Little Sir John is seen sitting
in the library after his death, a heavy roller mysteriously moves around the gardens
and smoke drifts through the air...
The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ is not responsible for the content of external websites.
FACTS
All information is from "Ghosts and Legends
of Nottinghamshire" by David Haslam, published by Countryside Books.
There were two Sir John Byrons who occupied Newstead Abbey.
The second, who lived there in the middle of the 17th century, was known as ‘Little
Sir John with the Great BeardÂ’.
By a strange quirk of fate this Little Sir John died on the very same day as his
wife, just a few hours later.
Things that go bump
Not long ago a member of the Newstead staff, Maisie Hammond, was looking for a
colleague before the Abbey was due to open to the public for the day.
She walked from the front door, through the Cloisters and turned in the Beckett
Room where she bumped into someone.
Turning to apologise she was amazed to see that she had walked through a brownish
shape which then disappeared through the doorway, leaving the usually pragmatic
Northumbrian lady feeling decidedly intimidated and shaken.
Another member of staff had a similarly disturbing experience
when she was descending the short spiral staircase from the two rooms comprising
ByronÂ’s bedroom and dressing room, the cell the Black Monk is most often
reputed to haunt.
As she came downstairs, she became aware that ‘something’ was following
her and then had the sensation that whatever it was passed right through her.
