The Ghosts of Ipsley - Redditch, Worcestershire
Ipsley is in the South West area of Redditch in Worcestershire and once covered most of what we now know as Redditch. It is adjacent to the Roman Road, Icknield Street which is at the Eastern end of Lane. The hilltop where St Peter's Church stands has been occupied since the time of the Ancient Britons and the first church was built there during Saxon times.
The Law Society stands behind the Church and is the site of Ipsley Court, a 16th century house which was built by the Huband family who held manor of Ipsley for 650 years. In the 18th century the house was bought by the local rector who had parts of the property demolished and redesigned in to what can be seen today. |
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In the 1990's, contractors were fitting an alarm and CCTV system at the Law Society at the back of Ipsley church. Weeks later, they were called back as the alarms kept going off at night while no one was in the building. The contractor went back to check the alarms and all was fine, no faults, everything was working as it should be. Days later they were called back again as the alarms still kept going off, this time they went in the evening after everyone has finished work. Everything was double checked and all seemed fine until just before leaving, they were still in the security room when one of the alarms went off. They looked at the CCTV screen and watched the figure of what appeared to be a monk walking through the room where the alarm had been activated. They watched him walk into the next room and the alarm went off for that room, this happened in six rooms!
A short distance from the church and the Ipsley Court is The Old Rectory, a hotel that is built on the settlement where Earl Algar lived in Anglo Saxon times. Earl Algar was the son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia and the famous Lady Godiva who reputedly rode naked, only covered by her long hair, through Coventry to gain remission of the oppressive taxation that her husband, Leofric, had imposed on his tenants. In the 19th century, the property was completely rebuilt by the great grandson of Christopher Wren into the beautiful building we see today. At some point in history the site was also used as a monastery. The house was used as a private residence until the later part of the 20th Century when the house was converted into a hotel.
In the 1960s, the four year old boy of the family who lived in the house asked his parents who the man was who walked into there room. He described him as ‘wearing something on his head that went up in a point and went all the way to his feet’, the child’s description of a monk in a habit. He said that he walked towards him and looked at him before walking over to his brother and then over to the baby who was in a cot. The room that they were sharing was the largest room in the house and part of it was previously used as a chapel which included a priest hole that runs to other rooms on other floors.
The vicar of Bridbrooke in Warwickshire once stayed in the room and said that they'd seen someone walk across the room in the night without making a sound.
One couple woke one morning asking if the room was haunted. The wife of the couple said that she thought her husband had got up in the night and walked across the room, she thought it was unusual as he never done this at home. The next night it happened again but then she realised that her husband was still in bed. She noticed that the footsteps were silent.
A wedding was held after the house became a hotel in the 1990s, two of the children who were at the reception were put to bed. Around 12:30, the children came out of the room asking who the man was that walked around there room and then left. All of the guests were in the reception, only the children were upstairs.
In the 1980s, after a night out, a young couple were walking home. The easiest way for them to get home was via, Arrow Valley Lake and Ipsley. As they started the assent of the hill that is Ipsley Church Lane, they were startled by a goat that lived at one of the houses at the bottom of the lane, he was white, so in the darkness he looked pretty scary. They laughed about it and carried on there way. About halfway up the hill, they saw two cloaked figures approaching them, they moved to the side of the road, so as not to be in their way. They noticed that they didn't have any feet and as they got closer to them, they just vanished.
Over time, from road works and development, the road has become higher than it was a few hundred years ago, so the ghostly monks will be walking on the original level of the road as it was in their time so not seeing the feet of the monks is plausible.
To the West of the church is a conservation area with a walkway running through it.
During the 1990s, a group of teenagers used to walk around the Arrow Valley lake when the evenings got dark early. They walked into the wooded area next to St Peter's church which at some point you come to a large clearing. They witnessed a big blue ball of light that flew past them travelling at a high speed, just afterwards a tall hooded figure came walking towards them but they ran away in fear.
The earthworks of the remains of a deserted medieval settlement is also to the West of the church whose inhabitants would have used the nearby River Arrow for fishing throughout history. During excavations in Ipsley in the 1970s, the skeletal remains of an Anglo Saxon man was found, who was in a small fishing boat.
A local urban legend is that one of the grave monuments that is an angel, once had her hand removed by a priest as the angel would turn the pages of the bible that she was holding. It was also believed to have floated around the church each night.
In the 1980's two teenagers had an experience that they’d never forget.
They were camping in a field that lies opposite St Peter's Church. They stayed there to see if they could witness the angel going around the church. They entered the church gate and walked towards the church doors. As they approached, they saw a man in yellow waterproofs, like what fisherman wear. The man just stood still and stared at them, the two boys ran home.
In the 1980's two teenagers had an experience that they’d never forget.
They were camping in a field that lies opposite St Peter's Church. They stayed there to see if they could witness the angel going around the church. They entered the church gate and walked towards the church doors. As they approached, they saw a man in yellow waterproofs, like what fisherman wear. The man just stood still and stared at them, the two boys ran home.