West Midlands Ghost Club

 

Friday August 12th 2022

In furtherance to a post that I made on Saturday the 23rd of July - re. the allegedly haunted churchyard that I had purposefully left unidentified in the write-up - I find that I am now, only a matter of a couple or so weeks later, in a position to 'say more on the topic' concerned...

As mentioned, I had neglected to say exactly where this site was in deference to a group who had been investigating the site back in the early 2000's.  As I had not heard from the people concerned since that time - and not really thought of the location itself much, subsequently, given it was 'out of my area of geographical interest' - I was completely unaware of the current status of the site with regards to it basically 'being known' as an allegedly haunted location... it's potential fame or popularity, in more recent times, among ghost groups and so forth.  Again, having recently mentioned the location in passing, to John Chance (of GhostcallersUK), I happened to tap the place into Google and discover that it was - today - an exceedingly well-known and 'trendy' spot to 'investigate', it seems...?  Under such circumstances, my previous reticence to reveal the name and location of the graveyard - for fear of 'giving anything away' - struck me as a somewhat sterile and worthless pursuit!

 

Having sent the information that I'd found to John, he had voiced an interest in going to take a look at the location - St. John The Baptist Churchyard, at Boughton Green, in Northamptonshire - and asked if I'd like to go with him for a look-see...  The visit was made on Sunday the 31st of July.

The graveyard itself - barely noticeable in the countryside thereabouts - contains the ruins of the former village church of Boughton.  (See photograph at top of post).  The building is recorded as 'already falling into a state of ruin by the end of the 15th Century', but, quite surprisingly - despite it's truly secluded position - the surrounding grounds are still consecrated and contains an array of burials of different periods... some only a matter of a couple or so decades old.  An ancient well - dedicated to St. John The Baptist (unsurprisingly) - lies just beyond the church itself, on the Eastern side of the ruin.

 

    

The site has, seemingly, both been described as 'The most haunted site in Northamptonshire' and 'One of the most haunted graveyards in the country', in the past...  

The most famous 'ghost' associated with it is said to be that of a beautiful, young, red-headed woman.  Legend has it that she is the shade of an unfortunate widow, who - having her husband pass away quite suddenly, only days after their wedding - committed suicide next to his grave in the cemetery.  Interestingly, however, she isn't just a typical, lonely, wandering apparition... but is said to specifically appear to passing men and offer them a kiss!  Should the man be brave enough to accept though, he is destined to die within the space of a month!  Apparently, it is said that this very fate befell local man, William Parker, who is recorded as having died in January, 1876, after such an encounter with the ghost!?  Probably just a matter of bastardisation over time and repeating, the above story has an alternate version (in some tellings) wherein a passing man will see a beautiful, young woman - and is offered a kiss, etc - and passing women will see a man... and so on!?  Despite this suggestion, there doesn't seem to be any recorded instances of females having an experience of the manner concerned... nor any suggestions as to how - from the 'widow' origin story suggested - the manifestations have, somehow, adapted to both sexes?

 

 

The general area is also said to be haunted by a somewhat 'noisy ghost'... allegedly that of the Northamptonshire highwayman, George Catherall - aka 'Captain Slash' - who, with his gang, made a habit of targeting local fayres and fetes.  During his day, a rather famous and popular fete was still being held on Boughton Green and, after waylaying a trader and robbing him, 'Slash' was eventually caught.  Being found guilty, he was executed in Northampton, in 1826... though why he should choose to return and haunt Boughton Green is something of a mystery, it seems?  His shade has been associated with both the graveyard and a nearby crossroads too.
 
Also - according to some online sources - the ghost of a woman in white and that of a headless man have been reported at St. John The Baptist graveyard... but no reasonable origin stories for such hauntings are mentioned?   Children have also supposedly been spotted in the graveyard and recordings made there have allegedly contained the voice of a girl 'apologising for committing some unknown, unremembered crime'?  With regards to the latter-mentioned, I have to refer back to the July 23rd post and repeat that it was the recording of what appeared to be the voice of a female child - seemingly saying 'Please help me' - that actually caused us to be first involved with this matter, of course...  (*I did take the liberty of making a small handful of audio recordings while we were recently there, but having subsequently listened to them, I can only report that there doesn't appear to be anything of potential interest on any of them).

 

It should be pointed out that, as with most 'popular' sites these days, the established or long-term known ghostlore of the place seems to have been 'added to' over time.  This is, needless to say, entirely unavoidable - given the silly state of the investigative field currently - which is why I always endeavour to trace older, references to a site, mentioning known or established lore from years gone by, to compare to the 'fresh' data that research will invariably uncover on the internet, etc.  Personally, I tend to dismiss the bulk of the latter - when looking for something approaching a baseline level of activity or legend to work from - as the 'avid experiencer', posing as paranormal researcher these days, has almost entirely destroyed the 'naturally occurring' ghostlore of Gt. Britain in the last couple of decades, sadly...

Once again, I end this little post in offering my gratitude to my good friend, John Chance, for kindly taking me with him on this trip!  As always - excellent company and a most enjoyable visit!