Spooked! Ghosts in Beckett House?

SPOOKED!

Beckett House has long been the location for many rumours about ghosts and eerie sensations. Even in Lady Barrington's day there was talk of ghostly apparitions in the grounds - if you walk outside and around the back of the building past the lake you will see a grass covered bridge. This was known to the Barrington family as "Haunted Walk" - try it out and make up your own mind..

There are also many rumours (mostly from local school children!) that various headless maids and babies were thrown into the lake at some point. l think if all the rumours were true we would have a very full lake by now..

A few years ago a postgraduate student did a study on ghost activity in the Library. He spent several months with very technical equipment trying to track any movement or presence - he got a very good mark for his project but no ghost evidence at all!

But then there is the strange case of the police Alsatian. On one of the regular patrols around the top floor, the normally well-behaved and excellently trained dog raised his hackles and point blank refused to walk down one of the corridors (That corridor is now where I store the historical collection!).

The only real "sighting" is by one of the library staff that you can read about here today. I personally never say whether I believe or not - I have  never  actually  seen anything  but  there  is  certainly  an atmosphere when you have to lock up the building on a cold and windy night - and if Lady Barrington is out there pacing the corridors, I'd say she is very welcome as it was once her home!

Lady Barrington - An Unexplained Experience

The event described happened in 1990, shortly after all the library staff moved back into Beckett House  following extensive repairs and restoration - the building had been evacuated and every room stripped, replastered and redecorated, after the discovery of widespread dry rot.

It was a sunny morning in early May: I have the task of shelving in the Maths, Electronic and Computing rooms during The first hour of each day from 8.30 am, and it was just after 8.35 when I entered the computing room (room 27/28 on the first floor) from The balcony door opposite room 29 (Library office). I had on armful of books, so instead of following my usual route, and first opening The door and putting on the lights in room 30 (computing journals room) I turned left Into The computing room to put the books down on the nearest table.

As I did so I glanced up and noticed there was someone standing in the small alcove at the right hand side of the room. I believe I said "good morning" - I assumed it was Katherine Johnson, one of the professional staff who at that time shelved in the some area. The books began sliding off the table, and I looked down at them to put this right. When I looked up again, the person I had seen was gone.  I then become aware of several things – there were no doors open apart from the one I had just come through, and there were no lights on in any of the rooms – I walked through opening all the rooms up immediately afterwards - and there was no-one else upstairs in my part of the Library at all.  Kathryn was in fact still downstairs collecting journals for the current issue displays.

There was definitely someone there when I first looked: there was at that time a large Swiss cheese plant in the alcove, and the light coloured skirt she wore was clearly visible against the dark green. She was wearing a dark, rather mannish jacket, possibly a tweed, and a midcalf length white or light coloured skirt. She had jaw length dark hair and was quite tall, but I did not really take in what her face was like - I only glanced at her, and I had assumed she was someone I knew. I did not feel as if I had seen anything unusual or abnormal at the time - for the record there was no feeling of coldness, if anything there was an air of contentment and normality, as if I had opened the door on someone who lived there and who was enjoying the morning sun through the window.

 I mentioned what had happened to Kathryn and Sue Barrett, who also shelved upstairs at that time and who arrived soon afterwards. Sue immediately suggested that I had seen Lady Barrington: I thought her to be a Victorian lady, and said that the clothes were not right: I was surprised to learn that she had in fact lived in Beckett house in the 1930s and that she could well have looked like the person I saw.  It was not until some hours later on the same day that I began to feel shaken by my experience - at the time everything seemed pleasant and normal. I do not regard myself as a psychic or sensitive person in any way – I have always had an open mind concerning ghosts, but never expected to see one. I am totally convinced that I did see her, and I can only add that I have no fear of experiencing something like that again.  It just remains an experience I cannot explain.

Ann Clarke, library assistant, Reports Section RMCS library.