Now
before we visit the haunted Windsor Castle, I'll take you
all down to the Theatre Royal in Thames Street.
Inside
all of you! Ah yes madam no need to shriek, that little girl you
see wandering with burnt skin and ragged clothes won't hurt you
- she's as scared as you dear, yes, for she eternally relives
her traumatic death when she died in a blaze in the old theatre
in 1908.
Little
Charlotte was trapped inside the burnt down theatre and
her ghost still haunts the present theatre rebuilt on the same
site.
Now
here we come to the grand castle - now we can't enter this time
of night as the Queen I don't think would be too pleased, so sit
yourselves down somewhere on the grass here and imagine yourself
wandering through the haunted rooms that are honoured with the
ghosts of royalty!
As yes, even they can sometimes not sleep.
The
deanery cloisters is inhabited by none other than the corpulent
frame of Henry VIII , who can be heard groaning and walking
around in torment.
The
sad face of mad King George III is seen peering from the
window in the room where he was often detained - scary eh!
Elizabeth
I haunts the Royal Library and is said to have been
seen by several members of the Royal family. The sound of her
high heels are heard tap-tapping on bare floorboards, before her
royal figure appears and passes through the library and into an
inner room.
Charles
I haunts a Canon's House in the castle precincts -
even being a royal has its disadvantages. Now one indignant little
boy ghost can be heard shouting "I don't want to go riding today"
in the Deanery. It is probably his footsteps which are heard in
the same building.
Now
oddly enough a man leads a horse in the horseshoe cloisters,
and they walk straight through the wall! Oh yes, this was because
the cloisters were once the cavalry stables.
There is also the ghost of the Duke of Buckingham's father, William
of Wykeham (the building's architect) and, of course, the
famous Herne the Hunter who is more often seen in the Great
Park.
But
I will tell more of Herne in two shakes of a monkey's tail. First,
let's get up and go to Windsor Great Park. Chop chop!
Now here as we walk the long walk I shall tell you about old Herne
the Hunter - he's certainly a legend and what makes Berkshire
one of the most haunted counties in the country.
Don't
be afraid, he's not going to hunt you my dear. Now Herne the Hunter
became the favourite huntsman of King Richard II when he
saved the monarch from being mauled to death by a stag. One of
Herne's most distinctive features became his hood with stag's
antlers, a witchcraft healing hat that helped him with the serious
wounds he suffered from the furious stag.
He
was seriously gored I'm afraid. However, it seems he could not
combat the green-eyed monster, for his jealous colleagues, envious
of his friendship with the King and skill in the field, framed
him for theft.
Shame
led him to hang himself on 'Herne's Oak' in the Home Park and,
with a Wild Hunt, his spirit has since been seen many times careering
across the Great Park searching for lost souls.
Now
a quick teleportation to Ascot and here we are in Windsor
Road. Here was the spot where a dear heart-broken lady clad all
in black haunted a big old house called Huntingdon.
She
would stand at the top of the grand stairs and look down at you,
but never, my dear visitors, never speak to her, for she will
simply vanish. She is rather elderly but in her eyes is a fresh
hope - hope that her beloved husband, killed in the Great War,
will one day return to her. She lived in the house, built in 1898,
for many years, and always left the gate open, expecting his arrival.
Her
waiting extended beyond the grave. But in 1977 the then derelict
house was mysteriously set alight and destroyed. Mmmmm, let's
move on….
Ah
folks, here we come to the junction of the A30, A329 and A332
where there roams a pacing policeman. He has a troubled face,
but motorists who pin their headlights on him will receive a nasty
shock, for his face has been horrifically scarred.
Has
he been the victim in a horrible accident? He has been roaming
and pacing for nearly 100 years? His high-necked tunic suggests
he was killed at the start of the 20th century. Poor man…
| Click
on an area of a map or place name to be transported to Berkshire's
ghost world - not for the faint-hearted. |
 |
