Whispers from Warwick: True Tales from a Haunted Town

By Steve Garrison

The streets of Warwick are filled with the whispers of ghosts and spirits who haunt the town's hidden corners.

 

Author Steve Garrison was born in Warwick and brought up in Smith Street, Warwick's oldest shopping street, located in the heart of the town. Able to trace his family's links to Warwick all the way back to the 1600s, Steve has always been fascinated with uncovering the town's history and the myths and legends which have been passed down from generation to generation.

 

Whispers from Warwick is a collection of spine-tingling stories and accounts based on true paranormal happenings in the town. Throughout the book, Steve uncovers previously unheard or largely forgotten tales of eerie encounters and ghostly goings-on exploring every hint of a haunting with an open, curious and questioning mind.

 

A fascinating look into Warwick's rich history and local folklore, Whispers from Warwick takes readers on an exploration into the unknown and unexplained.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Garrison
• Release date: Jan 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9781804430255

Book preview

Title Page

Copyright © Steve Garrison 2022

Written with Peter Garrison

Illustrations © Grace Offer 2022

‘The Ballad of Bendigo Mitchell’ reproduced with kind permission of The Wychwood Folk-Rock Band. Please visit wychwoodfolkrock.com

Coordinates referenced at the beginning of chapters can be used with online mapping programs to identify site locations. Where no coordinates are provided this has been done to protect the privacy of individuals.

The moral right of Steve Garrison to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author and copyright owner of this book.

This is a work of fiction based on actual events. All characters, places, and events portrayed in this book unless in the public domain are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN: (Paperback) 978-1-80443-024-8

ISBN: (eBook) 978-1-80443-025-5

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1: Market Place

Chapter 2: Barrack Street

Chapter 3: Hanworth Road

Chapter 4: Bridge End & Mill Street

Chapter 5: Coventry Road & High Street

Chapter 6: Hatton Locks

Chapter 7: Saltisford

Chapter 8: Northgate Street

Chapter 9: Old Square

Chapter 10: Castle Street

Chapter 11: The High Cross

Chapter 12: West Street

Chapter 13: High Street

Chapter 14: Priory Park

Chapter 15: Priory Road

Chapter 16: Emscote Road & West Street

About the Author

This book is dedicated to my wonderful family and the people of the town who have generously shared their stories.

INTRODUCTION

I HAVE ALWAYS CONSIDERED BEING BORN AND BRED IN THE HEART OF THE COUNTY TOWN A PRIVILEGE.

I can trace my Warwick family history back to the 16 th Century so perhaps it’s not surprising that I have such an affinity with the town. Born in The Butts, I spent my formative years in Warwick’s Smith Street, amongst the townsfolk of the 1950s and 60s. I watched them plying their various trades from this ancient street as many generations had before them. Greengrocers, bakers, butchers, newsagents, clockmakers, ironmongers, and publicans all contributed to the daily hustle and bustle of this lively community. Although much has changed over the years, I still have an overwhelming sense of belonging to the area.

With its long and illustrious history, Warwick is a historian’s dream. From its earliest beginnings as a Saxon settlement right through the centuries to the present day, the town has always been significant and quintessentially British. The Romans, Normans, Tudors, and Victorians have all left their unique footprints. Some who have resided in the town have even had key roles in shaping the history of England, perhaps most notably the hugely important and powerful Richard Neville 16th Earl of Warwick—A man known as ‘Warwick the Kingmaker’.

The Great Fire of Warwick in 1694 set much of the town ablaze, yet, despite the tragedy, we are fortunate that many ancient buildings remain almost untouched by time.

Ghost stories have provided an endless source of fascination for generations. Ever since our ancestors committed their dead to the afterlife, the spirit world has had a potent impact on our culture. Phenomena, both ancient and modern, occur in every conceivable location. Factories, housing estates, tower blocks, open moorlands, prehistoric stone circles, stately homes and perhaps even in the house next door. It would be hard to find another country which, considering its size, has as many alleged haunted locations as England.

Warwick is probably best known for its castle. The mighty medieval fortress that hovers above the River Avon is famous throughout the world. Inhabited continuously since the Middle Ages it has a dramatic and dominating presence. Its numerous ghosts are legendary. Warwick Castle does not, however, have the monopoly on the town’s paranormal activity and there are still many little known and previously untold stories of the unexplained in the town.

Many of us will have experienced something inexplicable in our lives. There have been occasions in and around the town where I have felt an awareness of something or someone that is not physically present. A sensation that I find very difficult to understand or articulate. The first time this happened I was seven years old. Tightly gripping my pocket money, I was about to cross the road outside Landor House at the top of Smith Street, heading for the sweet shop opposite. My path was suddenly momentarily blocked by an austere looking elderly lady dressed in what I would much later realise as fine Victorian apparel. I recall her disapproving demeanour suddenly melting into a beautiful smile as she glanced at me before moving on and distinctly remember glancing back only to discover she was no longer there.

Some 40 or so years later one of my aunts was showing me a very old photo album. As she slowly turned the worn, faded card pages, adorned with sepia and black and white photos of our shared ancestors, I suddenly stopped her at the image of a woman. I instantly recognised her from all those years previously standing in front of Landor House and recounted to my aunt my vivid childhood memory of looking at that lady, bizarrely at that exact spot captured in the photo.

Unlikely my dear, came the response from my aunt. That was your great grandma Ellen. She was born in 1856, so was long gone before you arrived.

I make no claims of mediumship, nor do I labour under any delusions of having any kind of psychic power. My late mum had some similar experiences during her lifetime and shared a similar fascination in the subject. These widespread and unexplained phenomena experienced by so many have, however, inspired me to undertake further research in the town.

Testimonies from locals, be they ‘word of mouth’ or personal experiences, are all included in this collection of ‘Whispers from Warwick’. I will leave it for you, the reader, to decide if they provide convincing evidence of the paranormal or are simply whispers, susceptible to the embellishment of individuals and the exaggerations of time.

CHAPTER 1

MARKET PLACE

Coordinates: 52°16’53.3N 1°35’24.3W

On the corner of New Street, numbers 23 and 25 Market Place, are actually a single property dating back to 1634. This timber framed building used to be known as the ‘Seven Gables’ due to the number of large gables fronting the street. Currently leased to a seller of clothing and accessories, the property has had a variety of uses over the years and was once a public house. Older residents of Warwick may also remember it as the ‘Beeh ive shop’.

Above the doorway on New Street and halfway up one of the vertical timbers, you can find what you might identify as a ‘gargoyle’. If you look more closely there are two of them. Both are wooden and were more than likely carved specifically for the original building. We are, however, more interested in ‘Old Tom’, the lower of the carved figures who stares at passersby’s as if guarding the property.

To describe him more accurately, Old Tom is in fact a grotesque not a gargoyle. The word gargoyle derives from the old French word gargouille, meaning ‘throat’ or ‘gullet’. Unlike grotesques, ornate stone gargoyles commonly found atop cathedrals, churches and other ancient buildings have a waterspout built into their design and serve a practical purpose as a drainage feature. The waterspout projects rainwater away from the outside wall of the building to counteract the otherwise damaging effects of water erosion. Grotesques by comparison are merely decorative features. We now associate the word grotesque with something which is