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The Thorn Hotel, Mistley

Dick Turpin

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Mar 28, 2018
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I don’t remember doing it as I had way too much to drink yesterday eventide :), but I’ve booked a couple of nights at the Mistley Thorn hotel for a birthday treat for MRs DT.

Apparently haunted by the spirit of the witchfinder general himself. I know at one point Matthew Hopkins owned the Thorn and interrogated many poor unfortunate woman there. Anyone else know much about the Thorn hotel or has anyone stayed there..???
 
Mistley is famous for being the scene of a planned 18th Century salt-water spa development by Paymaster General Richard Rigby ... The Mistley Thorn predates Rigby’s grand plans having been built in 1723. It stands on the site of an older pub in which Matthew Hopkins, the notorious Witchfinder General tried and condemned to death dozens of local women during the English Civil War.
(Emphasis added)
http://www.mistleythorn.co.uk/the-local-area/

The Mistley Thorn Hotel dates from 1723 and was originally a coaching house. In an article by Emily Talbut entitled ‘The 14 most haunted places in Essex to visit this Hallowe’en’, (13 October 2014, Essex Chronicle) the Mistley Thorn Hotel is referred to as being haunted by the Witch Finder General, Matthew Hopkins, who was buried in Mistley on 12th August 1647. Though the current building is too new to have been visited by Hopkins, he is certainly linked to the Thorn Inn that stood in his time, from where he started his witch hunting activities. It has even been suggested that he lived there and possibly had a financial interest it in.
https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/hauntings/the-mistley-thorn-hotel/

Almost opposite The Tea House is The Mistley Thorn Inn. Built on the site of the original inn owned by the star of this post, The Witchfinder General. With all the fun of dressing up as a witch for Halloween over the years and even the cartoon witches such as the one from my childhood, Winsome Witch, it is hard to imagine the fear and terror that paralysed this area of Essex during the years 1644-1647 when accusations of witchcraft were rife in the neighbourhood. ...

So who was this man? His name was Matthew Hopkins. Born in Suffolk around 1620 he moved to Mistley during his mid-20s and bought the original Mistley Thorn Inn. Around 1644 he claimed to have overheard local women talking about their meetings with the devil. This was when Hopkins forged himself a lucrative career as a self-appointed witch finder. ...

Folklore says that Hopkins himself was charged with stealing a book by sorcery and had to take part in his own swimming test. This would have been a great way to end the story but the truth is somewhat less dramatic. He died of tuberculosis. He was just 27 and was buried in an unmarked grave in the church yard of St Mary the Virgin, the site of two towers of Mistley. It is said his ghost haunts the nearby pond and a ghost of one of his victims is resident in The Red Lion in Manningtree.
https://jwalkingin.com/2020/02/08/witchfinder-general-mistley/
 
Thanks EG (as ever) I’m slightly disappointed that the current building isn’t from Hopkins era, but never mind. I’ve also a booked a ghost tour in Mistley for the weekend in question. Never done one of those before, it’ll be interesting I think.
Let us know how it goes.

In my experience, it doesn't really matter if there are many ghosts evident.
It's about the skill of the tour guide in telling entertaining stories about the area.
 
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