Mercian Order of St.George
Screaming Skulls
by Tony Ellis
Tunstead Farm, near Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire
Tunstead Farm is haunted by a skull, known locally as “Dickie’s Skull”, although there seems to be a doubt as to whether it is that of a man or a woman.
One story says that it is the skull of Ned Dickson, who left this Derbyshire hill farm to fight as a mercenary soldier for Lord Willoughby, in the pay of the King of Navarre, in 1589. Ned Dickson was severely wounded at the Battle of Ivry, in 1590, and returned home to his farm late in that year. However, before his return his cousin had heard that Ned had been killed at the battle and had taken over the farm for himself. Ned was never seen again and it is thought that he was murdered in his bed by his cousin during that first night.
Another story says that the skull is that of a female member of the Dickson family, who was murdered at the farm, and who, before she died, swore that her bones must never leave the farm that she so much loved. To add weight to this story, the farmhouse has also been haunted by the ghost of a female figure who has been seen on several occasions, the most famous sighting being towards the end of the 19th century, when a tenant farmer, called Lomas, was sitting in the farmhouse kitchen one night. His young daughter was very ill and was lying in a cradle by the fire. Lomas saw the female figure crossing the kitchen from the stairway, cross in front of him and bend over the dying girl. He thought that the figure was that of a servant girl and asked her not to disturb the child. As he spoke the figure disappeared. The following morning the child was found to be dead.
Whether the skull is that of Ned Dickson or of the girl, it was believed that should the skull be removed from Tunstead bad luck was bound to follow until it was returned. Indeed, through the period of three separate absences, a barn roof collapsed, cows and sheep died in mysterious circumstances and unexplained accidents happened at the farm. All these events were accompanied by banging and thuds that could not be explained normally. The skull was thrown into the local river, buried in the churchyard, and, on a third occasion, stolen and taken to Disley, in nearby Cheshire. In the latter case the thieves were so disturbed by the resultant happenings at Disley that they were only too pleased to return the skull to Tunstead, it’s rightful resting place.
The skull also seems to have acted as a “guardian spirit”. Whenever an animal was ailing, three separate clear taps were heard on the kitchen window and this signal was always found to be a clear indication that something was wrong with one of the animals. The skull was even known to act as an alarm clock for oversleeping servants.
“Dickie” was ever resentful of strangers on the farm and on one occasion it’s thudding alerted the family in the middle of the night, who as a result were able to catch a burglar in the house. However, on another occasion, “Dickie” was to force some men to leave the farm in a hurry, even though they were there on legitimate business. On yet another occasion, two men, engaged to help the Dicksons during the haymaking season, hurriedly left because of the din made by the skull. Later, three Irish labourers complained that they could not get any rest in the loft at night owing to the continual clattering of forks and hayrakes. When told of the cause of the din, they hurriedly left.
“Dickie’s” greatest triumph was getting the course of a railway line altered. In the 1850’s, when the London and North Western Railway Company wanted to push part of the Buxton to Stockport line across the land of Tunstead Farm, a compulsory purchase order was obtained to acquire the necessary stretch of land. The railway company began to build a bridge and an embankment across the land but then “Dickie” stepped in. A series of mysterious landslides made the company realise that they would never be able to build the link across the land and they diverted the line. The engineers put the problems down to the unstable nature of the ground, but the locals knew better.
Today, as a reminder of the work done by “Dickie” to stop the line crossing it’s beloved farmland, a bridge on the line has been named after it.
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Bettiscombe House, near Lyme Regis, Dorset
Bettiscombe House is known as “The House of the Screaming Skull”, because of the ageing skull which is preserved there and the manifestations that have taken place when it has been removed from the house.
The story of “The Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe” starts when two brothers, Azariah and John Pinney, joined the Monmouth Rebellion. Both being caught, they were tried at the Dorchester Assizes in 1685, on charges of high treason, by the notorious “Hanging Judge” Arthur Jeffries. John was hanged but Azariah, thanks mainly to the intervention of his sister, was reprieved and sent as a slave to the island of Nevis, in the West Indies. After some years he was able to buy his freedom, settled in the West Indies and became a man of some substance.
A descendant of Azariah, John Frederick Pinney, returned to Bettiscombe House in 1800, bringing with him a Negro servant, who was to die there shortly after his arrival. “Old Bettiscombe”, as the servant was known, pleaded on his death bed that his body should be returned to his native West Indies, saying that his spirit could not rest until his body was buried in the land that he loved. However, “Old Bettiscombe” was buried in the local churchyard but soon the displeasure of his troublesome ghost was being felt.
Shortly after the burial poltergeist activity started at Bettiscombe House, with doors banging and wild screams echoing through the corridors. The house seemed to rock to it’s very foundations and screams were also heard coming from the servant’s grave. Remembering the last wishes of “Old Bettiscombe”, the Pinney Family had the body disinterred and shipped back to the West Indies for re-burial.
The skull was kept at Bettiscombe House, but all was quiet in the area for some time, until on one occasion a tenant decided to get rid of the grisly relic, throwing it into the pond. As a result, the disturbances at Bettiscombe House started again and it became that bad that the tenant spent half the night wading through the pond, dragging it for the skull. Once the skull had been replaced in the house, peace and quiet once more returned.
On another occasion the skull was buried in a hole nine feet deep. By the following morning it was found to have worked it’s way back to the surface again. After that it was carefully placed into a niche in the house and there have been no reports of any disturbances since that time.
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Pennis House, Fawkham Green, Kent
The ghost of a female, who has been seen gliding down Pennis Lane, is said to be that of a nun who was murdered there by would-be rapists, and the sound of her screams and the thunder of horses’ hooves, have been heard from the lane at night.
Her skull is kept in the attic of nearby Pennis House, and it is said that should it be removed from there, great misfortune would follow. Once the skull was removed to be given “a decent burial” in the village churchyard, but so great were the resulting disturbances that it was dug up again and returned to Pennis House, upon which the disturbances completely disappeared.
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Wardley Hall, near Swinton, Greater Manchester
There is a special clause in the lease of Wardley Hall which states that the skull, held there in a niche of a wall on the staircase, shall never be removed. Like the other cases of skull hauntings, disaster would be likely to occur should it be taken from the Hall.
There are two separate stories surrounding the origin of the skull. The less likely story is that the skull was that of Roger Downes, a notorious 17th century rake, who owned the house at the time. In 1676 he was in London with friends and was tossing a fiddler in a blanket at London Bridge because the poor man had refused to play for them, when the watchmen were called. Lord Rochester, one of Roger Downes’ friends, drew his sword and attacked one of the watchmen. Downes knocked the sword from his friend’s hand, thus probably saving the watchman’s life. However, in the process he was struck a blow on the head by the second watchman and died of his injuries several days later. His body was returned to Lancashire and buried at Wigan Church.
In 1779, his coffin was opened and the body was found complete with it’s skull, only the very top of the skull being missing, probably as a result of the subsequent post-mortem carried out after his death.
The most likely story is that the skull belonged to Ambrose Barlow, who was the son of Sir Alexander Barlow, of nearby Barlow Hall. Ambrose Barlow was a Roman Catholic priest, who was hanged and quartered at the age of 51, on 10th September, 1641, for his religious beliefs. The Barlow and Downes Families were very close friends.
Father Ambrose has been celebrating Mass at Morely Hall on 25th April, 1641, when he was attacked and captured by a mob of 400 fanatical Protestants, led by the Puritan Minister of Leigh. He was taken to Lancaster Castle and tried at the next Assizes. After his execution, his head was stuck on a spike in the tower of the Old Church at Manchester, where it remained on display for a short time before being secretly taken to Wardley Hall.
It is thought that the original story of Roger Downes was spread publicly to divert suspicion from the actual story; such was the feeling of uneasiness in those days of religious unrest.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, when the Hall was divided into miners’ tenements, despite the clause in the lease, several attempts were made to get rid of the skull, but each time there was no peace in the house until it was returned. One one occasion, the skull was thrown into the moat, but the moat was very quickly drained, and the skull returned to the house, when “all hell let loose” inside the building.
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Higher Chilton Farm, Chilton Cantello, Somerset
Higher Chilton Farm stands directly opposite the church where Theophilus Frome lies buried in the North Transept. While his body lies buried in the church his skull remains at the farmhouse, which he himself owned in the 17th century.
Theophilus Frome had been a very active supporter of the Parliamentary Cause during the English Civil War, a Warwickshire man who had been forced to move from Woodlowes, near Warwick, to Higher Chilton Farm, in Somerset, to escape the consequences of the part that he had played in those bitter days of conflict. Although Parliament had won the Civil War, Warwickshire was very strong-Royalist, and people did not forget the bitterness of the fighting in a hurry.
He died at the farm on 18th August, 1680, at the age of 69, and his last request was that, after his death, his head should be removed from his body and kept for ever at the farm. This was not an unusual request for the time, for this was the period of the Reformation and enemies of the Crown in the Civil War often suffered the indignity of having their bodies disinterred after they had died, their heads then being stuck on display on a spike, while their bodies were hung on the local gibbet.
It was said that ill-fortune would strike if his head was ever taken from the farm for burial. On the occasions when the attempt was made, terrible noises were heard in the farmhouse. As late as 1860, whilst attempting to dig a hole for the skull to be buried, the sexton broke his spade in two places, and vowed that he would never try again.
In 1826, workmen, busy renovating the farmhouse, actually drank beer from the skull as an act of bravado, but this macabre act resulted in unusual noises being heard for some time afterwards in the farmhouse, showing Theophilus Frome’s great displeasure.
During restoration of the church in the 18th century, the tomb of Theophilus Frome was opened and the skeleton inside was found to be minus it’s skull. Therefore the skull in the farmhouse is almost certainly that of Frome’s, kept today, with great respect, in a special cabinet over a door in the hallway.
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Warbleton Priory, Heathfield, East Sussex
Warbleton Priory, once the home of Augustinian monks, is now a farmhouse, and until the end of the 19th century was the home of two skulls, thought to be those of a former owner who was murdered there, and the man who killed him, who was thought to be insane. It is said that should the skulls be removed from the Priory, bad luck would prevail until they were returned.
In the 19th century, when one of the walls was being pulled down, workmen found the two skulls hidden in a recess. When the first was discovered it was immediately buried in the ground outside the house, but by morning had managed to work it’s way back to the surface again, and was found at the back door. The skull was brought back into the house and placed upon a Bible, where it remained perfectly quiet. However, when one of the tenant farmers later tried to take the skull with him, when he left many years later, so many disturbances were experienced at the farmer’s new house that he had to return it to Warbleton for the sake of peace and quiet.
When the second skull was discovered by the workmen, shortly after the first one had been buried, it was taken to a farmhouse a few miles away, but once again there were so many disturbances in the new location that the new farmer decided to bury it. However, as the farmer was digging a hole in which to place the skull, a whirlwind struck the house, and as a result the skull was returned to Warbleton.
Neither skull is now at Warbleton Priory, for they were both stolen in the early part of the 20th century, but peace and quiet would appear to have reigned since they disappeared.
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Calgarth Hall, Lake Windermere, Cumbria
Now a guest house, Calgarth Hall was built in the 16th century as a manor house. The property was once owned by Kraster and Dorothy Cook, whose next door neighbour was a local magistrate, Miles Phillipson. The magistrate made several offers to the Cooks for their property, but was always turned down. This angered him very much indeed.
Shortly before one Christmas, Miles Phillipson rode over to Calgarth Hall and said that he wished to forget past differences and offer friendship, inviting the Cooks over to his house on Christmas Day for dinner. Wanting to be friendly the Cooks accepted Phillipson’s invitation, and on Christmas Day arrived at the magistrate’s house.
During the course of dinner, Kraster Cook noticed a small silver bowl that was lying on the table and could not help admiring it. It was when dinner was over, and the Cooks were about to depart, that the magistrate bawled out in a roaring voice that the silver bowl had been stolen and the Cooks, and othere guests, were asked to agree to be searched. During the search, the bowl was found in one of Kraster Cook’s pockets. Whilst at dinner their coats had been hanging on hooks in the entrance. Despite their protestations of innocence, Kraster and Dorothy Cook were arrested.
They were tried before Magistrate Phillipson, and in those days theft carried the death penalty. Remembering the fact that Miles Phillipson was deeply interested in obtaining the property at Calgarth Hall, it is hardly surprising that both were sentenced to death. However, when sentence was passed, Dorothy Cook made an oath that the Phillipson Family would come to ruin, and the time would come when they would not own an acre of land. She also swore that both she and her husband would haunt Calgarth Hall as long as any member of the Phillipson Family lived there.
The bodies of Kraster and Dorothy Cook were still hanging from the gibbet when the Phillipsons moved into the Hall. The following Christmas, they held their first Christmas Dinner at their new home, and during the course of the feasting, Mrs Phillipson, feeling unwell, left the dining room to go to her bedroom. As she was walking upstairs, the light from her candle revealed two skulls perched on the ballustrade, leering at her. She ran downstairs again in hysterics.
Miles Phillipson, together with several of the guests, ran towards the stairs and saw the two skulls for themselves. One of the men poked at the skulls with his sword, and they seemed solid enough. Deciding that the whole thing was a practical joke, but in very bad taste, they threw the skulls out of the window. The page, who was considered to hold a grudge against Miles Phillipson, was held to be the perpetrator of the macabre joke, and was locked in the cellar until he was prepared to confess. However, he was very soon to be proved innocent.
Shortly after midnight, when all the guests had retired to bed, ghostly screams were heard echoing around the Hall. When all the household, and guests, had assembled on the landing, they found that the two skulls had mysteriously returned to their original positions on the ballustrade. The page was still locked in the cellar. Remembering Dorothy Cook’s curse, the guests were very glad to leave the Hall the following morning. As soon as they had departed, Miles Phillipson threw the skulls into the pond. By nightfall the skulls were back in their positions on the ballustrade again.
In the following years, Miles Phillipson suffered setback after setback, each misfortune being accompanied by wild screams from the skulls. By the time that he died, he had lost everything except for Calgarth Hall. The skulls remained at the Hall, appearing every Christmas time, until eventually it was sold by Miles Phillipson’s son. The skulls then disappeared for ever.
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Burton Agnes Hall, near Driffield, Humberside
Burton Agnes Hall is haunted by the ghost, and skull, of Anne Griffiths, who loved the house and swore that after her death, she wanted part of her to remain at the Hall whilst it stood.
In the early 17th century, Sir Henry Griffiths died, leaving Burton Agnes Hall nto his three daughters as co-heiresses. They decided to build a new, and more comfortable house, and watched with passionate interest as their beloved home grew. Anne loved the house even more than her two sisters, but tragically she was to have very little time in which to enjoy her love of loves.
When the house was completed in 1620, the three Griffiths Sisters moved in. Shortly afterwards, Anne paid a visit to a friend of the family, the St Quentins, who lived at nearby Harpham Hall. One the way home she was approaching St John’s Well, about a mile from Burton Agnes Hall, when she noticed two ruffians stretched out on the grass by the well. As she approached, the two men got to their feet and demanded money. She threw them a couple of coins, but they were not satisfied with that, for they had noticed a valuable ring on her finger and demanded that also. Anne refused to give it over - it had been her mother’s ring.
The two ruffians grabbed her and tried to pull the ring from her finger. Anne screamed, and one of the men struck her a blow on the side of her head with a cudgel, and she fell senseless to the ground. Her screams had been heard by three men working nearby, and they rushed to give her assistance. In the meantime, the two ruffians had made their escape, without the ring.
Anne Griffiths was taken back to Harpham Hall, where she recovered sufficiently to be allowed to be taken back to her beloved Burton Agnes Hall the following day. However, she went into a relapse and died five days later from her injuries. She was buried in the family vault at Burton Agnes Church.
Shortly before she died she was delirious, and told her two sisters that she would never be happy, and rest peacefully in her grave at the church, unless part of her remained at their house, as long as it stood. She made them promise that, after she had died, her head would be removed from her body, and preserved within the walls of Burton Agnes Hall, never to be taken from inside the house. She vowed that unless her request was granted, she would create such a disturbance that the house would become uninhabitable until the head was returned again.
The two sisters listened in horror to her request, but to calm her they agreed, although they had no intention of keeping such a macabre promise, as this was obviously the talk of their sister in a delirious frame of mind. The body was buried at the church, the two sisters not giving a thought to the bizarre promise that they had made to Anne.
Just a week after the funeral, the two sisters were preparing to go to bed when they heard the sound of a loud crash coming from one of the upstairs rooms. Two manservants were sent to investigate, but they could find nothing that would account for the crashing sound. Nothing more was heard until the following week, when the whole household was woken by the sound of doors being slammed in the early hours of the morning. All the doors were checked and found to be locked, yet even as they were being checked, doors were heard to slam. The noise finally ceased and the two sisters, and their servants, went back to bed, although no-one could sleep after such an experience.
A week later, the whole household was once again woken, this time by the sound of people hurrying along the corridors, and up and down the stairs. When these sounds ceased, another sound, that of the groaning of a dying person was heard. This time nobody investigated, everybody was too scared to leave their rooms. The following morning, all the female servants packed and left the house.
The two sisters sought the advice of the local vicar, William St Quentin, who quickly realised that the disturbances always occured on the same night of the week, the day that Anne Griffiths had died. He told them that it must be Anne reminding them of her dying words and the promise that they had made to her and the threat that she had made if her dying request was not carried out. It was obvious that she was keeping her promise and making the house uninhabitable, for not only had all the female servants already left, the male servants were talking about leaving as well.
The vicar suggested that Anne’s coffin be opened up, to see if a clue could be found there. The following day this was done and the two sisters, together with the vicar and the sexton, were horrified to discover that, although Anne’s body showed no sign of decomposure whatsoever, the head had been severed and was showing a very advanced stage of decay. The skull was removed from the coffin and returned to Burton Agnes Hall, in the hope that the two sisters could have a quiet life again. The noises at the Hall stopped immediately.
The skull has been moved from the Hall several times since that day, but whenever it has left Anne’s beloved home, the knockings and slammings have started again. On one occasion, a maid, who knew nothing about the story of the skull, threw the grisly relic out of the window onto a cart containing a load of horse-manure. The horse pulling the cart stopped immediately, and refused to move in spite of being whipped mecilessly by the farmer driving the cart. Sweating with terror, the horse simply refused to budge an inch. The terrified maid admitted that she had thrown the skull onto the cart. It was retrieved and returned back into the house, whereupon the horse once more returned to life as though a spell had been lifted from him.
On another occasion, later owners of trhe Hall buried the skull in the garden. Immediately a state of alarm was caused by repeated wailings and cries, until the skull was finally dug up again and returned to within the house.
In the 1870’s the Hall was occupied by the local gamekeeper, Matthew Potter. Potter was visited by his cousin, John Bilton, from London. He told his cousin that he would be welcome to sleep at the Hall provided that he was not afraid of ghosts. John Bilton scoffed at the story of the skull and the idea of ghosts in general. However, during the night, he heard the sound of hob-nailed boots in his bedroom, together with the sound of banging doors throughout the house. By the morning he had changed his mind about ghosts and left Burton Agnes Hall the same day.
Anne Griffith’s skull is now securely bricked up in one of the walls of the house, rather than the risk of being taken by some brash successor to the ownership by trying to remove it again. There is uncertainty as to the exact spot where the skull has been laid to rest.
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