Female phantoms of the Black Country
THE Black Country has more than its fair share of ghostly goings on, many of them involving female phantoms. So with Halloween on the horizon come with me – if you dare. We’ll take a terrifying tour of local hotspots, haunted by the fairer sex. Not for the fainthearted!
Our first stop is Wallington Heath, in Bloxwich. For over two centuries, Bloxwich folk have given Wallington House a wide berth. Formerly a coaching inn called the Kings Arms, the site is said to be haunted by a victim of violent crime.
Legend tells how, during the 1790s, a stagecoach seeking shelter from a blizzard was forced to wait at the inn. While there, a female passenger was brutally murdered, all for the sake of a roll of silk.
Stormy
Ever since, on stormy nights, the lady’s ghost appears, weeping and wailing under a tree. Even within living memory, Bloxwich folk avoided the area in bad weather. Stranger still, inside the pub, a woman’s silhouette was found etched into the wall. All attempts at removing it, including painting or plastering over it, are said to have failed.
Next stop is Haden Hall, near Old Hill, where there’s been a mansion on the site since at least the eleventh century. With such a long pedigree, no wonder the hall is said to be haunted. And, we’re not just talking about one apparition here, but three restless spirits. The twilight trio were all tragic victims, each with harrowing stories to tell.
From much earlier times comes a tale of forbidden love – between a miller’s daughter, Eleanor of Hayseech Mill – and a young man from the wealthy Haden family – who had taken monastic vows.
When the affair was discovered, the lovers tried to escape down an old tunnel linking Haden Hall to Hales Abbey. When they were caught, they paid the ultimate price, being walled up alive in the dank tunnel. Eleanor’s ghost is said to haunt the parkland around the hall, seeking the arms of her long dead lover.
Our second ghostly lady haunting Haden Hall also fell foul of a family determined to hang on to its wealth, at all costs.
When Ann Eliza Haden’s father died, her mother re-married, with dire consequences for Ann. Her new stepfather was the Reverend George Barrs, Curate of Rowley Regis Church. The good Reverend was renowned for his piety, his weekly sermons against sin regularly moving his flock to tears. Little did they know how full of sin the curate would be. From the outset, Reverend Barr’s aim was to seize his step-daughter’s inheritance, by locking her away in the attic.
Barrs kept poor Ann Eliza in close confinement, lest any future husband get his hands on Haden Hall. Imprisoned for years, she watched the world outside her window passing her by, until death released her in 1876. Her ghost is said to be there still, gazing pitifully through the attic window.
The final member of Haden Hall’s ghostly trio is said to be a young governess. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many young girls from poor but genteel backgrounds chose life as a governess rather than suffering the scorn unmarried women without dowries endured, then.
The novels of Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen show the problems female companions and governesses faced. Like Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, our anonymous governess was too genteel to fit in with the servants, yet not deemed good enough to earn the respect of their employers.
Like many of her peers, our Haden Hall governess was just a naive and sheltered girl of eighteen – easy prey for the master’s son – who seduced her with promises of marriage. Of course, when the baby was born, he wanted nothing to do with her or the child. According to local legend, the young governess begged to keep her baby son.
Wandering
But, a few years later, the young boy was said to have fallen to his death. Rumours that he’d been murdered were rife, fingers pointing to the young mother. It’s said the young mother herself even grew to believe them. Ever since, her ghost wanders the banqueting room, looking for her little boy.
Moving tales – and whether or not there’s any shred of truth, the stories highlight issues commonly affecting young women in earlier times.
Like most ancient buildings, over the centuries, Dudley Castle has witnessed many grisly events – and has its share of ghostly ladies. Meet Dorothy Beaumont, the castle’s famous Grey Lady.
In 1646, as the castle was under siege, Dorothy Beaumont lay in childbed. Sadly, it soon became her deathbed as the castle was captured, and her husband held prisoner. According to legend, when Dorothy’s funeral cortege wound its way to the graveyard, she travelled alone, without her husband to bid her farewell. The garrison commander refused the couple this last kindness. So, Dorothy wanders the ancient walls, searching for her love.
In stark contrast, a more grisly female phantom stalks Dudley Castle – a woman accused of witchcraft – and hanged from the battlements.
While her accusers labelled her a witch, she may just have been a “wise-woman” and midwife – many such women were persecuted, wrongly accused of dabbling in the black arts simply for providing potions and working as midwives.
Buried in unhallowed ground outside Saint Edmund’s Churchyard, legend has it the “witch” haunts the castle –seeking her revenge!
In Halesowen, strange goings on are said to occur at the site of the “Murder House”, in Olive Lane, Coombswood. Apparently, folk have heard muffled footsteps, fluttering sounds and felt the brush of wings across their faces.
On a cold February night in 1876, Joseph Harris – a miner, prone to drunken rages, battered his wife, Amelia, and their young daughters to death. The little girls had tried to pull Joseph away from their mother. Tragically, to no avail. In the age-old manner of vicious wife-beaters, Joseph blamed his wife – claiming Amelia had made him lose his mind with jealousy.
In those days, terrible crimes were often turned into popular broadside ballads. In this case, the shocking story is recalled in an opening fragment: “Oh, Joseph Harris did the murder, in a house near Olive Lane ...”
Amelia and her girls were buried in Blackheath churchyard. But, according to locals, they haunted the murder scene even though the old house had been demolished. Apparently, hoping to banish the ghosts, a pigeon loft was erected on the site – but even the birds were frightened away.
Icy cold
Our last stop is Stourbridge and the site of an old manor house, in New Street. In 1927, when our final female phantom was last seen, terrified onlookers reported feeling “icy cold”. The ghastly vision caused such uproar police were called in to control the crowds.
Apparently what Stourbridge folk had seen was a woman – seven feet tall, wearing patent leather shoes, white stockings, white apron, with a big, blue cloak over her shoulders, and a blue hat.
A very tall, nurse, perhaps? Or, just a tall story – many at the time suspecting a practical joke! But then again ... For more terrifying tales, see Roy Palmer’s book, ‘The Folklore of the Black Country’ (Logaston Press, 2007).