by demobilised Polish soldiers who were being allowed to stay in the UK for their services to Britain during that war. One day the three of us went down to the 'Bottom Camp' (which had once been, I think, an old farm named 'Bois Farm', and is now a part of the Beacon Boys' School establishment) and began exploring a part of the buildings which, from having lived in that camp earlier during 1946, we called 'The Stables'. To help, see the picture below

of the 'Stables' area as it was during 1999, with very kind permission of the Beacon Boys' School's Headmaster at that time. We climbed through a hole in the wall of 'The Stables' (the general area of the hole is arrowed, although there was no black-fenced-enclosed-yard in those days), found a 'ladder' going up to a trapdoor in the ceiling to the loft (the general area of that part of the loft is marked with a cross), and climbed up the ladder. As we pushed up the trapdoor, we suddenly heard the sound of very heavy footsteps and, upon looking into the loft (the loft being fairly well lit up by shafts of sunlight streaming in through holes in the roof left by a few missing tiles), I saw, approaching us, puffs of dust rising up from the floor as if somebody was walking over towards us disturbing the dust as they walked - but I could see, from the light of the aforementioned shafts of sunlight, that nobody was there! After our terrifying fall down the ladder, and ensuing panic-stricken exit through the hole in the wall from those 'Stables', we never went back there again!"

The full story of this true incident is on Dave's Home Page if you'd like to check it out at: http://members.iinet.net.au/~dcjames/beech.html

Mysteries

Although not related to ghosts, local stories tell of secret underground passages, such as ones from Shardeloes out under the lake. Also, stories of a passage under The Gables in the High Street to St. Mary's church.. Possibly both these stories relate to brick vaulted cellars which give the impression of tunnels. There are also stories of a nun's grave at The Gables. The property was once owned by Missenden Abbey and indeed bones were found there, but there is little evidence to support the nun connection.

Another interesting story relates to the sound of footsteps which could be heard climbing stairs in a house. Later it was found that in the house next door there was evidence of an old stair case!

Strange Cats

in the early 1900s Amersham was apparently well know for cats with six toes or claws. They were found near The Griffin, are any still alive today? There was also in Amersham cats with bob tails - to be found in the Whielden Street area, why does Amersham have these strange cats?

U F Os

In a summer evening in 1969, a group of people waiting outside Amersham Bus garage for a bus to Amersham on the Hill were startled to see an object shoot across the sky at great speed. The unusual vision provoked conversation amongst the previously silent group, all confirming what they had seen. When the bus arrived and took the passengers to Amersham on the Hill, one passenger called in at the police station only to find the police had been inundated with callers who had seen the object - what was it? In the next morning's papers there was a report of an object seen over much of England, but there was no explanation.

Around Amersham

The area around Amersham also seems to be rich with ghosts.

Chesham: near Pednor Bottom. Two incidents reported which are identical. Car driving along at night. Occupants notice a figure in black sitting on a gate. As the car gets near the figure jumps off the gate right in front of the vehicle. Drivers stated they hit the figure full on but on stopping, getting out and looking around there is no one there!
Chenies Manor: Henry VIII a regular visitor (1534, 1542) with Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Heavy footsteps are heard on the stairs, like the sound of a limping man. Henry VIII had problems with one of his legs and found it difficult to climb stairs. Thudding sounds and eerie tinkling laughter are often heard by staff in the armoury. Could be ghosts of Civil War soldiers. Doors open by themselves, floorboards creak. A headless man walks in the ornamental grounds to the south of the house.
Chenies: One of the houses on the green is reported to be haunted, babies have been heard crying from inside the house when there are none in the house or the neighbouring houses, doors open by themselves, the humming of a man has been heard extremely clearly as has the whistling of a small girl.
Chalfont St. Peter: A ghostly coach and horses has sometimes been seen outside The Greyhound pub, also a headless horsemen has been seen in the streets.
Beaconsfield: On the A40 approaching Beaconsfield from Gerrards Cross. Sightings of a ghostly highwayman - possibly Dick Turpin (1984 sighting near the Bull Hotel). During the 1920's the sounds of a coach and horses were heard night after night but nothing was ever seen. The old Chiltern cinema - the manager during the 1960's was Mr. Walter Gay. He was said to haunt the cinema after his death. Doors which had been properly closed the night before were found wide open the next morning. On one occasion during the screening of a film the safety curtain descended of its own accord and could not be raised again. The audience had to be given their money back. The next day the mechanism was working perfectly again. Just before the first screening of The Exorcist the projectors blew up for no apparent reason.
Great Missenden: Missenden Abbey - ghostly figure seen floating down the stairs (Summer 1972). Figure of a Victorian lady wearing grey/black/white crinoline. Figure also seen by ladies cloakrooms. A flower vase threw itself down the stairs and a glass ashtray smashed to pieces. Staff working late in the Abbey have heard an eerie wailing cry coming down the corridors. Once in winter after a heavy fall of snow a security guard was baffled to find footprints which led from the Abbey across the grounds and abruptly stopped in the middle of nowhere. In the Missenden valley in general the Lord of Missenden, Hugh de Plesseter, who died in 1292 is a disturbed chap. On dark and stormy nights when the wind howls through Missenden valley his fearsome ghost comes thundering by on his war horse.

If anyone has any other stories of ghosts in Amersham, or can provide more details on the above,
then please email the web master
Special thanks to E M G Jones for help in research on this page

Any additions, corrections, alterations, please email the web master

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