The Village of Wroughton

Hello and welcome to my second Wroughton ghost blog. I had so many interesting responses to my last blog and as a result I'll be attending a ghost watch at a local pub and having a chat with the owner of a Wroughton haunted house. Coincidentally it’s the very house that my great grandparents once lived in, back in the 19^th century. I will report back on these experiences next time.

The other interesting piece of information that came up after my last blog was the question, is taxine (the hallucinogenic gas released by yew trees in hot weather) visible? A long dead church warden had mentioned seeing something ghostly moving close to the old yew, but he was too far away to be affected by the gas. So, what if it's visible under certain conditions, like low air pressure, high moisture? Could it have been the taxine gas that he saw? Maybe an observational study is required when the weather gets warmer. Any volunteers?

So let’s move on to the ghosts of the churchyard

                                         CHILDREN OF THE GRAVES       

                                  

Why you might ask would there be ghosts of children in a graveyard? There's a very good reason. Let me explain. In the garden of the Old Rectory House, now called Ivery House is an old stable block. Go and have a look, it’s fully visible from the road into the church car park. In 1749 Thomas Benet of Saltrop, a local benefactor donated £40 a year to local education. It was divided between a school master here in Wroughton and another at Broad Hinton. This was to teach the three R's - reading, writing, arithmetic and a fourth R, which was very important at the time…Religion! Children were taught by repeating things out loud and made to copy everything down. Girls probably had a fair smattering of knitting and sewing thrown in and discipline was administered through the cane.

The upstairs was for the girls and downstairs for the boys. It was in use for over a hundred years. By 1867 it was totally dilapidated and so Legge House was built. So began another chapter in the history of schooling in Wroughton. Many older residents can still remember climbing the hill to school. My mum remembered the boys throwing grass snakes at the girls and sending them screaming round the graveyard. So you can see how children fit into this graveyard location.

And here is how they manifest...Imagine a quiet day in the present time, you’re sat on one of the benches in the sun, maybe reading a book or just enjoying the meditative ambiance after tending a grave. You hear children playing. You think nothing of it, - kids larking around and laughing. You may even catch the odd word, mumbled, not quite coherent. Then you turn your head expecting to see them. And nothing. You walk around but there are no children. In fact there is no one. When I related this story on my ghost walk a lady told me that she’d heard children laughing and playing and on investigation there was no one there. It had been a happy sound, nothing creepy about it at all.

I’ve heard similar stories from several people and given that the graveyard was a playground for children for several hundred years, is it surprising that the imprint of their games still charge the atmosphere? If you go there on a quiet day maybe you too will hear the children play…

Legge House, thought to be built from the ruins of the chapel of St Mary's in Elcombe

                                                WROUGHTON HOUSE

Wroughton house is located behind the high wall to your right when you walk towards the graveyard from the main road. It was rebuilt in 1760 and a well can be found within the present house walls indicating a much older, smaller house once stood there. It was owned by the Codrington family who were highly esteemed members of the community. William Wyndham Codrington who was here in the 19^th Century was a bit of an adventurer but also sat as a magistrate.

It is the attic area that I wish to bring to your attention. The first time I heard stories about the attic was from a builder who was working there in the late 1990’s. He said that despite it being summer the temperature intermittently dipped to freezing which spooked some of the workers who then refused to work there.

By itself this could be explainable, draughts, cold spots, it is an old house after all. However when I began to investigate more I found out that during the 2^nd WW soldiers were billeted in the attic rooms. They told similar stories but in addition said that their belongings were often moved around and again many refused to stay.

From when I first began my ghost walks a couple of years ago more and more stories have been sent to me. Many involve builders who have been spooked by inexplicable happenings. One builder told me he would leave his tools at the end of the day neatly ordered to start work the next day, but when he arrived the next morning they had been moved. You have to consider that maybe someone who knew the stories deliberately moved the tools to freak him out. Practical jokes being a big part of builder's camaraderie.

I also received a message from a lady whose father had worked in the house back in the 70’s. She told me that her father had said there was a ladder going from the ground floor through a hatch to an upstairs bedroom as there were no stairs. One day the ladder started moving as if someone was climbing it but no one was visible. Ironically a spirit level also went missing and was never found.

Another old Wroughtonian, many years dead himself, would tell the tale of going into the attic rooms and finding things had been moved around. His most frightening experience was coming across an old lady in crinolines sat in a rocking chair. He high tailed it out and was reluctant to ever go back.

We have to remember that all this is subjective, drops in temperature, things moving can all be explained in a variety of ways. However it made me wonder if there is a ghost, who could it be? Who is it tidying up after the workmen? Who would be the person to keep a house spick and span? Who would live in the attic in times gone by? A maid?  

This is what I discovered. In 1900 a 29 year old maid was found hanged in the outhouse. Her name was Ada Truscott. What’s Ada’s story? What made her end her life so tragically? Is Ada still there? 

I delved a little deeper and discovered Ada on the 1891 census 9 years earlier living in Bristol. She is described as cook/domestic and is the only servant for a family consisting of a mother and father and four sons. The four sons are of a similar age to the 21 year old Ada and are all students of engineering and medicine. One can only imagine the drudgery of her work. We can only guess what prompted her untimely death 9 years later. Loneliness? Pregnancy? The question remains. Does Ada still live in the attic? 

1891 census showing Ada Truscott as cook/domestic - 9 years before her tragic death

Lastly if you haven't heard. I've written a children's book. A ghost story, what else? Please have a look on Amazon and if you like these blogs, please purchase the book as I've taken a Wroughton ghost story and turned it into a goose bump, shiver fest for the kids. The reviews have been fab so what are you waiting for? 

I look forward to your comments and please leave your email address on the right of this page if you'd like to subscribe to my blogs. Till next time...don't get scared...