The village of Berkley is in Somerset and lies on the
north-east edge of Frome. The last census showed the population of the village was
344. Back in the day, the centre of the
village had been Berkley Marsh, which was around a mile from Berkley. Berkley
Marsh had its own small church and several cottages. The village of Berkley had
Berkley House, a bigger church, and a school.
All that’s left of Berkely Marsh is a pond where the small
church once stood. Rumour has it that this pond was used as a ducking pond.
It’s in this area that strange hauntings have been
witnessed. In 1936, a local newspaper wrote up a piece about these hauntings
and this is what it reported. Reverend Crossing, who lived in the rectory,
witnessed a singing voice, that of a Tenor, coming from around the area of the
church. He witnessed this on several occasions but could never quite know where
the voice was coming from. Even the singing congregation heard this singing voice,
joining in when they sang hymns. This was said by some locals, to be the voice
of a dead monk who once sang in the choir.
Another haunting said to have happened in the church,
would only occur when the church brasses had been cleaned. Whoever had cleaned
them would feel an icy breath upon their shoulder.
It’s also said that there is a grave in the churchyard of
someone who committed suicide and that strange wreaths appear on that grave. No
one seemed to know who placed them there.
A strange tall shadow figure would also be seen, walking
to the churchyard, only to vanish as he entered it.
There’s also a dark figure of a male seen walking where
there was once a road but only when a storm would occur. The old road was
covered with trees and hedges, but the figure had been seen to walk through
those, as though they were clouds. The figure would make his way to the
village, only to disappear when the storm passed.
There was talk of an exorcism that happened in Berkley
House. One of the maids was said to have
been a medium. There would be tapping heard on the walls of her room and her
chair would also be witnessed moving on its own. The head housekeeper asked 3
of the male staff to try and help rid the maid of this activity. The poor maid
was very frightened by this amateur exorcism as the men kept asking “Who are you?”
and “Tell us your name!” and for every time these questions were asked, it was
answered by 3 taps.
The men held vigil overnight, whilst reciting verses from
the Bible. By the time dawn broke, the tapping had stopped. The 3 men were
exhausted but the young maid felt at peace.
So many strange happenings for such a small village. Both
the church and Berkley House were built around the same time during the 1700s
and were both affected by strange hauntings and activity.
