DUCHESS LAKE - Stoke Park Hospital Bristol
A few of the visitors to this hospital, the main building of which was the home of the Duchess of Beaufort, have sometimes been surprised to see the figure of what appears to be a woman riding a horse moving through the trees near the lake. Some have ignored the couple, others have spent a few minutes in vain waiting for her reappearance. In 1965 a group of youngsters exploring the woods also saw the woman and was convinced that she was the ghost of the Duchess herself. `She is know to have frequented the lakeside`, one of them said.
BRISTOL CATHEDRAL - Deanery Road Bristol
Witnessed by a number of visitors over the past few years has been the figure of a monk in a grey habit which in itself is rather mysterious. As Margaret Royal points out in her 'Bristol Ghosts', when recording the haunting here, Augustinians who founded the priory church, which later became the cathedral, wore black. Were lay-brothers of the order, I wonder, clothed in grey? The library adjoining the cathedral and built on a section of the foundations of the ordinary priory, is haunted by the same monk, always at about 4.30 p.m., presumably at the time for Benediction.
LLANDOGER TROW - King Street Bristol
The original ghost of this celebrated inn, named after a small village, seems to have partly deserted it, for only his unusual footsteps are heard these days. The Inn, built in 1664, once housed a young physically-handicapped lad who, because of a severe deformity, limped badly. He was born, worked and died here, but relevant dates are, unfortunately, not known. His ghost used to be seen in the yard near a wall in what is assumed to be his bedroom over the Old Bar and on the stairs. A couple who used to live in part of the building saw the ghost of the lad slowly moving up the stairway on two occasions some years ago. Nowadays the sound of a footstep and a 'dragging limb'are heard late at night.
VASSAL PARK - Fishponds Bristol
Bob Saywood, a long standing friend of mine, who gained his degree from Bristol University, like many people often returns on nostalgic visits to the city, to re-live the days of his youth. During his studies he heard stories of Vassal Park being haunted by the Duchess of Beaufort but it is only in recent year that he took much notice of the reports.
One afternoon in 1976, accompanied by his wife, Beatrice, he decided to enjoy a quiet stroll through the park and was nearing a small bridge when he noticed an unusual figure at the other end. The image looked rather like a monk in a dark brown gown and a hood but as Beatrice confirmed, 'It seemed to be floating over the path'. It moved forward, away from the Saywoods until it reached a wall a few feet from the bridge and then just 'disappeared'. It was interested to see a similar report by Margaret Royal and Ian Girvan in their excellent booklet 'Bristol Ghost', published in 1977.
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