The Westbury Ghost Stories Series has been developed to share in some of the folklore and mystery that seems to haunt the relatively small town of Westbury. This series is not designed to be done in any particular order, and will be dotted around the town in various locations relvant to the tales. I will try and add to the series as I research more ghost stories and tales of intrigue...
Westbury Ghost Stories...#1 - Church Street
Church Street has such a plethora of individual ghost stories, for such a small street of its size that it only made sense that this should be the first of the series.
This street is the home to many buildings of significance including:
Westbury Swimming Pool
Westbury Swimming Pool was built in 1887 by William Laverton and opened in 1888 to provide bathing and also washing facilities, with ten individual baths, and is the only indoor Victorian swimming pool still in use in Wiltshire. It was built in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria and the water was supplied by Bitham spring. During the winter months the pool was covered by a suspended floor to allow for dances and athletic events. Westbury pool is one of the longest serving indoor Victorian swimming pools in the country. It also has a ghost...
Nicknamed 'George' by the staff who have worked there over the years, it is said that George was a caretaker/handiman who worked at the pool and accidently fell to his death in the 1960s whilst repairing the plant rooms located on the upstairs upper balcony. Various members of staff have reported seeing and hearing his prescence over the years. Staff who have seen him describe him to be a scruffy and unshaven man in his 50s, wearing a dark blue boiler suit. Ghostly goings on have included all of the lights being suddenly turned on after the staff have turned them all off for the night; all of the locker doors in a row being banged closed as if somebody was running their arm along them all but nobody in sight; a loud knocking at the fire door only for there to be noone there when opened, followed by all of the life-saver poles jumping from their racks once the fire door was closed again; and all of the taps and showers suddenly simultaneously being turned on in the sauna area AFTER the staff on duty had locked the door to this area and closed this up for the night. Members of the public have felt a hand on their shoulder more than once, and staff members have reported seeing him appear, only to either walk through a brick wall or to ascend the balcony stairs and out of sight!
The Angel Inn
The Angel Inn has been an Inn since the 1800s although there are parts of the building that date back to the 1600s. In the early part of the Inn's history, it served as a coaching inn, with at least 6 major stage coach routes serving the inn, from London, Salisbury, Bristol and Bath. Before it was an Inn, it served as a clothiers home and workshop forthe manufacture of cloth and was one of the reasons why the Angel Mill is situated so close to the Inn. Previous Landlords of the Inn have described encounters with an apparition of a hooded monk on multiuple occasions, upstairs in the private dwelling of the inn, preceeded with an icy drop in temperature and an acrid smell assaulting the nostrils. The apparitions result in him disappearing through the adjoining wall. There have been occasions where items have moved or even fell from side tables even though nobody is in sight, and the room has gone icy cold even in the middle of summer. One of the downstairs bars has been affectionately named 'Fred's Bar' by another of the landlords after the Monk. Could the monk be connected to the nearby Edington Priory, or even the old Penleigh House in Westbury that was part of the Monkton Farleigh Priory estate??....There is also a strange room in the attic of the Inn, which has hooks and chains with holes big enough for hands hanging from the ceiling, along with steps that seem to go nowhere....was this used as a torture chamber in a previous time....?!
The Angel Mill
The Angel Mill situated behind the Swimming Baths was a woolen cloth mill that was built in the 1700s and has been owned by many Influential Westbury names over the years including Mr. John Matravers and Mr.Abraham Laverton. It finally closed down in 1969 and was sat derelict for nearly 30 years. During this time a family who held store rooms in the empty building had some unusual experiences within the Mill. Whilst getting stock from the first floor, footsteps have been heard above them, waking accross the floor, and also coming down the steps. This has happened on a number of occasions and at one time each footstep was accompanied by a little cloud of dust being shook from the ceiling with every step. Upon investigating upstairs, all doors to the upper room were locked, and once opened - nobody was inside. On another occasion two young girls of the family where in a room where a lot of pillows where being stored. They were being mischeivous shouting out to the ghost of Abraham Laverton, when a pillow floated into the air and launched towards them! Needless to say they fled, and did not like to be alone in the Mill after that. Since the Mill was converted to Flats in the 1990s the experiences of the residents hearing footsteps have increased, with residents reporting hearing footsteps pacing up and down along corridors, through rooms and also passing through walls.
The Ivy House
Ivy House is again another old an fascinating building that holds a rich history. Located next to the Swimming Pool, the house had a stream that passed through the garden aiding the production of cloth at the nearby Angel Mill. Not a lot is known about the history of the house as the records were destroyed in a fire that occurred at the estate agents over the road. Visitors to the house have reported shivering inside the house, and feeling all of their hairs stand on end. Lots of people engaged with the seeking out of the paranormal have visited the house and have reported sensing a young ghost of a female child within the building. One of these stayed overnight with 'Paranormal Equipment' and later displayed his findings on a television series about ghosts. Within the house a few curiosities have been found. 2 sets of wooden Rosary beads are nailed to the ceiling beams in two different rooms. Each of these has had the figure of Jesus removed, leaving just the empty wooden cross with a nail potruding from where Jesus was originally placed. These beads have not been removed by any owner and nobody knows who originally hung them there and for what purpose. There is also a room with a hidden door. This wooden door leads only to a small enclosed space almost cupboard like in size, with a large built-in wooden chair inside that cannot be removed and stretches up to the ceiling in height, and a series of wooden pegs in the upper parts of the walls. The wooden door has a small circular window in, with a pane of glass that can be swung sideways allowing something to be passed through. These rooms were often used in Victorian England to 'hide away' mad or unstable relatives from visitors, and also to punish children. They would be strapped to the back of the chair and sometimes their hands would be tied too. This room in the Ivy House looks out onto a strange stained glass window that is designed for a child, with brght colours and sunflowers painted. Is this the room of the young girl ghost that many have sensed here??
Please use caution when retrieving and replacing this cache to ensure you are not being overlooked as this can be a highly muggle populated area.
Many of these stories have been inspired from The books 'The Child of Ivy House and other Ghost Stories around Westbury'; 'The Chair at Chalford and other Eerie tales around Westbury' and 'Westbury through Time' all available from Westbury Town Information Centre.
If you have any good ghost stories about the local area you would like to share please feel free to message Fefe_alabama with them!
Happy caching!
Well done to billiethecat on being FTF