The Most Haunted Village - Prestbury

Perhaps an ancient grievance between the two sets of clergy causes the thrice-yearly appearance of the Black Abbot. His hooded figure may be seen at Easter, Christmas, and on All Saints' Day. His walk starts in the church, continues through the churchyard, and ends at Reform Cottage close by. This is a weather-boarded cottage dating from the sixteenth century that stands on Deep Street. A long front garden separates it from this busy thoroughfare and the site of the garden is supposed to have been the burial-ground of the monks who came to Prestbury from Llanthony. On each of the three church festivals footsteps are heard approaching the cottage. There is a brief pause as though the person is hesitating before knocking at the door and then mysterious sounds come from the attic - more footsteps, and the sounds of things being knocked over, though later investigation always reveals everything in its rightful place. At the time of my visit to Prestbury the cottage was up for sale (spring 1979); it will be interesting to hear if the phenomenon continues. A secret passageway is supposed to link the cottage with the church, but even more mysterious are the concealed stone steps in the hillside overlooking the village which probably once led to a hermit's cave high in a limestone cliff.

Prestbury's most famous ghost is the cavalier on horseback who is frequently heard galloping through the Burgage and Mill Lane (there are also reports of him riding down Shaw Green and Bow Bridge Lanes). During the Civil War the inhabitants of Prestbury House supported the Cromwellian cause and operated a primitive roadblock (a rope stretched across the road) opposite their house. One night they were successful in dismounting a Royalist dispatch rider who was caught and executed on the spot. This is the incident that the ghostly ride commemorates. Confusingly, another ghost on horseback haunts the same locality. He is a knight in armour who pauses to salute before galloping away (in contrast to the cavalier whose headlong flight always ends abruptly).

Among the lesser-known ghosts of Prestbury is the old lady dressed in ancient clothes who peers into the windows of buildings in the main street. She disappears by the Almshouses put up by Ann Goodrich in 1720. A phantom shepherd, complete with ghostly sheep, was seen in Swindon Lane on a foggy autumn night in 1975. Herdsmen often have difficulty in driving their flocks past the Plough Inn, Mill Street. Dogs also freeze at this point: their hackles rise and they show the whites of their eyes - a sure sign of acute distress in a dog. Horses too sense evil here yet no one can account for it unless it has something to do with an apparition known as Mrs Preece's Ghost which also haunts Mill Lane. This has been described as a white misty form which glides across the fields towards the lane. When it reaches the wall it seems to hesitate for a moment and then vanishes.

Better known is the cultured ghost of Sundial Cottage who is heard playing the spinet. This is supposed to have been a Professor of Music who taught pupils in the room from which the sounds emanate.