Ghostly sightings at St Ives

Ghostly monks & a hidden tunnel

The land now known as St Ives was owned in the Middle Ages by Rievaulx Abbey, and the monks farmed here, living in a Monastic Grange somewhere on the estate (most probably close to the existing Mansion). Throughout the centuries and into modern times there have been many reports of ghostly monks seen walking through the wooded areas and along the tracks. A local legend is that there is an ancient tunnel — bricked up long ago — leading from an entrance in Harden Park up to St Ives, possibly an escape route in times of persecution.

The murdered tax collector, 1237

Everyone who lived on the estate had to pay taxes to the Abbey. One day in 1237 William 'Cherrycheeks', a local woodsman, was unhappy about paying and shot the Abbey's tax collector with an arrow. The poor tax collector took six weeks to die — upon which William disappeared and became 'the outlaw of St Ives'. Is one of the ghostly monk figures in fact the conscientious, murdered tax collector, still trying to collect the money?

A ghostly nun

Strangely, we've just received a report that a ghostly nun was seen this year standing on the steps to the old building near the Coach House. Why was she there?

Benjamin Ferrand rides home, 1803

In 1803, Benjamin Ferrand — the owner then of St Ives — died whilst visiting the Peak District. However, strangely, that same night he was seen riding his grey horse towards the gates of St Ives. Some boys ran and opened the gates and, after thanking them, he rode on through. It seems he had ridden home after death, and it's said that each year on this anniversary he returns and rides through the gates to his old home.

Maniacal laughter on the golf course

A council woodsman, a most sensible and down-to-earth Yorkshireman, told us that often when he was out alone in St Ives very early in the morning he had experienced, over the years, several inexplicable happenings. Only one really frightened him. He was by the 5th hole on the Golf Course and suddenly heard loud, maniacal laughter coming from an area of grass where he could quite clearly see that no human was standing. He left the area running, with the hair on the back of his neck standing up.

Royalist soldiers & 200 civil-war graves

There are reputedly 200 soldiers' graves from the civil war on the estate, resulting from a violent skirmish fought between Royalist and Roundhead forces, and there have been various sightings of ghostly Royalist soldiers around the paths and woodland. About 15 years ago, in one of the Cuckoo Nest houses, a child woke her mother in the night saying she'd just seen a man sitting at a wooden desk in her room, dressed in a cloak and a large brimmed hat, writing with a feather. He then disappeared. Neither parents nor child knew of the Royalist civil-war connections with St Ives.

But perhaps the most notable sighting is one reported by a local lady. About 25 years ago, she and her father were driving up Keighley Road in the dark. At the junction of Altar Lane, two strange men suddenly appeared in the road and the car was forced to do an emergency stop — then they realised their headlights were shining straight through the men. Dressed in 17th-century Royalist clothes, the soldiers seemed completely unaware of the car and kept looking anxiously down the road as if waiting for someone. This continued for about three minutes before they simply disappeared. Her down-to-earth father asked her never to speak of it; she has only spoken out now that he has died.

The lady on the lawns, and the weeping woman

A few years ago, a group of teenage boys were sitting in the gardens behind the Mansion one evening when, suddenly and silently, an older lady in Victorian clothes emerged from some shrubbery and walked slowly across the lawns. She seemed to have no awareness of the young people and, on approaching some rhododendrons, disappeared into thin air. They were so terrified they rang their parents and begged to be collected at once.

We've also been told of a young, pale lady in old-fashioned grey clothes, seemingly very distressed, running along the driveway between Betty's Lodge and the Mansion. By a certain tree she stops, looks anxiously around, then sinks to the ground weeping before gradually disappearing. We wonder who she was, and what great sadness seems to keep her here.

The Grey-Faced man & the skipping child

Recently a dog walker was out at dusk near Cuckoo Nest Wood. He turned briefly to call his dog to heel and, turning back, came face to face with a strange Grey-Faced man in a hooded cloak who had appeared suddenly and silently from nowhere. The 'man' seemed to have no awareness of the walker, who turned and ran home in record time — and no longer walks his dog at dusk.

Along the back alleyways of the small housing estate at Cuckoo's Nest, a skipping, ghostly child is said to have been seen on many occasions, running around some of the gardens there. It is said she looks very happy.

The café, the History Garden & the Coach House

Several owners of the Café have, whilst clearing up after a busy day with the doors closed and locked, heard the front door apparently opening and someone entering. Sounds of movement have been heard in the rooms at the rear, and a local dog who regularly visits now refuses point-blank to enter that area. Upon investigation, no living person was ever found.

We were once showing a new visitor an area at the rear of the History Garden when he turned completely white and became distressed, saying he could feel the presence of unhappy spirits trapped under the ground who had died many centuries ago, and asked to leave at once. That same week there were strange happenings in the Coach House itself: a cleaning lady, alone, heard doors opening and closing and left straight away; days later two ladies collecting papers heard the same and beat a hasty retreat. All the ladies now refuse to enter the building.

Weeks later a local resident walking two dogs past the Coach House at dusk found both animals suddenly snarling, hackles raised, straining towards the building — utterly out of character. And last year a young woman rang to say she and her boyfriend had been sitting by Baxter's Pond at dusk as fog rolled in, when they saw an odd figure at the other side of the pond, seemingly floating slightly above the ground and faintly illuminated. Embarrassed, she'd hesitated to call — but both had been quite scared, and wanted to know if others had seen it too.

It seems that at dusk, and after dark, St Ives becomes 'alive' with the past. (Or is 'alive' really the right word?)

Watch carefully when you walk there………!