House of Death

It could hardly be a coincidence that twenty suicides and a murder took place in a single house over a period of about fifty years, from 1883 to 1934. The house in question was located at 16 Montpelier Place in Ealing, West London, and Andrew Green described it in his book Our Haunted Kingdom.

All the deaths involved people who either jumped off or fell from the top of the building's seventy-foot-high tower. The first victim was twelve-year-old Ann Hinchfield. Her death, in 1883, was referred to as a fall by police, though local people believed it was a suicide. One of the last victims was a baby who was thrown from the top of the tower by a nurse, who then killed herself by jumping off.

After the last murder and suicide occurred, in 1934, the building was left empty. Understandably; few people would want to live in a place that was the scene of so many tragedies.

Author Andrew Green first had contact with the house during World War II, when he was fifteen years old. His father inspected the premises to see if it could be used to store goods and supplies for the war effort and Andrew accompanied him.

The teenager decided to explore the top of the tower. It was a beautiful day, and the view was magnificent. Suddenly, young Andrew felt like taking a walk around the house's large garden. For some reason, he decided that the quickest way to the grass below was to step over from the top of the tower. The garden seemed to be only inches below him.

He had one leg over the side when his father grabbed him. When Andrew looked down seventy feet to the pavement below, he felt sickened and dizzy by what had almost happened. He had actually believed for several seconds that the grass was just underneath the rim of the tower.

Did the house somehow hypnotize him into thinking he was just inches above the ground? Did all of the house's victims experience a similar sensation of thinking they were able to step to the ground below? Were they all actual suicides or did some unknown force affect their state of mind? It's impossible to know for sure. But if Andrew's father hadn't grabbed him that afternoon, he might have been listed as suicide number twenty-one.

Before he and his father left the house, Andrew took a picture to show his friends. When it was developed, the clear image was seen of a young girl looking out of an upper window in the house. The girl hadn't been visible to Andrew when he took the picture. Who was the mysterious figure in the window of the empty building? Was it the ghost of Ann Hinchfield, the tower's first victim?

After Andrew related his experience to his mother, Mrs. Green revealed a disturbing incident that had happened to her back in 1934. She was a reserve nurse at the house after the final death. As Mrs. Green walked to take a seat in the garden to wait for the doctor, she saw footsteps in the grass moving toward the very same bench where she was headed.

It was as if an invisible person was making indentations in the grass. Then Mrs. Green saw the slats of the bench move back as if someone had sat down. Needless to say, she moved away from there quickly. Was it an invisible ghost or just a figment of her imagination? She never found out.

Andrew Green didn't believe the house was evil. He felt there was something in the air, like an accumulated "energy" or "atmosphere," that had built up over the years and affected certain susceptible people.

In the 1950s, the house at 16 Montpelier Place was divided into a number of separate apartments. Many tenants reported hearing mysterious footsteps and the opening and closing of doors, among other unusual noises.

Was it a house of evil? Did ghostly spirits affect the thoughts and actions of the living? Was there an accumulated build up of energy? The mystery of 16 Montpelier Place remains unsolved.