Cambridge Ghost Walk, June 2002, Leeza Arkhangelskaya

From MemoryArchive

 Who: Leeza Arkhangelskaya
What: Cambridge Ghost Walk
When: June 2002
Where: Cambridge, UK

I spent the summer of 2002 studying in Cambridge University in England. To familiarize myself with the local history and culture, I went on 3 different and fascinating ghost walks in Europe’s most haunted city. Intrigued by the tours, I read a lot on the subject of ghosts in Cambridge. The following memoir consists of my own notes taken during the tour, supplemented by others’ accounts, and info I found online and in books.

George Buckden Hotel

One of the haunted places I visited was Hotel Buckden. The 17th century Hotel in Buckden, was a popular coaching inn at the time. Local legend proclaims that the most famous highwayman of all Dick Turpin often stayed at this old coaching inn. Turpin was known for his robberies and ruthless tortures of his victims. Apparently his ghost occasionally returns here. Some visitors have seen a black coated figure wearing an old fashioned hat on the first floor and a ghost of a woman on the stairs. Additionally, staff members have reported doors that unlocked by themselves. Other visitors have felt an invisible body sitting down on their bed.

Corpus Christi College Cambridge

Another haunted place I have visited was one of the smallest and oldest colleges in Cambridge, founded in 1352. Several ghosts have been seen throughout the history of the college’s existence. In 1626 Dr Butts, vice chancellor of the university committed suicide by hanging himself in a room above the kitchen. Sightings of his ghost were recorded during times of crisis in the college. Additionally, Elizabeth, daughter of another college master later in the 17th century, was beloved to have had a secret love affair. One day the young lovers were almost caught, Elizabeth’s boyfriend hid himself in a chest. The young woman was forced to leave her room, and the man unable to get out, suffocated in the chest. Later Elizabeth also died under unpleasant circumstances, and is believed to have haunted the rooms of the college until they where converted into living quarters in 1825. Students at Corpus Christi College have seen the ghost of Elizabeth and the old master with rope marks around his neck.

Caxton Gibbet

The building near to the famous local hangman’s gibbet was once an inn. It was probaly a popular place of meeting for those who wanted to witness public executions. A landlord there, who had a rather bad reputation, rented a room for the night to three wealthy travelers. The story proclaims that during the night the landlord crept into the room to rob the men. However, he accidentally woke one of the travelers. He panicked and killed the first man who woke up. When he realized that he might be caught, he murdered the other two while they slept and then threw all three bodies down a nearby well. The murders were soon uncovered and the inn keeper was sentenced to imprisonment in an iron cage which hung from the gibbet outside the inn. He was kept there for public display until he starved to death. The landlord’s ghost supposedly haunts the inn. Visitors have heard sounds of footsteps across the balcony and down the stairs. The footsteps always stop right at the bottom of the stairs; where underneath the ground the old well and final burial of the three travelers is located.

Ferry Boat Inn Holywell

The Ferry boat inn is considered one of the oldest inns, built in 1050. It is also one of the most haunted inns in England. A young local girl named Juliet Tewslie fell in love with a local woodcutter named Tom Zoul. For a long time she pursued Tom, while he ignored her. Juliet gathered all her strength to confess her love to Tom; however he harshly rejected her, and went into a local inn. That night, around 1078 on the 17th of March, Juliet hung herself from a tree in plain view of the inn. She wanted Tom to see dead body as he left the inn that evening. Since suicide is considered a sacrilege, her body was removed from the tree and buried where she had committed suicide at the cross-roads close to the ferry crossing of the river Ouse. Legend says that Tom marked the spot of her grave with a large slab of granite over which the Ferry Boat Inn was later built. Every year the evening of St. Patrick’s Day, the ghost of Juliet rises from her grave and searches for her lost love Tom. The tombstone of granite can still be seen in the floor of the inn to this day. See Photo.

Peterhouse College, Cambridge University

Peterhouse is the oldest college in the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1284. It is currently believed to be haunted by one of its former bursars from the 18th century, named Francis Dawes. Mr. Dawes oversaw the election (which was believed to be fraudulent) of a master of the college who thereafter made his life as bursar miserable. In complete despair, Dawes hung himself in the Combination Room, where his ghost now appears.

In 1996, the ghost was first seen by two college butlers who were cleaning in the Combination Room. At exactly the same moment, the two men saw a faint figure that appeared from the wooden paneling of the walls. The ghost moved forward and then disappeared by the Morris fireplace, where the body of Mr. Dawes was found.

The college bursar denied the existence of this ghost, until he himself saw it as well. A few moths later, he went into the Combination Room late at night. The room was unusually cold, even though the heating was on high. The pipes began to screech and a dark figure appeared in the back of the room.

After this occurrence, the dean of Peterhouse, called a priest to exorcise the university, since the presence of the ghost was disturbing the students, staff and faculty. Unfortunately, for the ritual to be carried out, everyone who lives or works in the haunted building must gather together to take part in a religious service with the priest. Such a gathering is of course nearly impossible to arrange.

Additionally, I have visited another former haunted location at the university, which particularly impressed me. All the other haunted locations that I have visited I found quite fascinating, but this was the only one that really gave me chills. On the outside wall of the college dormitory, there is an adjacent stone gate, and across from in there is an old cemetery. Since the 1700’s sightings of a dark figure crouching on top of the stone gate have been recorded. This ghost has not been identified, but it is rumored to have causes numerous student suicides. Apparently, approximately 10 students who lived in the dorms whose windows faced that graveyard have committed suicide after seeing the dark figure. In the 1960’s, a result of these unfortunate and mysterious deaths, the university Dean with the help of some priests conducted a ceremony to expel the dark presence. The ceremony was a success, and no more sighting ting or suicides have taken place.