THE TRUTH BEHIND A GHOST STORY

[watermouse]

the following was researched by my self a year ago.

SALLY IN THE WOODS.
its is said that a young girl called Sally haunts the woods between batheaston and bradford on avon.its believed that she
was murdered in them and here spirit has been seen by motorists
on the main road.
from my research there has been no recorded death or murder contected to these woods of anyone called sally.
the word sally means salvo as in a salvo of gunfire.
during the english civil war there was a famous battle at landsdown,bath. which is not to far from batheaston.and in the said woods a small group of the opposing armies on there way to the battle clashed and this is where the name of sally in the woods is more than likely
originated from (salvo in the woods).
this story is a classic example how an event from back time later becomes a ghost story.

i originally posted this on ghost uk .
there are also other stuff by me on that site
under posts made by cropduster

[watermouse]

SUICIDE,A FARMER AND GHOSTS
whilst i was over my fathers house yesterday.he told
about something the famous author "BB" denys watkins pitchford
told him.basically two stories connected to the same area.
near us is salisbury plain.which now is largley an army
training area and there is a ghost village called imber.
and near this deserted village is an old tin barn,on dilton
down and here a doctor hung himself during the 1930s and apparentley on some nights his ghost can be seen hanging and not far away towards westbury white horse was a farm
called SKY FARM which was so haunted that is owner burnt
it down.the tin barn still exsists as my farther heas been
there.he has also visited the site of the old farm.

i originally post this on ghost uk

[watermouse]

HILL (SKY) FARM RESEARCH

The farm mentioned in the above piece.I now identified as Hill Farm as this is the only farm site between Warminster Down and Bratton Camp.This conclusion came about by examining ordinence survey maps from 1887,1901 and 1924.Hill farm appears on these maps but not later available maps.i also went through the land valuation
records from 1925 to 1932 even though edwin sculls farm,Hill farms closes neighbour appears in the register hill farm dosnt.so it appears the farm was vacated between 1924 and 1925.

During this period there was major out breaks of foot and mouth and farming on the plain was in a decline.this may be the reason Hill farm ceased to exsists (edwin sculls farm was in ruin in 1938) .The land itself had all ready been requisitioned by the MOD for training and a replacement tennant may not have been found.so the farm declined
to a ruin.

The only reason i can see the last farmer burning the farm.is becuase of state of misfortune he found himself
in and it may have been away of cutting his losses.its intresting the piece dosnt mention what happened to the live stock.as it clearly states he farmed sheep
may be his flock was wiped out by a foot and mouth out break.

Im still searching the Wiltshire Times and Warminster Herald for referrances to a Fire at the said farm.

it seems the ghost story was added to embelish the farmers
misfortune at a later date.
so this anothe example of the origins of a ghost story

[shazzz]

Cheers for that info

I think that the majority of ghost stories come from myths and chinease whispered affects from stories told from person to person

[watermouse]

ANOTHER SALLY from my research:
found this in a letter on the net 'Sally on the Barn'. According to legend, there lived here at one time a person named Sally, who had a splendid voice and a great inclination for standing in a lofty position on the barn and singing to the moon. And it is said that the sweet music of this eccentric vocalist which could be heard for some considerable distance in the still night air caused many of the neighbouring villagers to stroll in this direction to enjoy the refrain. A figure said to commemorate this moon light singer is still to be seen. Farther on, we come to the interesting mansion of Abbots Court with its monastic and historical associations and beside it is the little chapel which seats about 150 worshippers. This house and chapel for upwards of 200 years belonged to the Abbots of Keynsham. Then we went on along the road until we came to the Elm Tree Inn.


also from a site about monks in the suburb of hanham.

Every person Hanham-born speaks of Court Farm as "Sally-of-the-Barn." This fine specimen of a stone-built Gothic barn has a curious tower possessing two apertures for eyes, a window for nose, and a great archway for mouth.

The object from which the barn is named, a woman carved in stone, stands on the tower. Old people declare she represents a beautiful peasant girl who, centuries ago, was wont to amuse herself by singing from the top of the tower to the moon. More probably the statue was brought from Hanham Court, and represents the pagan goddess of wheat.

Outside the barn, villagers affirm, a strange scene was enacted nearly four centuries ago.


THE GHOST STORY.Court Farm Hanham.



This ancient farmhouse is situated at the end of Court Farm Road and is known locally as 'Sally on the Barn'. During the Civil War, Sally was a serving girl who, rumour has it, was killed by the Roundheads when she refused to give them important information as to the whereabouts of some Cavaliers. The theory is that she tried to escape the Roundheads' clutches through the trap door on to the barn roof because this is apparently where her ghost is seen. There used to be a statue of Sally on the top of the central tower

it seems a large of stories ive looked into originate from the english civil war which i find most intresting

[watermouse]

if anyone has tales which come from historical events please add to my thread was i like collecting them must be check able