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.
Copyright