Ghost town – spooky stories from the other side

GHOST TOWN

Writer

Gabriella Griffith

“Ramsgate is haunted by history,” says local ghost and gruesome murder expert Johanne Eddington, who runs Rotten Ramsgate Tours. “Of all of the local towns, Ramsgate has the longest list of historical murders. It’s probably because of the nature of the town as a port – you’ve had soldiers, sailors and smugglers. And add Victorians to the mix, who loved gothic horror.”

With this issue of the mag covering Halloween, we thought we’d take a courageous canter through Ramsgate’s supposed spirits. Grab your proton packs…

Ramsgate is a town steeped in history – its rich maritime past has led to an abundance of beautiful historical buildings, monuments, sweeping crescents, parks and er… ghosts. From phantom carriages and steam boats, to hooded monks and horsemen, our little town has its fair share of terrifying tales

The Minster Monk

Our first tale takes us to Old Oak Cottage, an 11th century listed building in Minster which plays host to the ghost of a guilty Benedictine monk. It was reported in the Advertiser in October 1926 that the lady of the house, a Mrs E Abbey, had been paid a visit: “I saw the figure of a monk, its face was hidden by a cowl and I could just hear the whirl of his robe. It simply walked around and then came up to the bed and looked.” Mrs Abbey told the reporter how the monk had remained next to her bed while she fell asleep. How on earth she managed to fall asleep is beyond us but she did describe the ghost as a “gentle spirit”.

The theory goes that the cottage was once the guest house attached to St Mildred’s Abbey. The monk had wrongly accused a fellow monk and nun of having an affair and they were walled alive into the building as punishment. “He confessed on his deathbed and his restless spirit remains roaming the scene of his crime,” the report added. His ghost has been seen a number of times since…

Footsteps in Ellington Park

Perhaps one of Ramsgate’s most infamous murders is that of Katherine Sprackling, who along with her six dogs was murdered by her husband Adam Sprackling in 1652 in their home, Ellington House (now demolished, on site where the café is). In trouble with his creditors and after an evening of drinking with his tenants, Sprackling attacked his wife, chopping off her hand with an axe before bludgeoning her over the head. The story goes that the nursemaid took their daughter down to the tunnels under the park to keep her safe, where she ran away and was never seen again. The sound of footsteps could be heard running through the tunnels thereafter. Was it Katherine’s ghost looking for her daughter? Or, as was later suggested, the sound of hooves from local stables? I guess we’ll never know…

Screaming Alley

No, we’re not talking about the colourful local cabaret act but rather the little laneway from Grange Road to Westcliff promenade which is the scene of not one but two ghostly tales, one of which is believed to have given the walkway its dramatic name. The first theory goes that a horse pulling a carriage of people bolted from

Grange Road, right over the edge of the cliff – no railings in those days, unfortunately.

The second story is that a local nun was caught having an affair with a monk from St Augustine Abbey and was walled up alive there (yes, another one) and her screams can be heard on stormy nights. Apparently a soldier staying in the town during WW2 saw a woman dressed in white emerge through the wall – arms outstretched, searching for help. Which of the two tales is it though? Anyone fancy a midnight vigil to try and put the matter to rest?

Smuggler’s Leap

Onwards to Lord of the Manor crossroads, where it is reported on a new year’s eve sometime in the 1970s, revellers saw a man in flowing robes riding a white horse across the fields from Pegwell Bay. A 1974 edition of The East Kent Times reports that the man “disappeared after clattering over the Lord of the Manor crossroads”. Legend has it he is the ghost of a smuggler who, weighed down with booty, was trying to outrun the customs men. He tried to jump his horse across a chalk pit at Mount Pleasant but they fell to their death. The tale apparently gives the name to the Smuggler’s Leap chalk pit in Acol.

The ghost ship Lovibond

When newlyweds Simon and Annetta Reed boarded a threemasted schooner destined for Oporto, Portugal, in February 1748, they had their whole lives ahead of them. That is until first mate John Rivers, best man at their wedding, decided he was also in love with Annetta and took matters into his own hands. Unable to cope with his heartache, he purposely steered the ship, called the Lovibond, onto Goodwin Sands, a sandbank off the coast of Ramsgate and Deal – killing everyone onboard.

The ship has appeared roughly every fifty years since. In 1798 a local captain reported almost colliding with a schooner with three masts, allegedly hearing the sounds of celebration before it broke up on the sands. (No such ship was later found.) Another half century later locals saw a three-masted schooner sailing towards the sands. In 1848 the same ship was seen breaking up on the sand with no actual shipwreck discovered. The last known sighting was by a Captain Bull Prestwick in 1948, who saw her, saying she gave off an eerie white glow. Despite people gathering on the beach to see if she would appear in 1998, the ghost ship Lovibond failed to show up. Next scheduled haunting will be in 2048 – see you on the sands…

Visit rottenramsgate.weebly.com to join Johanne on a tour of Ramsgate’s spooks

T: 01843 279 925

ian@diarchitecture.co.uk

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