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Bowden Hall In South Devon

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Dick Turpin

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Mar 28, 2018
Messages
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This is an interesting story that I was reminiscing about the other day. It’s a little long – sorry.

In the October of 1994 I was on a four day mini break in south Devon with my then girlfriend, and despite her having zero interest in anything fortean she agreed to come on a ghost tour with me to a large Tudor built property called Bowden Hall or house.

The tour was conducted by the actual owners of the house who had dressed up for the tour in period costume, (actually I got the impression that they were in a desperate need of extra revenue to help renovate the place, hence the tours).

We turned up at the allotted time, paid our cash, and once the owners felt that they had enough people for the tour to start (I think there was about 30 of us) it began.

Only five minutes into the tour with the owner telling us stories of what had been seen and heard in the house throughout the years, my girlfriend grabbed me by the arm and quietly whispered in my ear that she didn’t like it and can we leave. I just looked at her and smiled, thinking she was joking.

We were then lead through into what was the oldest part of the house, again listening to the owners’ stories, when I heard my girlfriend say (again quietly) help me. I looked at her, and her face had gone completely white, her lips had turned a shade of blue, and she had the fear of God in her eyes. She then ran out of the room into a little outside courtyard where she was sick a couple of times.

Once she’d recovered slightly, she said she wanted to leave immediately and go back the car, which we did. It was only when back at the car, did she say she felt a little better. I asked her if she wanted to re-join the tour, but she said no, so we just drove back to the hotel.

Back in the hotel’s bar she perked up a bit, and I kept on asking her what happened, but she said that she didn’t know. All she knew was that she had an overwhelming desire to leave, then came the waves of nausea.

Many years later I took Mrs DT there, as we were in the area, but I think the house had changed hands with the new owners not running Ghost tours there.

Has anyone on this forum ever been to Bowdon house, it’s not far from the town of Totness, and if so did they ever go on one of the ghost tours there….?
 
Dick Turpin said:
This is an interesting story that I was reminiscing about the other day. It’s a little long – sorry.

In the October of 1994 I was on a four day mini break in south Devon with my then girlfriend, and despite her having zero interest in anything fortean she agreed to come on a ghost tour with me to a large Tudor built property called Bowden Hall or house.

The tour was conducted by the actual owners of the house who had dressed up for the tour in period costume, (actually I got the impression that they were in a desperate need of extra revenue to help renovate the place, hence the tours).

We turned up at the allotted time, paid our cash, and once the owners felt that they had enough people for the tour to start (I think there was about 30 of us) it began.

Only five minutes into the tour with the owner telling us stories of what had been seen and heard in the house throughout the years, my girlfriend grabbed me by the arm and quietly whispered in my ear that she didn’t like it and can we leave. I just looked at her and smiled, thinking she was joking.

We were then lead through into what was the oldest part of the house, again listening to the owners’ stories, when I heard my girlfriend say (again quietly) help me. I looked at her, and her face had gone completely white, her lips had turned a shade of blue, and she had the fear of God in her eyes. She then ran out of the room into a little outside courtyard where she was sick a couple of times.

Once she’d recovered slightly, she said she wanted to leave immediately and go back the car, which we did. It was only when back at the car, did she say she felt a little better. I asked her if she wanted to re-join the tour, but she said no, so we just drove back to the hotel.

Back in the hotel’s bar she perked up a bit, and I kept on asking her what happened, but she said that she didn’t know. All she knew was that she had an overwhelming desire to leave, then came the waves of nausea.

Many years later I took Mrs DT there, as we were in the area, but I think the house had changed hands with the new owners not running Ghost tours there.

Has anyone on this forum ever been to Bowdon house, it’s not far from the town of Totness, and if so did they ever go on one of the ghost tours there….?
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Is this the one Dick;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowden,_Ashprington
 
Dick Turpin said:
Back in the hotel’s bar she perked up a bit, and I kept on asking her what happened, but she said that she didn’t know. All she knew was that she had an overwhelming desire to leave, then came the waves of nausea.
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I had this happen to me (or almost) when my family were visiting Littlecote House near Hungerford. I absolutely hated the place, it made me feel ill and oppressed — repulsed I suppose, and going up the stairs was the worse.
I did go outside (I think there might have been a little cafe or something) and felt fine after a few minutes but I would never go back there.
There are ghosts associated with the house ‘Wild Will Daryl’ but I didn’t know about that at the time; I initially just thought it gloomy and dark and just somewhere I didn’t want to be, and the feeling got worse.
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
I had this happen to me (or almost) when my family were visiting Littlecote House near Hungerford. I absolutely hated the place, it made me feel ill and oppressed — repulsed I suppose, and going up the stairs was the worse.
I did go outside (I think there might have been a little cafe or something) and felt fine after a few minutes but I would never go back there.
There are ghosts associated with the house ‘Wild Will Daryl’ but I didn’t know about that at the time; I initially just thought it gloomy and dark and just somewhere I didn’t want to be, and the feeling got worse.
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Interesting Fanari.

Some places are like that aren’t they. The first house I ever bought was in East Ham (East London) and I couldn’t stand the back bedroom. Couldn’t put my finger on as to why – just couldn’t stand it, and hardly ever went in there.
 
Dick Turpin said:
Some places are like that aren’t they. The first house I ever bought was in East Ham (East London) and I couldn’t stand the back bedroom. Couldn’t put my finger on as to why – just couldn’t stand it, and hardly ever went in there.
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Yes, they are. I must admit I‘ve never liked the old wood panelling in these big places, as I like light, but it was definitely more than that. I thought I was going down with a virus or something, but it passed off soon after I went outside.
And these feelings certainly happen anywhere, from quite normal residences to historical.

Have you written about the back bedroom here on the forums? I’d love to read about it.
 
Fanari_Lloyd said:
Yes, they are. I must admit I‘ve never liked the old wood panelling in these big places, as I like light, but it was definitely more than that. I thought I was going down with a virus or something, but it passed off soon after I went outside.
And these feelings certainly happen anywhere, from quite normal residences to historical.

Have you written about the back bedroom here on the forums? I’d love to read about it.
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No I never have Fanari. Not too much to say really.

I used to use the room for storage only, and always kept the door firmly closed. Strangely though the girlfriend I was living with (same girl as the Bowden Hall story) had no issue with it.

It was just me that had a problem with the room. The only time I spent in there was when we first moved in, and I decorated it, but I didn’t like it in there at all.
 
Dick Turpin said:
It was just me that had a problem with the room. The only time I spent in there was when we first moved in, and I decorated it, but I didn’t like it in there at all.
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That’s really interesting. No-one but me had a problem in Littlecote although my sister’s certainly felt certain places (and houses) were ‘off’. But I find this sort of experience more interesting that watching any ghost hunting type of program when everyone‘s hyped up anyway just from knowing the location is supposedly haunted.
 
Dick Turpin said:
Interesting Fanari.

Some places are like that aren’t they. The first house I ever bought was in East Ham (East London) and I couldn’t stand the back bedroom. Couldn’t put my finger on as to why – just couldn’t stand it, and hardly ever went in there.
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I have a work colleague who became a born-again Christian after moving into a very ordinary terraced house and experienced just this with an upstairs bedroom. Furthermore, the dog refused to even go up the stairs. End result was that he called a priest in to cleanse the room (his words) and his religious journey began from there….
 
Victory said:
Fascinating list of inhabitants of Bowden Hall.

Amongst them a son of Isaac Singer the sewing machine magnate, and Sir Richard Gipps.

A Master of the Revels.

Now that's a job to have!
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regrettably, I didn’t ever visit Bowden during my time in that area. But interesting that Bowden, Compton Castle, Darlington Hall and Berry Pomeroy Castle are all properly haunted and within a few miles of each other.
 
WeirdExeter said:
regrettably, I didn’t ever visit Bowden during my time in that area. But interesting that Bowden, Compton Castle, Darlington Hall and Berry Pomeroy Castle are all properly haunted and within a few miles of each other.
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A friend and I used to go out to Berry Pomeroy castle at weekends, just to wander about. It certainly has an atmosphere, but I couldn't really tell you what of, as I'd read the ghost stories about the place before I went so it was predisposed to feel 'creepy'.

Totnes is (or used to be) a fabulous little town though.
 
catseye said:
A friend and I used to go out to Berry Pomeroy castle at weekends, just to wander about. It certainly has an atmosphere, but I couldn't really tell you what of, as I'd read the ghost stories about the place before I went so it was predisposed to feel 'creepy'.

Totnes is (or used to be) a fabulous little town though.
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Two good time slips from there.

Some visitors have reported seeing glass in the windows of the ruined old main building with at least one photo taken that has subsequently vanished (how very Fortean, eh?). The other was experienced by two women driving towards the old mill in the valley beneath the castle as was quite detailed. Sorry, can’t remember my source but suspect Peter Underwood
 
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Reminds me of a National Trust property i went to a few years ago - can't remember which one sorry. The interior walls were covered with huge oppressive tapestries. I became convinced these were givibg me a nauseous headache which came on from nowhere. It wasn't a supernatural feeling but the 'heaviness' of the tapestries just seemed to close in on me. Soon as I got outside I was fine.
 
WeirdExeter said:
Some visitors have reported seeing glass in the windows of the ruined old main building with at least one photo taken that has subsequently vanished (how very Fortean, eh?).
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I took a photo of Berry Pomeroy a few years ago so had to check. I can imagine cloud and sky seen through the upper windows looking like they've maybe been reflected by glass.

Berry_2123.jpg
 
Sabresonic said:
I try and find the post I did on here first :)
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I sent you what I have already put on this forum about the strange goings on in Hotspur Street.
Mouldy13 said:
come on, let's hear!!!!
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I little extra where I haven't posted before apart from this was my brother bought a flat further up the street and was a man of the waves being a really good Surfer, saved number of people lives who got caught in the rip and even got a bravery award in London of the prime minster at the time but as I mentioned this before he took his own life back in 2017 as he was battling alcoholism yet he I still speak to him or see him in some very real dreams.
The last story was from 1999 when my mothers partner said he had a ghost inside him and the ghost would tell to not help my mother up or down the stairs with her MS condition as he might want to push her .
He would also show me bin bags spread and taped in the corner of the room in the attics ( which is where I saw the Mist) and said he had caught a ghost,He was then sectioned at the local Mental ward so we contact the local Church who in turn got a specialist Priest out to bless the house and my mothers partner finally came back like his own self and me and my mother thought this episode was down from was the fumes from him making his own Surfboards alongside his love for a few Special Brew's.
But one night in the local Hotel bar I was telling what saw was real and what happened to him could of been from making Surfboards in one of the attics rooms and he replied " No the Ghost is still with me ".
Sadly he left my mother in 2003 and 7 years later in hospital his body give in from Alcohol related death.
 
Sabresonic said:
I sent you what I have already put on this forum about the strange goings on in Hotspur Street.

I little extra where I haven't posted before apart from this was my brother bought a flat further up the street and was a man of the waves being a really good Surfer, saved number of people lives who got caught in the rip and even got a bravery award in London of the prime minster at the time but as I mentioned this before he took his own life back in 2017 as he was battling alcoholism yet he I still speak to him or see him in some very real dreams.
The last story was from 1999 when my mothers partner said he had a ghost inside him and the ghost would tell to not help my mother up or down the stairs with her MS condition as he might want to push her .
He would also show me bin bags spread and taped in the corner of the room in the attics ( which is where I saw the Mist) and said he had caught a ghost,He was then sectioned at the local Mental ward so we contact the local Church who in turn got a specialist Priest out to bless the house and my mothers partner finally came back like his own self and me and my mother thought this episode was down from was the fumes from him making his own Surfboards alongside his love for a few Special Brew's.
But one night in the local Hotel bar I was telling what saw was real and what happened to him could of been from making Surfboards in one of the attics rooms and he replied " No the Ghost is still with me ".
Sadly he left my mother in 2003 and 7 years later in hospital his body give in from Alcohol related death.
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I’m very sorry for your loss @Sabresonic.:(

An old friend of mine died last summer from an alcohol related disease. He was only a year older than me. Tragic and preventable in his case imo
 
Found my source for the above stories:

The Ghosts of Berry Pomeroy Castle​


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghosts-Berry-Pomeroy-Castle/dp/0946651388

The castle has one of those "the ghost lures passers-by to their deaths" legends that begs the question how anyone knows this as surely the unfortunate witness took this with the to their grave...?

The time slip experienced in the valley below experienced by the two women was perhaps the most convincing. As they drove down to the mill the scene around them became that of the past, with some classic 'Oz factor', the road a rutted track, strange straggly, long-legged chickens and a dark-skinned girl in rags. The scene then reverted to the modern day and apparently the description of the chickens matched that of how chickens looked in the past (medieval-era) and there were also records of immigrants employed as farm labourers.

It is also stated that dogs in particular are known to get very spooked within certain parts of the castle. Sadly I have lost my copy.
 
WeirdExeter said:
Found my source for the above stories:

The Ghosts of Berry Pomeroy Castle​


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ghosts-Berry-Pomeroy-Castle/dp/0946651388

The castle has one of those "the ghost lures passers-by to their deaths" legends that begs the question how anyone knows this as surely the unfortunate witness took this with the to their grave...?

The time slip experienced in the valley below experienced by the two women was perhaps the most convincing. As they drove down to the mill the scene around them became that of the past, with some classic 'Oz factor', the road a rutted track, strange straggly, long-legged chickens and a dark-skinned girl in rags. The scene then reverted to the modern day and apparently the description of the chickens matched that of how chickens looked in the past (medieval-era) and there were also records of immigrants employed as farm labourers.

It is also stated that dogs in particular are known to get very spooked within certain parts of the castle. Sadly I have lost my copy.
Click to expand...

@blessmycottonsocks mentions this episode here, and l did some research on it here et seq.

maximus otter
 
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