Charlene Lowe Kemp
5. Church of St Nicholas – Pluckley
Alleged to be haunted by a red lady believed to be lady Dering. She was supposedly buried in 7 lead coffins, within a oak one and placed in the Churches crypt. The name may come from the rose that was supposedly placed with her within the coffin. She is said to wander the churchyard in search of the unmarked grave of her still born child.
Another sighting is that of a white lady, Also believed to be lady Dering, this lady haunts both inside the church and the Dering families library in their manor which was destroyed by a fire in 1952. The manor house also served as a boys school before burning down. A Mr Walton Winan, supposedly held a lone vigil one Christmas eve in the library. He reported that the white lady appeared before him and he tried to shoot at her. The shot passed through the apparition. He stated she vanished through a panelled wall which may have led to a tunnel which was suppose to link the house to the church Check out this piece of footage by investigators in Pluckley church yard.
4. St Mark’s Episcopal Church – Central Avenue, Cheyenne, Wyoming
St Mark’s Episcopal church is located within the vicinity of the capital building Cheyenne, Wyoming. The haunts listed for Cheyenne fall along a path that is supposedly followed by underground tunnels.
The bell tower of the church is alleged to be haunted by a stonemason who fell to his death while building it. The legend claims that two Swedish immigrants who were skilled stoneworkers, we’re hired to construct the bell tower. One day, when the tower was only half way built, both men simply failed to come to work.
The unfinished tower was capped off with a roof and used as a study. The pastor at the time, reported baring noises coming from the walls. He decided to to not use the tower. Years later construction on the tower resumed. The workers reported strange noises, banging sounds and voices. Many refused to work on the tower after experiencing some kind of strange experience. Someone apparently came up with the idea of building the ghost it’s own room in an attempt to appease the ghost, apparently after doing so this allowed the workers to return to their work with some peace of mind. A few years later, it was said that the original stonemasons returned to the church. They told the pastor that his fellow work mate had fell to his death. Fearing that a police investigation would result in his deportation, he got his mates body and sealed it up in an unfinished section of the wall and left.
One year the church held Halloween fundraiser. It’s theme was a haunted house that went up into the St. Marks bell tower. Apparently, the rector placed a fake corpse with the bell tower as a part of the haunted spooky theme. This fake corpse is the source pertaining to the bell tower haunting.
A psychic who visited the church reported feeling the presence of two spirits. One of them an older white haired man and another who was upset. These spirits are believed by many to be Father Rafter, he was who hired the two Swedish masons and the man who had fell to his death.
The sound of a organ pipe has been reported even though there is no organ pipe in the church anymore. There once was a pipe organ in the bell tower at one point, however. Whispers are still one of the many reports and the church bells are said to ring on their own without any cause or warning at times.
3. St Marys the Virgin Church – Clop hill
Built around 1350 just outside the main settlement. There is a few strange things about this church, the strangest being that it is suppose to be built facing the wrong direction. Churches tend to orient to face east, the direction from which the sun rises. This is associated with the Christian Religion with the believe that is the way heaven is and the return of the Messiah. Churches tend to be positioned with the alter facing east so that people can pray directly in that direction. Some believe because St Mary the Virgin faces away from heaven, it therefore, opens the door to hell. The church has a long history and reported hauntings and supposed satanic rituals.
In 1963, St Mary The virgin grabbed headlines across the nation when it was reported that a black mass had been held in the church by Satanists. It was written that the graves of 6 women had been dug up to preform necromancy with one skeleton being left behind inside the church itself.
Another unusual feature of the church is that nearly all of the gravestones sit against the wall of the graveyard, due to it being cleared in the 1970’s after a incident of graveyard desecration.
The church was abandoned after a replacement church was built in a better location in town in the 19th century. As the church began to ruin, English Heritage funded to save the historic church and it down sits proudly looking down on the village it once served.
2. St Andrews on the Red – Canada
St. Andrew’s on the Red, completed in 1849, is located in the town of Selkirk, Winnipeg. It is the oldest stone church in Western Canada, and reported to be the region’s most haunted by former plague victims.
Other apparitions are said to populate the church’s graveyard. Eyewitnesses have reported seeing a ghostly man clad in black and a mysterious woman in white. Also, a disembodied pair of red eyes have startled visitors in the past, while a ghost car has been noted not far from the church’s main entrance.
If you are thinking about visiting the church or its graveyard, be careful. Those who have seen the various apparitions have reported having terrible nightmares the following nights. Most of these nightmares apparently involved the gates of the cemetery, which rattle even though no hands are seen shaking them.
The Holy Trinity Church – Brooklyn
Holy Trinity Church may be the most haunted site in Brooklyn. While the modern structure was completed in the 1880s, the church’s school building was built on top of a former cemetery. Accordingly, it’s widely believed that the spirits that once haunted the cemetery now haunt the school building. Reports of flickering lights, disembodied feet, and strange voices have been reported in the church’s gymnasium.
Another ghost is said to come from the church’s belfry. During the time when the church almost exclusively catered to the area’s German Catholic population, a bell ringer named George Stelz was butchered by burglars who left their bloody handprints inside the church. Visitors have claimed to feel uneasy in the church’s vestibule, while others have claimed to hear ghostly bells ringing throughout the church.
Besides Stelz, the church’s other famous ghost is a pastor who built the church’s rectory in 1872. The pastor, who died inside the church, is said to still haunt the church’s grounds as a benevolent spirit.
Have you got a church near you that is haunted? Let us know