***Paranormal Metrou***(imported post) Tegenaria Parietina ‘Cardinal Spider.’& Other Creeps Hampton Court Palace, Richmond upon Thames, Greater London In the UK it is sometimes known as the cardinal spider because of the legend that Cardinal Wolsey was terrified by this species at Hampton Court Earnest Law’s ‘History of Hampton Court Palace in Tudor Times‘ 1885: At this point… tradition demands, perhaps that we should notice the legend of the ‘Cardinal Spider.’ This enormous insect, with its fat reddish-brown body and its long jointed hairy legs, often attains the size of five inches in width; and when seen crawling about a bedroom at night will startle even persons of tolerably composed nerves. It is alleged to be a kind of spider peculiar to Wolsey’s palace and in some mysterious way connected with his disastrous fate, to be destined for ever to haunt the scene of his former greatness. Such is the story. The fact, however, is that this supposed unique specimen of the arachnida is well known to zoologists under the name ‘Tegeneria Guyonii or Domestica’, a species which though certainly found in extraordinary abundance in the old nooks and corners of Hampton Court, is yet not unknown elsewhere in the valley of the Thames. By Hannah Betts > Cardinal Wolsey’s rooms is said to be the palace’s most sinister chamber....... Three members of the public and one staff member once heard a voice mutter “You will die” here. Two years ago, a child, unaware of the history of the room, witnessed a black-hooded figure with a deformed face, a presence already reported by a member of staff, who turned round to find him looming over her as she switched out the lights. It was 10 minutes before she could be calmed. Even the most robust guards dislike being here as day leaches into night. 32 custody warders (security staff) bear the brunt of such horrors, 28 men and four women despatched to prowl its 1,500 rooms solo in 6am to 6pm and 6pm to 6am shifts, illuminated only by tiny torches. Do some become terrified? Dame Sybil Penn, servant to four Tudor monarchs and the palace’s “Grey Lady”, terrorised a member of staff one November. As the employee stood to enter a security code to the door of apartment 39, a glaring face appeared in its window. This form remained after she opened the door: a pasty-faced, middle-aged woman, clad in sombre hues. After a sinister confrontation, it brushed past her, disappearing into the mist. When the startled woman told the story, colleagues brought her a picture of Penn’s effigy. She was appalled: “That is the woman I saw.” Wolsey himself is said to hover about the West Gate. An audience member wrote to complain about the unnecessary presence of an actor representing the Cardinal in a show performed there in the Sixties, but no such actor had been deployed. A tall, robed presence is frequently spotted by the North Cloister Taking shelter in Wolsey’s Tudor kitchens provides no respite, as it is plagued by a rare spider, the Cardinal, named after Wolsey’s phobia. They are, “as big as puppies” and can live eight years, growing up to 7.5cm, with a front and back leg span of 14cm. Staff returning after lights out have found the floor alive with spiders, Indiana Jones style. This is mating season. My skin crawls. Henrican wives abound, too. The Silverstick Stairs are where Jane Seymour can be seen in October and November. Seymour refused to occupy the rooms where “that woman” (Anne Boleyn, who has also been spotted) lived, returning instead to Catherine of Aragon’s former chambers. It was here, in apartment 33 on October 12, that she gave birth to Edward VI, dying of complications not two weeks later. Many respected witnesses have seen her in this Hallowe’en season – cast in a luminous glow from an unflickering candle, solemn and silent, apparently looking for her son – and felt overwhelmed by sadness The Haunted Chamber – a long and lonely passage stretching to the Great Hall – is where poor Catherine Howard races, screaming to Henry VIII for her life. Her clamour could still be heard by residents hundreds of years after her death. Visitors have fainted or refused to enter, doubters have had earrings ripped from their lobes.Below lies a corridor where a 19th-century resident complained of a pair of male ghosts. Years later, the bodies of two cavaliers were found.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 01:38:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015