THE AVEBURY STONE CIRCLE
A Place Where Mystery Abounds
Ancient banks and ditches, almost a mile in circumference, encircle much of the tiny village of Avebury.
On them stands Europe’s largest stone circle or, to be more precise, several stone circles, dating from between 4,000 and 2400BC.
The Wrath Of The Guardians
It is a place steeped in mystery, from which the gods that our ancestors worshiped, have never really departed.
In the 14th century – probably acting on the instructions of the church – the villagers began to topple the megaliths and bury them in deep pits.
This zealous act of vandalism angered whatever spirits lurked within the stones and they exacted vengeance on at least one of their assailants.
When the monoliths were re-discovered in 1938, several 14th century coins, and sundry other items, were found buried beneath one of them.
The archaeologists had little problem identifying the last owner of the relics, because his grinning skull was leering back at them from beneath the massive stone! It would seem that a tragic accident had caused the colossus to topple onto the unfortunate man crushing him to death.
The sheer weight of the mammoth, made removal impossible, and so his 14th century workmates had simply left him interred beneath it.
Since the tools found alongside his bones, suggested he was a barber- surgeon, the murderous megalith became known as the “Barber Stone” and today stands proud and erect upon its original site.
Strange Happenings
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries many of the surviving stones were broken up to be used in the construction of various buildings in the neighbourhood, and stories abound of close escapes from similar accidents.
A cobbler, who had been working beneath one of the stones on the Sabbath, had only just walked away when it suddenly fell over, crashing onto the spot where he had just been sitting.
A parish clerk who, having sheltered from a violent storm beneath one of the megaliths, was horrified when, as he headed for home, a bolt of lightning suddenly smashed into the stone and blew it to pieces. Evidently the guardians were still displeased!
Today people talk of seeing strange, ghostly figures moving about the stones at night, or of hearing singing where no human forms are to be seen.
Read More – THE AVEBURY STONE CIRCLE
7 Most Haunted Places in Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a county that is shrouded in mystery thanks to the likes of the stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury, the famous white horses carved into the cliffs and the many ancient burial mounds. It is also well known for paranormal activity.
Here are 7 of the most haunted places in Wiltshire:
7 – The Harrow Inn
The Harrow Inn is a beautiful sight with its pretty 7th century thatched roof. It dates back to 1637 when it began its life as a coaching inn and it is now a Grade II listed building. It is also home to some Wiltshire ghosts! Apparently, The Harrow Inn is haunted by a pretty friendly spirit of a one time coachman. The story is that he actually crashed his coach right outside of the inn and killed not only himself but also his passengers. His apparition is now seen with some regularity walking around the dining room, perhaps in search of his missing passengers!
6 – The Black Swan Hotel, Devizes
The Black Swan Hotel was built in the 18th century in the style of a traditional coaching inn. Like so many of these old inns, it is also said to be haunted. There have been plenty of occasions were both staff and guests of the hotel have seen the transparent figure of a woman in a long white flowing dress. On the occasions when guests have spotted her, they have ended up having to change rooms because they were so terrified – and with good reason, because she likes to float through solid walls! The sightings of this young woman in white are always fairly similar. The woman appears the walls of rooms and then sits down for a short time, usually staring out of the window. She then gets up again and leaves by walking through the wall again! There have also been reports of paranormal activity in the cellar, where a face has been seen coming out of the wall!
5 – Avebury Manor
The village of Avebury is mostly well known for the mystery connected to the circle of megalithic stones that surrounds it, but it also has more than a few Wiltshire ghosts hanging around as well. For example, Avebury Manor, a beautiful Tudor mansion in the village, is said to be haunted by two spirits.
The first of these two spirits are believed to be the ghost of Sir John Stawell who appears as a spectral Cavalier accompanied by ice-cold temperatures and the smell of roses! Stawell was a Royalist who was stripped of his possessions following the Civil War, including his beloved Avebury Manor! Needless to say, he was devastated and never really got over it as is evidenced by the fact that he still seems to be hanging around!
The other ghost also has ties to the Civil War, but this time in the form of a White Lady who is said to glide around the house and the gardens looking melancholy. It is believed that she is the spirit of a young woman who flung herself to her death from one of the upper windows of Avebury Manor after her Cavalier lover was killed in battle.
4 – Parsonage Wood
Parsonage Wood is certainly a beautiful place to take a stroll with its lush foliage, majestic trees and bubbling streams. However, when night falls the woods become a much more eerie place! Those who have braved the woods after dark has come back armed with tales of disembodied voices among the trees. Disturbingly, all of the accounts are similar and they do not tell of spirits simply having a chat, but rather the sounds of a ritual. The voices are said to chatter excitedly, getting louder and louder until they reach a fevered crescendo at which point the night is punctuated with a blood-curdling scream which seems like it can only belong to someone in tremendous pain! After that there is silence! No-one knows what this relates to and few who have experienced it are keen to return to investigate!
3 – The Red Lion
The Red Lion is located in the village of Avebury, inside a megalithic stone circle which makes the location pretty special already. It is no great surprise that the pub is considered to be one of the most haunted places in Wiltshire! The pretty thatched public house was built in the early part of the 1600s as a farmhouse. It then became a coaching inn around 1802. Today it is known mostly from its appearance on the first season of paranormal television show Most Haunted and for the six different ghosts that call this place home!
Let’s start with the most famous of the ghostly residents – Florrie. Back in 1643, Florrie was married to a soldier who returned from the English Civil War only to find that she had been unfaithful! In a fit of jealous rage, he murdered his wife and disposed of her body by dumping it in the village well. Over the years, the pub has been expanded and the well is now inside the building and so is Florrie. She is said to haunt the pub and usually takes a particular dislike to men with beards since they remind her so much of her murderous husband!
There have also been reports of a couple of children in the Private Room. Terrified witnesses report seeing the apparitions cowering in one corner. On the odd occasion, the children are also accompanied by a female apparition known as Beth. The Avenue Room is also said to be haunted by a pair of spirits – one male and one female, but nobody really seems to know who they are or why they are bound to The Red Lion. Some guests have also seen a ghostly carriage pulling up outside.
Aside from the apparitions, there has also been a large amount of poltergeist activity in The Red Lion, especially in the dining room – specifically near the bay window!
2 – The Bear Hotel
The Bear Hotel dates back to the 18th century and it is a must-see stop on any tour of haunted Wiltshire. One of the most well-known tales of unexpected happenings comes from 1965 when a barman heard loud voices coming out of a room that he was sure was empty After investigating, he found that he had been totally correct and the room was indeed completely empty! On another occasion, a maid from The Bear Hotel was outside and noticed a grey figure closing the curtains in a room she knew was unoccupied. She entered the hotel and went straight to the room to double-check and again, she was correct and the room was empty!
1 – The Old Bell Hotel
The Old Bell Hotel is believed to be the oldest hotel in Britain. It is also said to be one of the most haunted places in Wiltshire. It is a very pretty spot in the Cotswolds, but like so many old buildings it also has a much darker, more mysterious side courtesy of the Grey Lady and the spooky occurrences that she is alleged to be behind!
There could be a very simple reason why The Old Bell Hotel is so haunted, and that is because it stands right next to the ruins of Malmesbury Abbey and it is believed that the hotel’s East wing is actually built on top of a section of Abbey’s cemetery. Rumour has it that there are even a number of sarcophagi concealed underneath the hotel bar. This certainly seems to fit with the pattern of hauntings at The Old Bell Hotel since it is the bar area and the East wing that are said to be the most active areas of the building!
Read More – 7 Most Haunted Places in Wiltshire
Stonehenge
Stonehenge has haunted the British imagination for centuries. Jammed as it is between two busy motorways, with all the hustle and bustle of modern life, the ancient stone megaliths seem to brood in quiet contemplation of an age long gone.
A vast number of theories have been put forward to explain the strange construction on Salisbury plain. The great questions surrounding Stonehenge have always been the same: Who built it? Why did they build it? And how did they build it? Succeeding generations of scholars have answered the questions in different ways, but despite the best efforts of modern research, some of the answers still remain elusive.
Stonehenge first appears in the documentary record in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain, written in the 12th century. Referring to it as The Giants’ Dance, he credited its construction to the wizard Merlin, who is said to have whisked the giant stones away from Ireland to Britain on the orders of Aurelius, a British king who desired to erect a monument to a group of Britons who had been murdered by the Saxons.
Stonehenge – Who Built It?
Mixing its construction in with figures from Arthurian legend would have dated it to around 400 – 500 A.D. Later theories pushed the hypothetical construction date back even further. Inigo Jones, in the 17th century, believed it had been built by the Romans. Others however, writing not long after Jones, believed it had been built in pre-Roman times by the Celtic priest sect known as the Druids. This theory, became the dominant one and still is down to the present-day. In fact, in more recent times, various societies of people claiming to be druids sprang up over the years and began holding ceremonies at the monument on the occasion of the summer and winter solstices. Large crowds often gathered at these ceremonies, even in the 19th century, but it’s not clear how seriously any of it was taken. As venerable a figure as Winston Churchill is known to have been inducted into something calling itself the Ancient Order of Druids so perhaps the whole thing was regarded as a bit of a laugh.
Wiltshire Ghosts
Wiltshire, known for its pre-historic mystery sites such as the stone circles of Stonehenge and Avebury Avebury, ancient mounds and barrows and the famous white horses which are carved into the county’s hills, seems to be a focal point for paranormal activity of all kinds. It was the site of one of Britain’s most sensational UFO flaps at
Warminster. Black dogs are often spotted here too. There is even a forest area known as Black Dog Woods. Crop circles, too, abound in Wiltshire. And ghosts are no exception to the county’s paranormal prominence.
Local historian John Girvan tells the tale of a ghostly hitchhiker, a mysterious young woman dressed in old-fashioned clothes who attempted to hitch a lift on the A342. A male driver passed and considered stopping to offer a lift but was put off by the late hour and her unusual appearance. Driving on, after a few minutes he was astonished to find the young lady sitting right beside him in the passenger seat! She didn’t stay long, though. When he next looked, she was gone.
Wiltshire is full of centuries-old pubs, many of which seem to have resident ghosts. The Red Lion pub is actually located inside a stone circle and is well-known for its ghostly visitations. A few years back, when an episode of the Most Haunted television series was being filmed at the location, the presenter, Yvette Fielding, fled from a room after she claimed something was snatching at her hair. Her husband promptly re-entered the room with her and, according to his later account, was attacked by some unseen entity and had scratch marks to prove it! Some other Wiltshire pubs are mentioned in our article on Britain’s Top Ten Haunted Pubs.
Devizes – Wiltshire’s Ghost Hotspot
Devizes seems to be the most happening place in Wiltshire as far as spooks are concerned. The GHOMATS (Ghosts, Hauntings, Orbs, Mystical, Auras, Tarot, and Spirits) is a group of ghost investigators based in the town. They visit locations which are suspected of being haunted and conduct vigils with all of the appropriate equipment. If this sort of thing interests you, and you live in the area, maybe you could join their team too. Or if you own property in Wiltshire which you think may be haunted, you can ask for the Ghomats team to come and investigate it.
Other Haunted Places in Wiltshire
Devizes isn’t the only haunted town in Wiltshire. The medieval city of Salisbury has quite a few ghosts of its own and, during the summer months, guided ghost tours are available. You can contact the Salisbury Tourist Information Centre on 01722 334956 for more details.
Longleat is a splendid stately home in Wiltshire, noted for its architecture as well as its lovely landscaped gardens designed by Capability Brown. It is open to the public and has become a major tourist attraction with its own adventure playground, hedge maze and even a safari! No stately home is complete without a ghost or two and, in this, Longleat does not disappoint. Several of the building’s former aristocratic occupants are said to still inhabit it as ghosts including, most famously, Lady Louisa – known as the Green Lady – whose servant lover is said to have been killed by her jealous husband, leaving her eternally distracted by grief.