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Workhouse haunting and the ladies in the wall

C

Clothdoll

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
Joined
Mar 23, 2012
Messages
9
Our home was built in 1990 on the site of a former workhouse...the house stands around where the orchard and the building was...so maybe between both...The workhouse chapel is still standing close by and the grounds there are full of the graves of former WH residents.

When we moved in we knew none of this...our daughter was then 3 years old and began to speak about "the ladies in the wall" almost immediately...apparently they "popped out of the wall" in her room...but only their heads :shock:

Being a bit fanciful, I did question her further and she said that the ladies had brown skin and smiled at her...and they wore "scarves" on their heads. She didn't seem to mind them so I decided not to question her or anything.

Over the last 4 years my husband who isn't given to many fancies has seen a man at the window in our bedroom when he walked into the room...just a very shadowy figure he said...indistinct at the head and extremities...and seemingly "made out of shadow" but blurred. (I am sometimes too afraid to look at this window when I am in bed alone) :roll:

He sees lights regularly and one night, we were both lying in bed talking when the whole room was lit up by a sudden bright flash of blue light...this was around 2am....there is no road nearby so no traffic and we couldn't work out what it was at all.

Noises are regularly heard and as I said, my husband sees lights which seem to "creep" up walls. The ladies in the wall have not been back since my daughter was about 5...she seemed to see them in the summertime. Maybe she's too big now? I felt qute sad that they stopped coming...they seemed to be watching my daughter or something? There were always 3 of them.

I have felt "something" lift my hair in the night when I lie in bed and once my hair was pulled quite sharply....my 4 year old has on occassion complained that someone has hit her when nobody is near her... I wondered if anyone here would have any advice? The man by the window has been (possibly) sighted by a visitor who saw someone going up the stairs when we were all in the kitchen.
 
If it's not too distressing, you might be as well to let the "haunting" play itself out, like it has with your daughter. If you were getting hassled every day by weirdness, maybe call in the professionals, but if not that option could be even more stressful than putting up with the odd item of strange behaviour. Plus there's no guarantee it would get rid of the spirit (if that's what it is)!
 
Work houses weren't generally very pleasant places. I think I'd try mentally telling "everyone" that they are free to move on. The usual phrase is "Look towards the light" (corny, I know) but I hate to think of souls being "stuck" when they could be released.
 
Thank you guys...I did do the "Can you all get out please?" thing when I had spent a very restless night...it seems to come in phases...it will be fine for a week and then something happens and I can't even look at the window area in our bedroom...I literally keep my eyes shut tight.

Oh and I forgot the worst thing....my daughter who is 4 was in bed with me...it was around 2 o clock in the morning and she had just got in the bed....come in from her own room.

We were lying there almost asleep in semi darkness as there was some moonlight...the door was shut and I heard a distinct "creeeaak" noise.

She froze beside me and said "I'm scared. Someone black just came in."

I was absolutely terrified...couldn't move for fear...and did not look or open my eyes...people later said I was foolish as it could have been a real person. But I "knew" it wasn't...I felt that. So I didn't look at all.

My husband was on a night shift and the next day when he came in I told him about it all and he said that my bedroom door was shut when he came in at 7.30am...my daughter and I were still asleep then. So what did I hear? My door does creak...did it open? Did something black walk in?

Why does this thing come and go?
 
Welcome to the FTMB!

You've started with a bang alright, a very interesting story. Keep us updated on how things develop and I hope it doesn't get too traumatic.
 
ramonmercado said:
Welcome to the FTMB!

You've started with a bang alright, a very interesting story. Keep us updated on how things develop and I hope it doesn't get too traumatic.
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Thank you so much. I have come really looking for help you know...I feel a bit silly telling people. There's a massive tendancy to put these things down to an overactive imagination but I would do anything to not be afraid at night....as I say, it's not every night. Just some...maybe every other week
 
Clothdoll said:
ramonmercado said:
Welcome to the FTMB!

You've started with a bang alright, a very interesting story. Keep us updated on how things develop and I hope it doesn't get too traumatic.
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Thank you so much. I have come really looking for help you know...I feel a bit silly telling people. There's a massive tendancy to put these things down to an overactive imagination but I would do anything to not be afraid at night....as I say, it's not every night. Just some...maybe every other week
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Strange things happen, it doesn't mean that it is ghosts, but neither does it mean that you are imagining things.
 
It's a fascinating account alright, and you tell it so well, Clothdoll.
 
I think the main thing here is to have control of your space and feel secure in your home. I used to be terrified of the dark (still am sometimes) but am about as psychic as your big toe, so take my advice for what it's worth and no more.

All the "true life ghost stories" are consistent in this: the entities only have power if you give it to them. They can use your fear against you, but the number of times even a hostile entity has caused direct harm is vanishingly small, especially when compared to the number of threats and dire warnings. These entities don't seem hostile, either. So at base there's no reason to be afraid. You're only scared because it's weird and unknown.

I know it's hard, but it helps to look. You're imagining something much worse than is there. Unknown becomes known when you look.

Do everything you can to own the space. Some people get good results from a smudging or censing ritual; some people get the same thing from cleaning relentlessly. When you tell them to cut it out or go to the light, you want to do so from a place of authority. This is your house, not theirs; they have to acknowledge this if you're firm in your mind about it.

If certain places seem particularly haunted - that window, for example - make a special effort to change something about it. There may be a physical cause why that window is strange. Do bushes grow close around it? Does it stick? Does it have ugly curtains? It's amazing what replacing rhododendrons with daisies can do in changing the atmosphere in some places. Sometimes real phenomena are enabled by surrounding physical circumstances, anything from a standing infrasound wave to a tendency to damp to the health or maturity of the percipient.

Sometimes calling in the pros makes things worse. It's not as if there's professional standards for ghost-hunters, after all! Something this low-level, you can almost certainly handle yourself without ill effects.
 
All good points by Peni, it's important to feel right in your own home.
Tho yours is slightly different the experiences are similar enough to what has happened over about 7 years in the house i'm in now, that i thought i'd post. Although its probably difficult i think one important thing would be to try and not let your daughter see how afraid you feel. I have 7yr olds and when they have heard some strange noise i always play it down otherwise they'd both be stressing about it and making each other worse :roll:
i'd say the best thing you could do would be to open your eyes and see whatever's there to see -what's the worst that could happen? and at best you'll come to the conclusion that although it might make you jump out of your skin on the odd occasion, that's as bad as it gets.
 
Thank you all for the great advice...I wasn't as scared last night..husband was on nights and I decided that I was not going to be afraid and sure enough nothing untoward occurred. :D
 
Great news! This could be a sign that you're getting over it - or it's getting over you.
 
My advice would be to place a lamp near your bed that you can snap on at the first hint of fear. There are no night terrors when the light's on. ;)

Another helpful bedroom device is a Jack Russell terrier. I had one fitted some years ago, never had any problems since. NOTHING messes with them. :lol:
 
escargot1 said:
Another helpful bedroom device is a Jack Russell terrier. I had one fitted some years ago, never had any problems since. NOTHING messes with them. :lol:
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You had it fitted? Like an attachment? :lol:
 
Mythopoeika said:
escargot1 said:
Another helpful bedroom device is a Jack Russell terrier. I had one fitted some years ago, never had any problems since. NOTHING messes with them. :lol:
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You had it fitted? Like an attachment? :lol:
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The Horror! A JRT kept as a sex slave. She probably calls it puppy love.
 
A JRT is possibly the most loyal and protective creature found in nature. As I have repeatedly pointed out, NOTHING messes with them. Mine is now stone-deaf but can bark for England and would definitely see off any spooks foolish enough to try haunting me. :lol:
 
Check out that film The Artist for Uggie the JRT, a credit to his breed. I know it was fictional, but that little dog was all the hero had! Almost made me want such a pet myself!
 
I can testify to the courage of your average JRT. They have the hearts of a thousand lionesses and they think they are as big as an elephant so will take on any animal if they think you are threatened. *hearts*
 
escargot1 said:
My advice would be to place a lamp near your bed that you can snap on at the first hint of fear. There are no night terrors when the light's on. ;)

Another helpful bedroom device is a Jack Russell terrier. I had one fitted some years ago, never had any problems since. NOTHING messes with them. :lol:
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Personaly, I'll go for a Westie, exept, as I comented several years ago, on this site, one of mine may have "come back"!!!!!!!

Not that this bothered me...................
 
We need to hear more about this Westie. You owe it to our newer readers. ;)

Also, I wonder how the original haunting is going?
 
escargot1 said:
We need to hear more about this Westie. You owe it to our newer readers. ;)

Also, I wonder how the original haunting is going?
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There is not much to report, I was doing a long walk into Hertfordshire & in some woodland met an old lady with a dog. We talked for a bit & then as I went to move off, she told me not to forget my dog! I said that I had not had a dog for a number of years & she replied that she was certain that when I entered the wood I had a Westie with me!!!!!

All my dogs had been Westies & I don't think I memtioned this to the lady.

That's really all it was, I put it on Fortian at the time, but can't find it now or I would include a link.
 
From past experience I would say that PeniG has put it well here.
When we moved in to our house over 21 years ago we had an awful lot of strange things happen as I have posted on here previously. Only one occasion was anything 'seen' and that was by our daughter who was about 3 at the time. She thought it was a dream anyway and we went along with that.
At no time did any of us feel threatened and we had a fairly good idea who was haunting us if anyone, although we had never met them. We bought the house off the daughter of the original family since it was built in 1934.
My wife had the house blessed as a general thing soon after moving in, but not sure if it made any difference one way or the other. We did not actively do anything else in this respect.
Over the years things have been mostly quiet, when we have made alterations we get a brief resurgance of 'light'activity and it goes quiet again. I think we would miss it if there was nothing at all now. The cigarette smoke smell that we get near the top of the stairs very occasionally seems to tell us 'I am still here, I hope I am not in the way, I like what you have done to the bathroom'.
We are thinking of moving, I wonder if that will stir things up a bit.
 
Oh By the way, we have taken literally hundreds of photographs in our house over the years, on film and lately digital. I don't ever remember seeing any 'unexplained' items in any of them.
 
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