ARE there ghosts in Colchester? Do these ghost stories have any historical value, or are they simply stories?

Every town throughout the country has their ghost stories with many borrowed from other towns and retold to suit their new location. Many of these stories were reinvented in Victorian times as a way of boosting local tourism, with people travelling from far and wide to hear these stories and to visit the locations.

The stories being told in different towns, usually involved a lady wearing a different coloured dress, often seen at a window or walking down some stairs.

Colchester hasn’t escaped being associated with ghostly sightings, with many buildings in the town reported to be haunted, but is there any historical truth to these stories or are they simply just stories.

The church of St. Leonards at the Hythe, according to a popular story, is supposed to have the ghosts of five men who died in the parvise room, located above the entrance porch. This room was once used as a gaol in medieval times and according to the story, it’s where four men were once imprisoned for trying to steal items of church plate. A local baker took pity on them and gave them bread to eat and for his kindly act he too was imprisoned there and left to die with the others. Although there is no documented evidence of this particular story being true, faces have been seen at the window, and are reported to be those of the five men.

The ghost at the Essex County Hospital is also an interesting one and according to the story, a nun who used to work there would appear in the children's ward and offer sweets to the patients. Did a nun used to work in the hospital, and return periodically to visit the children? It’s more likely to be a real nun who was just visiting, showing kindness and nothing more, perhaps a story recited by those under the effects of their medication.

Colchester's best known ghost story centres around Red Lion Yard and a room in the Red Lion Hotel. Alice Katherine Miller was one of the chambermaids working in the hotel who was supposedly pushed to her death from an upstairs window by her lover back in 1632. It’s the window above the clock that draws visitors to this old alleyway, as this is the supposed location of Alice's cold blooded murder! The story is a good one but given the length of time that has passed since the incident I think that the story has probably been changed over the years through different people reciting the story, each with their own version of events and to exactly when it took place. With all this in mind, I’m sure Alice did once exist and worked in the building, but given the age of the building, it may not be her ghost which haunts it.

Other stories centre around the castle and sightings over the years of either Roman or Royalist soldiers walking around the grounds. Again, these sightings are devoid of proof other than the fact that soldiers have been associated with the castle ever since it was built. However, one story at the castle is true and that’s the death of James Parnell, the Quaker, who died at the castle on 10th April 1656. James died in cruel circumstances at the hands of an evil gaoler and his wife, with his ghost said to haunt the castle, often seen in the area

near to where he died within the eastern wall. Given the age of the building is this really James's ghost or perhaps someone else, one of the many people who died there? The only truth to this story is; that we know James did die there, so perhaps the story was invented to keep James's memory alive, if so then the story has worked.

Over the years, there are numerous buildings in the town which claim to have experienced unexplained phenomena, items which have moved over night or strange sounds, but is it really the work of ghosts, or could there be a more logical explanation. Do ghosts exist? Probably yes, but with all the events which have befallen Colchester over the years, there may be some truth to a few of these stories after all.

Colchester Ghosts – fact or fiction by Alice Goss, Colchester historian