West Midlands Ghost Club

Tuesday, 22nd September 2020

Since my first and only visit to the beautiful city of Chester - some 28 years ago now - I had always intended to go back one day!  It could probably go without saying that this, now distant, break was 'ghost related': entirely based on the fact that I'd previously read so much about the ghostlore of this historic city and decided to go and take a look-see for myself.....  On a personal 'Best Of...' list - i.e. a mixture of history and ghostlore - the locality is only, potentially, surpassed by the likes of York (I.M.H.O.), and easily on par with the likes of Oxford and Cambridge, etc.....(?) 

As anyone who has made the same kind of (historic-cum-paranormal based) visit would know, Chester is simply not a location that can possibly 'be done in a day' though....... so, it was with intense pleasure that I was finally given another chance to see the place once again, in mid-August, this year!!  

One, key site that I'd previously managed to completely 'miss' was the ruin of St. Johns Church.... The most intriguing aspect of this particular haunting is that it supposedly didn't actually 'begin' until April 14th 1881, when the great tower of the structure suddenly collapsed!?!

Almost immediately afterwards, a figure in a long cloak was reportedly seen lurking around the ruins!? The form was observed so clearly, however, it was initially believed that it may well be a real, flesh and blood, person afoot?  Subsequently though, it was later witnessed 'vanishing into thin air', which seemed to 'put pay to' any further notions of human-based skullduggery!!

The black robed form is often said to be seen in the aptly titled 'Haunted Passage': a high-walled alleyway, at the side of the remains of the church tower, which leads down to the river......  During the early 1970's, the apparition supposedly accosted a college lecturer here and 'muttered at him in an ancient language'!!! The night was said to have been one full of 'heavy snow', but, as the two figures separated and the lecturer turned to view the strange vision once again, he found not a living soul in site..... nor any footprints but his own in the fresh snow!!  

More than one person has seen this ghost so closely as to be able to hear that it was muttering in a language that sounded like German? Historians have suggested that this may well have been Anglo Saxon, perhaps?

Apart from the ghost itself, one of the main points of interest associated with St. Johns is a Medieval, 'wooden coffin', which is said to have been discovered by workmen in the 19th Cent. and - for whatever reason - housed by them in the upper portion of one of the church walls?  (Above image).  The coffin has the legend 'Dust To Dust' painted in the middle of it, which, needless to say, is a grim reminder, to anyone who reads it, concerning the fleeting nature of their own mortality....... 

St. Johns isn't - by any means - the only haunted location in just this tiny portion of the city, however, and actually shares the immediate region with a handful of other sites known for their ghostly reputations!   

Within a hundred yards  - heading back in the direction of the city centre - stands 'Peppers Gate' [marked as '1' in photo below], the remains of a 'Roman Amphitheatre' [main focus of photo] and the base of a 'Roman Tower' [marked as '2' in photo].  All of these locations have associated ghost stories.   

It's said that Chester's 'oldest' ghost walks the area between the latter two sites: the figure of a Roman Decurion (officer), of the 11th Legion Adiutrix. We can be so precise about the appearance of this apparition, because witnesses have described him in such vivid detail, it seems!  Legend has it that the soldier fell in love with a local, Celtic girl and - when on duty at night - he would leave his post under the control of his subordinates and 'slip out' to meet his lover.   One evening, however, a group of Celtic tribesmen captured him as he left the tower and slipped inside to kill the remaining guards and steal what they could in the process....... The officer had only been 'trussed up' by the tribesmen, it seems, and he somehow managed to slip his bindings  during the incursion... rushing inside to try and raise the alarm!! Sadly, we don't know if he ever managed this final act, but it is suggested he was cut down by a Celtic blade in his attempt........!?!      

'Peppers Gate' also has a romantic ghost story associated with it, dating from the Tudor Period.  It is said that the daughter of a powerful Alderman fell in love with a lowly armourer. It should go without saying that the girls father disapproved of the association. Their secret love affair continued, however, until, one day, the girl was playing with friends next to Peppers Gate, when she suddenly leaped onto the back of a powerful charger, ridden by the armourer.... The pair quickly shot across the nearby River Dee into Wales and freedom!!

Some years later, there was a reconciliation between the girl and her father, resulting in a return to Chester. It is suggested though that the act of her escaping from her over-bearing parent is recorded in the area outside Peppers Gate, in the form of 'phantom hoofbeats' that are said to have frequently been heard at night.......?

Also, only a stones throw from St. Johns Ruins, is a public area called Grosvenor Park, the gates to which are often found 'locked' - or to have been inexplicably 'opened' - when park staff haven't been near them!?  This activity is usually put down to a little character called Billy Hobby, once said to have been the keeper of a pool and pure-water spring inside the park.  While some say that Hobby was a real character in the history of the area, folkolorists have suggested that his name intimates a more 'otherworldly' being.... i.e. a 'Hob' or 'Hobgoblin'?  Whatever the historical truth to this character - if any - the latter mentioned theory, considering the infamous 'trickster-like' activities of these creatures, would certainly fit in with the troublesome opening and locking of gates, eh!?

And... there are even more interesting sites that could be listed in close proximity to these mentioned above, but I shall just leave this post here... to save myself rambling on indefinitely, even though I have barely scratched the surface with regards to local hauntings and ghostlore!!!  Suffice it to say, this beautiful city has so much to offer pretty much anyone, no matter what your taste.  I'm certainly looking forward to my next visit to Chester and I hope you might take my advice and go there for a good look-see yourself, if you already haven't.....  You certainly won't be disappointed!!