Chingle Hall ~ A brief History
Just north of Preston, in the small village of Goosnargh, lies Chingle Hall. A small, unassuming place, it is an important place. It is said to be one of the oldest houses in the area, a Saint was born there, and it is supposedly the most haunted house in Great Britain….
The house is believed to have been built in 1260 by a young knight named Adam De Singleton. The house was first call Singleton Hall, but was later changed to Chingle Hall. During the time of the Catholic reformation, it was illegal to practice mass in Britain and Chingle Hall was used as a place of worship by Catholics and had many priest hides made for the Priests to hide in if the Hall was raided by the kings soldiers.
Chingle Hall still has its original oak front door, now around 800 years old. Upon the door is the 'Sanctuary Knocker' which is in the shape of a 'Y'. The three points represent the father, the son and the holly spirit, and if you were an outlaw and you made it to Chingle Hall and managed to touch this knocker, you were granted amnesty for a few days. Once you left the Hall you could not be arrested if you went straight to the nearest port and left the country. Once in the porch there is a narrow window, the ‘witches window’ set into the wall. This is the only original Tudor glass. During the time of the Catholic reformation, a candle would be placed in the window, and the light would shine out in the shape of a cross to let people know that it was safe to come to mass. It also acted as a way of finding the Hall at night. Once inside the Great Hall, you see the wooden beams going across the ceiling. Some of these beams have strange symbols on them. No one really knew what these symbols were, until some scientists took samples of the wood. They found that the wood was much older than Chingle Hall, and had a lot of salt in them. The wood had actually come from an old Viking longboat, the name Goosnargh being of Viking origin.
St John Wall, born in the Hall in the 17th century, was hanged for heresy in Worcester in 1679. His head was taken to France but is believed to have eventually been brought back and buried at the Hall.
The Ghosts
The hauntings have been recorded here for many centuries, but the stories were not brought to light until a couple bought the Hall as a crumbling ruin, and lovingly restored it. I remember the Hall being for sale – my mum actually contemplated buying it but decided that it would be too much work to ‘do it up’……………what a shame! We could have been rich! Rich I tell you! LOL!
Many people have described seeing shadowy monks, a strange skull-like face peering out of the St John Wall Room window, a woman in a long dress, and faces looking into the windows of the Great Hall. Monks have also been seen in the orchard, and motorists travelling along the road that runs past the Hall have glimpsed strange figures flitting about! Bottoms have been pinched, handbags rattled, small children giggle with glee at something visible only to them, a stroke victim was helped up the stairs, strange sounds have been recorded – the list is endless!
Anyhoo, I’d never really heard about the Ghosties there, and when I was dragged along by mum and her friend, I wasn’t really looking forward to the visit. I was surprised at just how small the Hall is………..sitting in a little moat with a stone bridge leading up to the ancient door. There was a caravan in the orchard selling tickets and mum kept me out – because there were literally hundreds of books full of the encounters that visitors had had there! (I was allowed to sit and read some afterwards). As we crossed the bridge and went into the porch I was listening intently to the Guide. As I listened I was felt that someone was lifting my skirt up at the back! I spun round (ready to give someone a slap) but was faced by a bare wall……the other people in the group we in front of me…………..hmmmmmmm…”odd” I thought….We continued into the Chapel. A strong waft of incense greeted me, and made me cough & splutter……..but when I asked, no one else smelt it. Feeling a bit silly, I wandered over to the doorway and wondered whether to take a few snaps. My camera, a new-fangled Minolta with an auto-zoom began to beep (it normally did this when the shutter button was pressed, and the lens began to slide in and out….in and out….in and out…….and suddenly all attention was on me again. I decided that the battery was flat but the guide assured me that it was ‘always happening’. Nothing much else happened, apart from my funny turn on the upper landing (as described in another thread) until we got into the St John Wall room. As we walked in I could smell the most vile stench. I looked accusingly at a small child, but it was giggling away, not acting as if it had filled it’s nappy….and besides, the smell was like rotten meat. That high, sickly sweet smell…..ick! When I mentioned this it was clear that I was the only person who could smell it….very embarrassing again….until another woman piped up that she smelt it as she entered the room. As we left, I turned back and decided to see if I could take a picture of the Hall. The camera worked perfectly…it was then that mum told me of her experiences there, and showed me the vast array of visitors’ comments in the dusty books kept in the caravan.
I returned twice more with different people. On one occasion something pulled my friends’ hair so hard that her eyes watered. We watched as several hairs floated down onto the floor. She also nearly passed out on the landing, and complained of feeling sea-sick. The final time there, I had gone in a small group of about 6 and we had the place to ourselves. On the way out I tried to open the heavy door from the Great Hall into the Porch but it wouldn’t budge. I struggled with it for some time before asking to guide to let us out. He simply tapped on the door and said “please let the young lady out”……….and the heavy door swung open. I don’t mind telling you that I ran out of the place.
But there were no ‘negative’ feelings there. Nothing felt nasty…….it was all quite nice and friendly. As a ‘sit-in-the-fencer’ I find these experiences hard to explain. If anyone had told me this story I would not have believed them. Perhaps it’s because the Hall stands next to water (water carries electro-magnetics & static energy), perhaps it’s because it stands where two Ley Lines cross………I have no idea!
There are quite a few books about Chingle, and if you want to find out more, just type it into your browser. I don’t know if the Hall is still available for all-night vigils, but if you are interested, contact the owners!
*prods readers*
hey....wake up!!
Hammy x x x
