Thursday, October 25, 2012

Coffin Hop stop at RAF Chicksands...


Grab your cup of tea and settle in now. I do hope you are enjoying Coffin Blog Hop. So many spooky fun writers so little time. Please be sure to enter their contest. 

So now I want to take you to an out of the way spot in England. When I lived there last I visited a small RAF Base called RAF Chicksands. On this Base was a Priory it was used during WWII and was being turned into a small museum at the Base. It has quite a history. I do love history filled places, they always have ghosts. 

The Priory is also mentioned in the doomsday Book 1086. It started out as a Catholic Priory built about 1147. Henry the VIII sold it after he de-solved the church. It was a home and used during WWII. The tale doesn’t end there. 

There is a tale that a Num was walled up in the Cloisters. She can be seen on the 17th day of each month. The day I was there was the 17th June 1994. It is said that you can see other ghosts there too. Monks, nuns and horsemen have been seen as well.

I visited on a cloudy rainy day. It was chilly and damp. I walked through the museum and saw many wonderful items from WWII. It is a beautiful building and grounds. I had the feeling I was being walked with as I explored the building. I took pictures of the Priory as I was leaving.  Well, you be the judge for yourself. Myself I believe it’s her. I think that is the Nun. My friend with me said after seeing them said must be her. I hope you enjoy the pictures I took them with an instant camera back in 1994. I do hope someday to return and revisit Chicksands. I understand it is all open now and I would love to see it all restored. If you are ever there go visit and call me to go with you. It’s in Bedfordshire between Hitchin and Bedford.


















            The Priory Nun I think.

Now hop off to visit 



http://kimkoning.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/2663/

After I had written this I googled Chicksands and found it has a site and winderful pictures.

Chicksands website:
http://www.chicksandspriory.co.uk/index.html

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your story. Yes, I believe in ghosts, always have.

    Jolie du Pre
    Precious Monsters

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE ghost stories, and must admit they scare the crap out of me even when taking place in daylight...

    Happy #CoffinHop :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, stranger. How have you been? We see each other on Twitter, but I haven't been by your blog in a while. Sorry about that. I haven't been visiting too many blogs at all recently as I have been stuck in the writer's cave, trying to finish my latest novel. I'm glad that's over.
    I really like ghost stories, too. Love that picture. I'm not going to say that it isn't her. I don't want to risk having her show up in my bedroom one night. ;)
    Happy Hopping!

    -Jimmy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hopping through to say hello! Thanks for sharing your story. I lived in Europe for several years, and there are many haunted places - probably more haunted places than there are people!

    Happy Coffin Hopping!

    -aniko

    ReplyDelete
  5. My father was stationed at Chicksands from 1975-78. He was the Manager of the NCO (Non-Commissioned Officer) Club which was called Rosetta's Roost and was located in the Priory. He has many ghost stories about her and it is my belief that she even saved his life. One night he was leaving and was locking the front door (inside the little foyer on the front), he turned around and......he "saw" nothing. But something frightened him so badly that he jumped backwards and flattened his back against that big knobby door. As soon as his back touched the door the roof caved in. Approx 2.5 tons of stone fell 2 feet in front of his shoes. I think it was Rosetta that scared him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was stationed at RAF Chicksands from 1979-1984. Myself and a couple of fellow airmen used to go down to the Priory but we never had any ghostly encounters.
      One thing...I thought that Rosetta’s Roost was the name of the little restaurant/snack bar, not the NCO Club. I could be mistaken on that. I have been trying to track down one of the guys that worked at the snack bar named Ken/Kenny. He was African-American, and very tall (he played pro basketball in an Italian league at one point). I can’t recall his last name...very frustrating.

      Delete
  6. My father was station at Chicksands from 1962-65, during that time they moved the Officers Club to the Priory. I worked their for 2 years as a dishwasher/grill cook while in high school. The 1st floor was the officers club and the second story was the BOQ (Bachelor Officers Quarters). I heard many a story of hauntings, some of those from the Catholic Chaplian, Father Guy Morgan. Personally I never experienced anything. Many times when a group of officers might have had a few too many you would find them "toasting" sister Maria who was supposed to have been sealed in the wall alive where there is a plaque imbedded in the wass with a Latin inscription supposedly stating something about her demise. Great Memories to say the least!!! Greg Sederberg

    ReplyDelete