A talk by Robert Halliday.
We had a good turn out for Robert Halliday’s talk on Suffolk Ghosts and Hauntings. He
introduced himself as the author of several books on paranormal activity
“Suffolk Strange but True”,” The Cambridge Ghost Book” and “Suffolk Graves – A
History of Suffolk Gravestones”.
Robert was born in Cambridge and at an early age, he became interested in ghosts. He began by describing his own paranormal experiences. In 1997 on a visit to St Andrew’s church in
Walberswick, he saw a blue ghostly figure through a window frame on the north
or “sinister” side of the church. He investigated the churchyard where he saw
the vision, it suddenly became chilly on that spot but he found no ghost. He
returned in 2003 and saw the shape again through the window frame but although
he waited for four hours, again he saw nothing.
Robert then told us of other strange, unexplained happenings in Suffolk. In 2003, he was
investigating an area between Walberswick and Blythborough called Dead Man’s
Graves. It was believed to be where young men committed suicide. It aroused
considerable interest and Robert was accompanied by a BBC team to make a
programme about this – mysteriously, the BBC equipment stopped working at the point
of the Dead Man’s Graves. Closer to home, Robert said there was a story that
the Royal Oak pub in Sudbury was haunted because it was made of the wood from
the Sudbury gibbet. A house in Great Cornard was apparently haunted by a ghost
called Lady Perry in the 1950’s but nothing was found when a séance was held
there.
In the High Street of Southwold, a lady was seen leaning out of an upstairs window of Sutherland
House. She was wearing 17th century attire. It was believed to be
Emma, a maidservant who was in love with the Earl of Sandwich. She pined away
and died when he was killed in a sea battle with the Dutch in 1672 at the
Battle of Sole Bay. On the anniversary of his death, footsteps and doors
opening and closing were heard on the upper floor.
In Bury St Edmunds, brown monks were seen in Abbeygate Street, strangely mostly in
cellars. In 1962, the proprietor of a shop saw a brown monk in his basement and
in 1967, there was another sighting in the cellar of a shop. In 1992 in
Fleetwoods Wine Cellar, a brown monk appeared after the bar had shut for the
night and the room went cold.
Robert ended his talk with the story of the mummified cat found on the site of the Mill
Hotel in Sudbury. While the hotel was being renovated, the cat was removed and the
building where the cat was taken caught fire and the roof collapsed. The cat
was returned to its original resting place and everything returned to normal. A
similar story happened when a dead cat was taken from the Nutshell pub in Bury
St Edmunds. When it was removed, it brought nothing but bad luck so it was
reinstalled.
Robert showed a great passion for the paranormal – a detailed and well-researched talk which
kept us guessing.
Clare Mortimer
NOTICES- Proposed visit to Otley Hall in September cancelled, due to lack of communication from the owners.
2. Bookings now being taken for excursions to Gressenhall Workhouse in August and The National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket in September.
3. Reminder of our evening tour and talk at the Drill Hall in Sudbury – 7.15pm in Gainsborough Street – parking on Market Hill (immediately outside the Hall for Blue Badge holders