Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire was originally a
Cistercian abbey and was rebuilt in the mid- eighteenth century. It has been
the home of the Dukes of Bedford for over 300 years and is reputedly haunted
by a number of ghostly forms.
The most recent haunting to
take place in the Abbey is thought to be the ghost of a young man who was half
strangled and later drowned in the lake. Although he cannot be seen, doors
open and close for him as he walks through rooms. Witnesses claim that the
door handle would turn and then open, as if a person was coming through. In
the time it would take for a person to cross the room, the door at the other
end would open and close again for this invisible figure.
The
ghost of a monk is also said to haunt the Abbey and has been seen most often
in the crypt - the place where monks were buried. He is thought to be the
abbot of Woburn who was hanged when he opposed Henry VIII's marriage to Anne
Boleyn.
The
summerhouse is haunted by the Duke's grandmother. She died at the age of 64
when the plane that she was flying mysteriously crashed on the east coast. It
is not her ghost that haunts the place but an overwhelming feeling of sadness,
as if her unhappy spirit lives on.