Spooky Tales From The Village
Arksey has never been renowned for being haunted, although given the age of the village, one would expect to hear the odd ghost story now and then.
Now I like a bit of ghost hunting, so after putting out an appeal on my Arksey & Bentley Bygone Years Facebook group, I was able to gather a good few personal experiences to share.
This lighthearted look at 'things that go bump in the night' shouldn't be taken too seriously. As with any subjective topic, you either believe or you don't, and as nothing here can be proved, this little diversion from factual history should either interest the believer, or entertain the non-believer.
Please note, all stories are told as submitted but in my own words. I provide a little of my own historic research too for information purposes. Anonymity has been preserved where requested.
Contents
- The Spooks of Almholme Lane
- 'Orbs'
- Chopping Wood
- A Case of Reincarnation?
- A Secret Room
- A Psychic tour of Arksey
- The Spirits of the Plough Inn
- Witches of Arksey
- Echoes of Playtime
- Lost In the Churchyard
- The Restless Baronets?
- Dust or Orb?
- The Haunting of Arksey Hall
- The Soul Taker
- Evil Presence
- The Children
- A Time-slip
- Ghostly Hands
- Strange Sounds on Station Road
- Bentley Ghosts
- Coliseum Ghost
- A Sinister Spirit
- A School Haunting
- Finally...
- Last Note
The Spooks of Almholme Lane
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| Terraced Houses in Almholme Lane |
The terraced houses in Almholme Lane were built in the early 20th century but they seem to be home to some very active spirits.
'Orbs'
Lorraine Smith, who lives in one of the terraced houses has witnessed a picture 'flying' off a wall in her home, but it is the sheer amount of 'orbs' seen zooming around her rooms that has her mystified. Lorraine has captured some amazing footage of these orbs, which regularly put on fantastic light shows for her. Here is a video she shot one winter's morning before sunrise.
Video courtesy of Lorraine Smith
Chopping Wood
A neighbour of Lorraine Smith's claims to have seen the apparition of a woman chopping wood in her garden. An indication maybe that even when you're dead the work doesn't stop!
A Case of Reincarnation?
A story of a possible reincarnation is told by Clare Holmes who hasn't lived in Arksey for some decades. She recalls driving past the terraced houses a few years ago with her young son, who said 'I used to live here with my other Mummy and Daddy, I fell out of the window and died'.I haven't been able to find any records of any children falling to their deaths from those houses, but maybe you know differently?
A Secret Room
Another strange little tale from Almholme Lane isn't a ghost story at all, but is rather odd. A newspaper cutting I kept from 1992 recounted 'Strange Tales from Bentley'. In one passage an Arksey woman born in 1909 recalled that she once lived in a cottage in Almholme Lane. When it was pulled down they removed a fireplace and cooking range to find behind it, a secret door into a secret room!For a full transcript of the cutting go to Scrapbook.
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| Newspaper cutting containing the 'secret room' story |
A Psychic Tour of Arksey
Nicola Barber recalls the time she accompanied a psychic medium friend of hers on a visit to Arksey one evening, to see what he could 'pick up' on. They started at the Plough Inn where spirits of a different kind were on offer that night!
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| The Plough Inn, home to spirits of a different kind |
The Spirits of the Plough Inn
Nicola and her psychic friend - we'll call him 'Ian' in the absence of his real name - walked into the pub and over by the fire he saw a plumpish man sat in a wooden chair smoking a clay pipe. Ian thought he belonged to the 17th or 18th century, which means that rather than sitting in the present 1904 building, he would have been sat in the previous building - a long low beer house called The Horseshoe.
There is a private door next to the door into the ladies toilets, and this piqued Ian's interest. Going over to the door he placed his hand on it and had a vision of a horse. He returned to the door again and this time 'saw' a farmhand. Well, there is stabling for horses at the rear of the building and with Brook House Farm right next door for many decades it's what one would expect to sense I suppose.
Next, Ian put his hand on the door to the ladies toilets and a voice said 'you're not allowed in here!' A warning he heeded on this occasion!
Witches of Arksey
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| Marsh Lane leading up to the railway line |
Nicola says that Ian got a picture of a house in some woods, a house they pinpointed to an area over the railway line at the top of Marsh Lane. Ian said that a witch once lived there. There may be an element of truth in this story because this stretch of Marsh Lane was once a through road to Shaftholme, not the footpath that it is today. So it is entirely possible that there was a house up there once, in a wooded area. As for the resident being a witch, well, wise women who concocted herbal potions for medicinal purposes were targeted as witches at certain times in history, so it wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility that such a 'wise woman' lived near the village.
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| Arksey Almshouses |
Nicola and Ian made their way over to the Almshouses where Ian placed his hand on the wall. A rhyme came to mind which went like this:
Whether this rhyme originated from the Almshouses themselves or the school next door, one cannot say, however it does sound very much like a school yard rhyme.
By the way, a green witch was said to work with nature and energies. They were often skilled herbalists very attuned to natural elements. A black witch, as we all know, works with black magic. Dealing in negative acts to cause harm to others. Apparently, Wells Road in Wheatley had three wells and rumour has it that hundreds of witches were executed there and thrown down the wells as punishment. This may just be rumour as no records exist of any witch trials taking place in Doncaster. Mind you, Wells Road is not that far from Arksey, just over the river Don as the crow flies.
'Black witch, green witch, anyway you want witch,
up witch, down witch, you're gonna die witch.'
Whether this rhyme originated from the Almshouses themselves or the school next door, one cannot say, however it does sound very much like a school yard rhyme.
By the way, a green witch was said to work with nature and energies. They were often skilled herbalists very attuned to natural elements. A black witch, as we all know, works with black magic. Dealing in negative acts to cause harm to others. Apparently, Wells Road in Wheatley had three wells and rumour has it that hundreds of witches were executed there and thrown down the wells as punishment. This may just be rumour as no records exist of any witch trials taking place in Doncaster. Mind you, Wells Road is not that far from Arksey, just over the river Don as the crow flies.
Echoes of Playtime
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| Arksey School in 1895 |
As Nicola and Ian moved on to the Old School next door to the Almshouses Ian sensed a boy throwing a ball and a girl skipping. Nicola (who is also sensitive to these things) says she felt that there were children playing with sticks and hoops.
This is probably a case of residual energy, like memories stored in the stone, rather than dead children still playing.
Lost in the Churchyard
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| Restless dead in Arksey churchyard? |
As Nicola and Ian approached the churchyard Ian sensed that someone was buried outside the church walls and that someone may have been mugged nearby too.
Walking through the churchyard Ian could see a boy in a corner, crying because he'd lost his Mum. Ian tried to help him 'cross over' but the boy wouldn't trust him as it had been a man who had left him there. As Nicola and Ian passed the vicar's door, the security light was activated and the gave nearest to the door attracted their attention. Dating from the 1700's, the grave remembered three children, they felt that the boy they had seen was probably the 'Robert' carved into the stone.
The grave they saw belongs to three children of the Crawshaw family (of Almholme), a very tragic family. They lost three of their eight children in the space of one month. Seven year old Robert Crawshaw followed his two sisters Ann and Jane to the grave in June of 1784. A few years later two more of the Crawshaw children died, making that five out of eight. If it was Robert Crawshaw that Ian saw then maybe his sudden death means he's still looking for his mother, and maybe he remembers the gravedigger who filled in the plot and 'left' him there?
For more on the Crawshaw family go to Local Hamlets Part Three - Almholme.
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| The Crawshaw graves, Robert is buried in the one front left |
Ian and Nicola went over to the other side of the churchyard, by the vicarage boundary to a grave enclosed by iron railings. They noticed that it belonged to woman from the 1800's. Ian put his hand through the railings and felt it was 'grabbed', he said he thought she was 'quite crabby'.
This is interesting because no-one is actually buried in that plot! It's not a grave at all, just a memorial. The lady it commemorates is Mary Chadwick, believed to be related to the Chadwick family of Arksey Hall, who originally came from Leeds. She died in Doncaster in 1804 at the age of 73, and was interred in St Peter's Church Leeds, but wasn't buried there until 1809! She certainly was never buried in Arksey as no burial record exists for her, so where was her body kept for those five years? No wonder she is crabby!
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| The enclosed memorial to Mary Chadwick (1731 - 1804) |
Many thanks to Nicola Barber and her friend.
The Restless Baronets?
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| The Cooke Vault in Arksey Church |
When the Cooke family (of Wheatley, Baronets) vault inside Arksey church was opened in May 2013 after 162 years, it was a thrilling moment. Unable to witness this historic occasion myself, a friend of mine (Symeon Mark Waller) who was involved in the opening process managed to photo-document the events as they happened.
Dust or Orb?
When Symeon sent me the photos I noticed one of them had an 'extra' feature. The photo, which depicts overturned lead coffins left strewn across the vault floor by previous flooding, seemed to have something like a chain of little white 'orbs' snaking in mid air; here is the photo below: |
| Inside the vault, lead coffins to the right and a strange light anomaly above left. |
Now I know some will say it's just dust, and while the jury is still out on the subject of orbs (are they spirit or dust motes?), there does seem to be a distinction between photos of dust particles and these brighter anomalies (such as in Lorraine Smith's video, above). On examining other photos from the vault collection, many of them have these semi-transparent dots and circles floating around, as in this particularly good example below:
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| Dust 'orbs' in the vault |
I think most paranormal experts accept that these types of orbs are nothing more than dust, and the vault was a very dusty environment after being closed for 162 years! But there is something about the 'snake' orb that seems different.
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| Close up image of the 'orb' |
I did show this photo to a psychic friend of mine and he said he could sense two male spirits here. So are the spirits of long dead baronets still trapped in the vault, or does the place just need a good clean? You decide.
For the full story of the vault opening, including many of the photos taken that day go to Secrets of the Vault.
The Haunting of Arksey Hall
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| Arksey Hall. Photo courtesy of Mark Waterhouse |
Arksey Hall on Marsh Lane has a long history in the village, believed to date from Tudor times it has seen Civil War conflict, and been home to a succession of village squires. It has also been sub-divided into a family home and even housed a dry cleaning business. More recently part of the Hall has been converted into a residential care home for the mentally impaired called Beech Tree Hall.
But it was during its time as a care home for the elderly in the late 20th - early 21st century that our next stories come from. My source, who wishes to remain anonymous, worked at the care home for a number of years and told me some truly hair raising tales.
The first story told by my source - we'll call her 'Jane' to make it easier, was about a very strange occurrence when she was on night shift one evening. Checking in on a lady resident in her room, Jane found her sitting bolt upright in bed facing the window next to the bed. As Jane entered the room the lady swung her head around to look at Jane and uttered some Latin words in a gruff tone, quite unlike her own high, girlish voice. Alarmed, Jane fled the room to fetch a colleague, who thought it was highly amusing, however, on returning to the room they found the lady resident quite dead.
Jane remembered some of the Latin words she heard being uttered, and we worked out that they meant something along the lines of 'I possess this soul!'
There certainly seems to be something very nasty at the Hall because Jane also mentioned an incident in the area behind the small stained glass window, above the main entrance. This area is said to be associated with a ghostly presence referred to as 'Father Brown'.
Jane recounted how during a summer heatwave all the night staff had requested to wear shorts during their shift one evening, as it was exceptionally hot. Later on as Jane passed the area by the window she stepped into a freezing cold mass of air, such a contrast to the heat of the rest of the building. She said the freezing air felt like 'pure evil'. Was this 'Father Brown' or the 'Soul Taker', or are they one and the same? Perhaps we'll never know.
Jane recalled how some of the elderly residents talked about 'the children', although no children were in the building. They used to ring for staff and ask them to take the children out so they could get some rest. The ghost of a little girl has also been seen at the Hall, although no-one knows who she is.
There were some French doors in one part of the Hall which were always kept locked, but one night Jane went into the room where they were to find them wide open and orbs of light flying through them.
In another incident, one of the staff had mopped a floor and left the room empty. On returning to the room a few minutes later, there was a circle of small footprints visible on the damp floor.
Before we move on from the Marsh Lane area, Graham Force recalls a story from a previous owner of his mother's house.
Graham thinks it would have been the early 1960's when this occurred. Apparently the lady saw 'hands' coming out of the bathroom wall while she was taking a bath.
He also went on to say that his sister thought she saw 'hand shapes' on the wall in the back bedroom. However, having used that room himself for many years, he thinks what she saw were headlights of cars passing the Willowgarth and shining through the moving trees.
As far as ghosts and hauntings go, Bentley seems to keep them well hidden. I didn't unearth many stories at all, so if you have a spooky Bentley story to share then please get in touch. For details go to About and Contact.
The Soul Taker
The first story told by my source - we'll call her 'Jane' to make it easier, was about a very strange occurrence when she was on night shift one evening. Checking in on a lady resident in her room, Jane found her sitting bolt upright in bed facing the window next to the bed. As Jane entered the room the lady swung her head around to look at Jane and uttered some Latin words in a gruff tone, quite unlike her own high, girlish voice. Alarmed, Jane fled the room to fetch a colleague, who thought it was highly amusing, however, on returning to the room they found the lady resident quite dead.
Jane remembered some of the Latin words she heard being uttered, and we worked out that they meant something along the lines of 'I possess this soul!'
Evil Presence
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| Stained glass window above the door |
There certainly seems to be something very nasty at the Hall because Jane also mentioned an incident in the area behind the small stained glass window, above the main entrance. This area is said to be associated with a ghostly presence referred to as 'Father Brown'.
Jane recounted how during a summer heatwave all the night staff had requested to wear shorts during their shift one evening, as it was exceptionally hot. Later on as Jane passed the area by the window she stepped into a freezing cold mass of air, such a contrast to the heat of the rest of the building. She said the freezing air felt like 'pure evil'. Was this 'Father Brown' or the 'Soul Taker', or are they one and the same? Perhaps we'll never know.
The Children
Jane recalled how some of the elderly residents talked about 'the children', although no children were in the building. They used to ring for staff and ask them to take the children out so they could get some rest. The ghost of a little girl has also been seen at the Hall, although no-one knows who she is.
There were some French doors in one part of the Hall which were always kept locked, but one night Jane went into the room where they were to find them wide open and orbs of light flying through them.
In another incident, one of the staff had mopped a floor and left the room empty. On returning to the room a few minutes later, there was a circle of small footprints visible on the damp floor.
A Time-slip
Finally, a classic 'time-slip' experience as recounted to Jane by one of her colleagues. The Hall has an old dining room containing a Tudor fireplace, perhaps the last original feature in the building.
On one particular occasion a staff member entered the dining room, but instead of seeing their functional tables and chairs, she saw a large wooden table with people sat around it wearing old fashioned clothing and large hats. It goes without saying she made a hasty retreat! Had she just stepped into another time or witnessed an echo of the Hall from long ago?
Arksey Hall seems to have many secrets within its walls and also under its grounds, for it is a known fact that a tunnel stretches underground from Arksey church, all the way to the back gardens of the Hall, where it emerges in the old well. One can only wonder at the things that might have gone on here in times past.
Ghostly Hands
Before we move on from the Marsh Lane area, Graham Force recalls a story from a previous owner of his mother's house.
Graham thinks it would have been the early 1960's when this occurred. Apparently the lady saw 'hands' coming out of the bathroom wall while she was taking a bath.
He also went on to say that his sister thought she saw 'hand shapes' on the wall in the back bedroom. However, having used that room himself for many years, he thinks what she saw were headlights of cars passing the Willowgarth and shining through the moving trees.
Strange Sounds on Station Road
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| Terraced houses on Station Road |
This next tale took place when Kim O'Connor lived in one of the terraced houses on Station Road in the 1980's.
One night Kim had just got into bed when she heard a woman calling out in the distance. The voice sounded anxious as if calling out for someone lost. the voice seemed to get closer and then there was the sound of running feet on wooden stairs, but not at the same level as they were at the time. All went quiet for a few minutes, then she heard a sigh right next to her and someone stroked her face. She flew out of bed and went in to her Mum's room for the night!
This seems to have been an isolated incident as she never heard anything like it again.
Bentley Ghosts
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| Bentley High Street |
As far as ghosts and hauntings go, Bentley seems to keep them well hidden. I didn't unearth many stories at all, so if you have a spooky Bentley story to share then please get in touch. For details go to About and Contact.
Coliseum Ghost
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| The old Coliseum cinema |
Norman Fareham recalls how his mother used to be a cleaner at the old Coliseum cinema on Bentley High Street. She often had to open up and walk through the place in the dark. It was known there was a ghost there and the staff used to say 'good morning' to it.
In later years the Coliseum housed Woods supermarket and Norman's wife worked there. She said the ghost was still there then.
The supermarket is now a Tesco store, but with the Coliseum ghost seemingly quite at home in supermarkets, maybe it is still there?
A Sinister Spirit
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| Askern Road, Bentley |
The following story has been on the internet for a few years now, so here I present a short version of the story with a link at the end to take you to the full story.
This experience took place in a mid-terraced house on Askern Road around the year 2000, and is told by the occupier at the time.
The man and his partner (we'll call them Andy and Sue in the absence of their real names), who was expecting her first child, moved into the rented Askern Road property in the winter of the year 2000. This was despite hearing rumours that nobody ever stayed the full length of their contract and that an old lady had either slipped or was killed on the stairs a few years earlier.
After a few weeks of living in the house the couple noticed there was a 'sudden shift in the overall feeling of the house'. Things started to disappear, only to reappear later. The stair carpet would also slip from its fixings causing stumbles.
One evening, Sue was preparing dinner and she had her back to the kitchen door but felt a presence standing there, even seeing a figure out of the corner of her eye. She assumed it was Andy, so continued a conversation they had been having earlier unaware he was actually in the lounge. She turned to face 'Andy', but there was no-one there.
The activity worsened. More things went missing, only to turn up again in bizarre locations or not at all. One night Andy and Sue went out visiting, making sure all their electrical items were switched off. When they returned later all the lights were on and the TV and CD player were on full blast.
They blamed their landlord for unauthorized access, but a neighbour confirmed that no-one had been seen entering or leaving the property, and there were no signs of a break-in.
Andy and Sue began to spend less and less time in the house and once, while they were out Sue's father called round and knocked on the door. He saw a figure peep out of the front window but when no-one answered the door he shouted through the letterbox. He then rang Andy on his mobile phone to ask why they weren't answering, only to be told they weren't even at home!
One night Andy was woken from a deep sleep by a terrible racket downstairs. He jumped out of bed hearing the voices of a man and woman having a blazing argument in his living room. With Sue panicked he picked up a wooden stick and went to investigate. The floorboards creaked as he walked towards the bedroom door and he heard a voice say 'Shhh, be quiet someone's coming!' Andy ran down the stairs making as much noise as he could and turning all the lights on only to discover no-one was there at all.
It wasn't long before they felt a presence on the stairs again, so Andy got a Polaroid camera and took some shots on the stairs. On two of the photos Andy describes he saw what looked like a glowing, Christ like energy.
The next day Sue's father called round again so they told him about the voices and showed him the photos. Later, as he was coming down the stairs the carpet gave way again (despite having been fixed down securely), as he turned to stop himself from falling he had the feeling that something passed through him. The experience scared him so much he ran from the house and refused to set foot in it again.
With the baby soon due to be born Andy and Sue found a new home and moved on. However, they later found out that the previous tenants had also been forced to move out for similar reasons.
As for the incident which may have started all the activity, Andy and Sue found out that an old lady who had lived there was pushed by an attacker on the stairs. She slipped on a loose carpet and fractured her skull, later passing away.
To read the full story go to When I lived in a Haunted House.
A School Haunting
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| Don Valley High School, Scawthorpe |
This story is also taken from another online source. Retold here in my own words, a link to the original post is available below.
This story concerns Don Valley High School in Scawthorpe. Not the new, bright shiny building which has just been built, but the original 1960's school which many of us attended, including myself.
The story is told by a former pupil, Sarah, who was in a drama class near the main stage when this strange thing happened.
The students were not allowed on the stage without permission, but one day Sarah climbed on without being seen and went behind the curtains. She felt someone push her, although she was alone. She looked around but saw no-one. Then she looked around again and saw the ghost of a boy with a 'pole swinging through his head'. She was terrified and ran out.
Later, Sarah and her friend were acting a Hogwarts scene from Harry Potter, and she warned her friend not to go behind the curtain but she wouldn't listen and went anyway, only to have her T-shirt pulled by something unseen.
Later, the drama teacher told the students what had happened in the past. There was a play taking place on stage and a boy was stood in the side wings as the curtains were closing. The curtain fell off the rail and a pole hit him on the head causing his death.
After the lesson they all went behind the curtain in quiet remembrance and saw the ghost again.
The ghost was believed to only appear to those performing on that stage.
Unfortunately I could not verify the story of the boy being killed.
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| The stage in the main hall at Don Valley School |
To see the story in Sarah's words go to South Yorkshire Spooky Tales.
Finally...
Things we would like to know more about.
Whilst gathering stories for this article a number of comments were made on my Facebook post. Snippets of things people had heard about but couldn't expand on. I list a few of them now in the hope they will jog a memory or two.
Perhaps some of you have heard tales of Roman Soldiers on the Roman Ridge? Or how about a Blue Lady behind houses on Coney Road, Toll Bar? Have you heard any stories about a Red Lady or Red Legs on the old Bentley pit tip? While on the subject of coloured ladies, how about the White Lady of Daw Wood? Maybe someone knows about the now demolished Drum & Monkey pub at Shaftholme being haunted too?
If you have answers to any of these questions or have any stories of your own there are a variety of ways to get in touch, to find out more go to 'About and Contact'.
Last Note
I have to confess, when I started to put this article together I was racking my brains trying to come up with a more interesting title than 'Haunted Arksey'. Anyway, I had music playing online while writing this and the song 'There's a Ghost in My House' by R Dean Taylor came on, and hey presto, there was my title. Spooky eh?
There's a Ghost in my House by R Dean Taylor
Happy Halloween!
Alison Vainlo
First written 2017, updated 2020
First written 2017, updated 2020
