As both Ellerton & Aughton are mentioned as far back as the Domesday book, you can imagine the fascinating history we have!
We have a Roman fort, two castle remains and bodies still buried in back gardens!
Ghostly monks can be seen at night near the site of the old Priory and a little girl still stands on the landing looking down, as she's done for nearly 100 years, in one of our historic houses!
Ghosts & Ghouls
Below are accounts of spooky goings on in the villages. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent. Some have been kept in to have a good laugh at!
The Child of Aughton Hall
Nigel - " I used to own Aughton Hall you know. A while back now, I lived there with my wife and the little ones. One evening, we hadn't been moved in long, I saw my little girl at the top of the stairs & I shouted up to her "Why aren't you in bed girl?" She smiled at me. It was then I realised it wasn't my girl I was looking at but a small whaif of a kid, dressed in a grey coat with a little beret on! She turned around, walked towards the hall - and just disappeared!
I told my wife and she thought I'd got mad or had too much ale at the Boot. But then lo & behold she saw her sometime after. And the dog - the dog was always bl**dy seeing her!So in the end my wife said "I've had enough of this! Either you get that sorted out or I'm off!"
Well, I thought about it..... we hadn't been seeing eye to eye for a while now, but then who'd have the kids while I'm at darts. So, I did my research, and got talking to a few of the locals.
Turns out during the war, the Lord of the Manor put cine' movies on for the little'ns of the Village - and those evacuated here from the city. Sometimes there were just too many to sit on the floor in the dining room, so the kids sat on the stairs looking through the railings or over the banister at the top. There was one little girl who was so upset when she had to go back to the city - her parents showed her nothing but the back of their hand and she longed not to leave.
Rumor has it she never did get back on that train to the city - and no one from the city bothered to come looking for her either. So there was my other little girl. Not scary, just stood at the top of the stairs, looking down, waiting for her movie to start in the place she loved. She'd come back "home".
I was quite happy with this. The wife on the other hand told me I'd been listening to them in the pub again and shot me out of the house for a while. She always took me back in though. God love her"
The Ghostly Monk of Ellerton
One stormy night, a local came screaming back into the Boot & Shoe after leaving only shortly before . His face pale, skin sweating & clammy, unable to speak or breath. The publican hurriedly brought a large whisky whilst the other locals sat him down and asked him to tell his tale......
"I was on my way home" (he lived back towards the old Priory site), he looked up, scared, eyes wide. "I don't believe" his voice trembling, "Not until now. Not until now"
He told how he had walked home from the pub - just a 2 minute walk. How the wind was howling and the night seemed especially dark. He came close to the fork in the road, when he saw a dark figure in the corner of his eye. His heart stopped beating, his voice unable to scream.... as a ghostly monk walked slowly across the road in front of him. The monk's face down in his habit, hood up, rope around his waist, robes to the floor, as if gliding over the roads surface.
"No one should see what I've seen", he said. The locals noticed his hair had turned white......
N.B. Whilst researching for this part of the website, I spoke to many locals who had lived in the village a long time, including the Charlesworths. After looking rather sheepishly at each other when I retold the story above, they reluctantly added that Lesley had been making a Father Christmas outfit around that time, which Stuart had tried on and had run across the road that night to show a neighbour. And that they couldn't be 100% sure but there was a slight possibility that it was Stuart Charlesworth dressed up as Father Christmas the local had seen that night and not a ghostly Priory Monk!
Do you know of other spooky stories of the villages? If so, please let us know so we can add them to the website...........
2. Ellerton
3. Old Ellerton
4. Aughton
5. Old Aughton
10. Village Families