This led to Mr Whitehead to remove this particular
flagstone and start to dig the earth beneath it. After digging several feet
down, he came across a cream coloured jug that that contain bones and
limestone.
The villagers assembled after hearing about this discovery
and the bones were declared to be human. The elders of the village started rumours
that these remains were that of “Old Shaw’s Wife, a local woman who had
lived in the Old Hall, which was near to the Whitehead’s residence. Other
villagers said the boggart was due to some of the other villager’s wickedness.
The boggart was heard during the night and sometimes in
the daylight hours in the week after the discovery of the bones but during the
following weekend, it was the loudest it had ever been. This prompted Mr
Whitehead to dig more, even taking away the steps in the cellar to gain better
access to the floor. The hole was 16 foot long by 4 foot wide and it had a
depth of 5 feet. But nothing was discovered during the dig.
The villagers advised Mr Whitehead to set up a trap as he
may be able to catch the boggart. Only a few days later, the family went to the
kitchen to find that a kettle of boiling water that had been hanging over the
fire, was found in the middle of floor. Even an astrologer from Manchester,
visited the premises, bringing along his magic book and glasses. The villagers
would also visit the haunted building, to see if they could sense who or what
was causing these actions.
An older man called George Horrox, who had once lived in
the same premises, told of two occasions that he saw the white ghostly figure of
a young woman and that he would hear noises like the rumbling of stones. Other
villagers who had also lived there gave similar accounts and stated the house had
been known to be haunted for at least 85 years.
Mr Whitehead had no fear of the strange events in his
home. In fact, he was adamant that he would carry on trying to find out just
who or what was causing this activity.
The reporter from the Manchester Courier was rather skeptical
over these haunting accounts and appeared to disbelieve anything about ghosts
or boggarts and said it was rather astonishing to see people clambering to
visit the haunted premises but knew that the local publicans and beer sellers
would profit from these visitors.
The local policeman was said to live just a few doors up
from the Whitehead’s and due to the amount of people arriving in the village,
the police officer had had his duties increased to deal with the large crowds.
Whether Mr Whitehead
managed to find the source of this troublesome spirit or not, there were no follow-ups
on this boggart case.
