European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse F o eur s ghost Hunters try to spot Raf Chick Sand s ancient apparition by Nancy Torner . Bureau no one from Raf Chicksands in England has Ever definitively seen the nun named Rosata yet there in t a ghost of a Chance that anyone will forget her Rosata is considered to be die resident of longest standing at the priory a rambling 900-year-old mansion that sits near the Center of the base. According to legend Rosata has inhabited the estate for most of the building s at left ghost Hunters arrive at the priory whose silhouetted towers Spires and chimneys add to the feeling of mystery history first in body As a Wilbertine nun then in spirit As a Specter. Although some people have claimed actual sightings of Rosata s ghost none has been Able to prove her existence. Of every so often some Brave soul hazards a nocturnal visit to the priory hoping to be the one to verify she is real. / a. / the most recent ghost Hunters included four airmen from Chicksands and two announcers from ithe local Chiltern radio station who broadcast live from the priory this past halloween night and the next morning they set up Camp inside the building with a video camera night vision goggles and sleeping bags and waited to be haunted. One of the ghost Hunters airman 1 St class Bryan Purtell hoped to validate what might have been a close encounter with Rosata on halloween 1972, when he and his friends slipped away from a party at the priory to search for her in the building s upstairs Maze of rooms. Purtell age 7 at the time was living at Chicksands with his " % of la w v i svs ,. Is Nancy Tomer members of a local radio team and some airman from r4f Chicksands set up Camp in the King James room which is considered the priory s most haunted chamber. Family. It was up in the rafters Purtell said. There was smoke in the Corner and a shape came out i was petrified we did t stick around to investigate. We v \ if Ever there were a building that could be haunted it s the priory. Hallways twist and turn staircases Lead up and Down to isolated rooms and wings connecting doorways Between Many rooms serve As secret passages and the cellar is so dark and Damp that the Walls drip water. The original Structure was built Between 1147 and 1153 by countess roses Debeauchamp and her husband Payne for use by the Gilbertine order said Teresa Parrish a member of the friends of the priory. The priory group is composed of volunteers who have been restoring the building and conducting Tours of it or the past20years. The first inhabitants of the priory were Gilbertine nuns and canons who were bound by the Basic doctrines of chastity humility Charity and obedience. Rosata one of the nuns is said to have violated the chastity Rule and become pregnant during a love affair with a Canon. She was punished according to legend by being forced to watch her Lover hanged and then by being buried alive in one of the priory Walls Parrish said. They really did things like that Back then Parrish said. ./.--. " in support of the legend a window can be seen near the front door on the outside of the priory. But on the inside the window is buried behind a thick Wall. A poem has been painted on the Interior Wall next to Rosata s supposed Tomb that reads by Virtues guarded and by manners graced Here Here alas is fair Rosata Parrish said that while it is a legend that Rosata haunts the priory there really was a nun who became pregnant the Gilbertine order inhabited the priory until the Early 1500s, when it suffered along with other religious institutions under the Rule of King Henry Iii Parrish said. The estate eventually was turned Over to the King in 1538, who in turn gave it to the Richard Snowe family. Some years later the estate was passed to the Peter Osborne family whose relatives retained it for about 400 years. Lady Osborne is said to have seen Rosata s ghost at least once Parrish said. A Gigantic addition to the building was constructed in 1812, primarily to House the Osborne s Many servants Parrish said. The Osborne family finally sold the property to the Crown in 1936, which turned it Over to the Royal air Force. As part of Raf Chicksands the priory became one of Britain s main Headquarters during world War ii for intercepting and decoding German communications she said. When the . Air Force took Over the base in 1950, the priory addition was used to Billet airman Purtell said. That addition has fallen into disrepair and now generally is off limits to visitors. The air Force also use part of the main building As an officers mess until about 15 years ago he said. Now the priory is use i solely for special base functions. This includes granting permission every once in a great while to individuals who want to spend a night in the building in the Hope of proving that Rosata s spirit does walk. But like this recent crop of ghost Hunters temporary lodgers generally awake with lots of stories and Little corroboration. In All honesty i saw something White and Blurry up on the Wall senior airman Tom Budzban said after spending the night. It was a pattern of Light that kept moving. It seemed to be there most of the night. I m assuming it was Light coming through the Louie Martin one of the announcers from the Chiltern radio station was a septic when he went in but claimed in the morning that a Glass of water he took to bed with him was mysteriously empty in the morning. I did t drink it he said. Martin also noted that when the Light on the video camera went dead while the group was filming during the night he pulled out his lighter to help see the Way. No matter How he tried to ignite the lighter it would t work yet in the morning the lighter s flame returned he said. Airman Shawn Roop said that something was around during the night i thought it was human. I just pulled the covers Over my Roop who supplied the night vision goggles said the Only thing he actually spotted through the lenses during the night was a group of about 20 people of the flesh and blood variety sneaking across the front Lawn intent upon spooking the ghost Hunters. But because of the Advance warning the Hunters were Able to turn the tables. They led the would be spooks up into the priory rafters turned out the lights and left them to find their own ways in the dark. All you could hear was screams and screams Martin said. As for Purtell he said he heard strange noises at about 3 . I thought about getting a flashlight for about two seconds he said. The base will be returned to the British defense ministry 5n5eptember As part of the military draw Down. If the ministry chosen not to occupy the base and if the property can t be sold the priory will be boarded up Parrish said. It s a listed historic building so it can t be pulled Down she said. The friends of the priory Are hoping that the estate will be bought by a University or some other organization with enough capital to restore it properly Parrish said. In the meantime the group will resume conducting twice a month Tours in april and will continue until the base closes. English Vii me alive with ghosts by Louis j. Salome Cox news ser Voca bout 7,450 people live in the Creaky old West England Village of Prestbury but that does t count the ghosts. Add the Black Abbot Prestbury s most famous shadowy presence the galloping Cavalier headless perhaps the spirited piano player at Sundial cottage the chilling female form that floats across the Graceful bridal suite of the Prestbury House hotel and scores of other lesser ghosts and Prestbury ranks As England s most haunted Village nearly everyone in the Village of thatched roof cottages and 400-year-old elizabethan Kiouses believes that ghosts cavort there year round. Once when leading ghost chronicler Florence Jackson finished a speech on the subject a woman not a ghost approached innocently and said i be enjoyed your talk and i m surprised because you seem quite that s the trouble with Prestbury it seems so Normar. No weird looking people dressed in red wearing horns and wielding pitchforks no one running screaming across the Road to evade the 350-year-old galloping Cavalier who is usually heard but not seen. But the people say the ghosts Are there. The spirits most of them Friendly Knock on doors in Many of the old houses roam the ancient monks graveyard float through the former farmyard where sometimes horses and dogs won t venture and clamber Down the Road where the postman hears Hoo beats but sees no horses. Joan Wilkinson of reformed cottage says her 250-year old thatched roof abode really is the most haunted House in the she says monks used to hang out near there in real life now she and other Village Folk believe the Black Abbot s spirit guards the place alone. The Black Abbot walks through from time to time and sometimes knocks on the door and scares me half to death. I Haven t seen him and i Don t want to see him but i be heard him she said. Prestbury s ghosts Are the stuff of legend and matter of fact conversations. Ghosto Logist Jackson believes several of the ghosts Are real because the experiences related Are essentially the same but with different wrinkles. I really believe in the Black Abbot said Wilkinson. The whole town is so convinced and yearns to hear More episodes that Wilkinson says with a laugh i can go out to dinner with these for 30 years or More John Fogarty the local grocer has filled in tunnels underneath his old store and remodeler As his business grew. One night -. Several years ago when he was alone or thought he was Fogarty heard the Clear distinct sound of footsteps on the stairs outside his office. I called out but there was no answer. I was alone Fogarty recalls. The hair stood up on the Back of my neck and i went Home like Fogarty does t know whether it was the Black Abbot shopping or whether the ghost that moves furniture at the local hotel got lost but Fogarty is convinced he heard a ghost Johnny the Butcher was 15, Jackson said when he went out for a smoke and saw a figure sort of gliding floating above the ground. His Mother saw him after he ran Home and she said what s wrong with you you look like you be seen a ghost " since the lad was in Prestbury his Mother was probably right the Village welcomes visitors to try to prove her wrong. S&3 16 the stars and stripes saturday november 12,1994 the stars and stripes 17
