Chapter 5
The Literary Life of a Ghost-hunter
1970
50 BERKELEY SQUARE
1971
GAZETTEER OF BRITISH GHOSTS
1973
HAUNTED LONDON
1975
THE GHOST HUNTERS
THE ITALIAN COUNT
1977 - 1979
HAUNTINGS
1971
48
YEARS
GAZETTEER OF BRITISH GHOSTS
“It was the first real attempt at a comprehensive survey of Britain’s haunted sites…”
gazetteer |ˌɡazəˈtɪə|
a geographical dictionary or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.
Gazetteer of British Ghosts Google Map
“I would like to acknowledge my daughter for reading the first draft and for many helpful suggestions,
and particularly my son Chris, who has provided most of the excellent photographs…”
“I can remember well… motoring hundreds of miles one Sunday through Surrey,
Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Sussex and goodness knows where else, seeking out some of the haunted places that I had included.”
“The entries marked with an asterisk [*] are those about which I have personal knowledge.”
*Dartmoor, DEVON.
“The vast moorland is reputedly the haunt of pixies, a headless horseman, a mysterious pack of ‘spectral hounds’, and a large black dog, among others...”
“During the Great Thunderstorm of 1638, the Dartmoor village of
Widecombe-in-the-Moor was even said to have been visited by the Devil…”
The tower of Widecombe church was apparently struck by ball lightning during a severe thunderstorm.
“Two miles north of Widecombe-in-the-Moore there is a lonely stretch of countryside with a roadside grave: Jay’s Grave is said to be the final resting place of Mary Jay, who hanged herself on the site of the grave.”
“Jay’s Grave is said to be the final resting place of Mary Jay, who hanged herself on the site of the grave.”
“Ever since,
fresh flowers have appeared on Mary’s grave
and no one has ever discovered where they come from.”
Jay’s grave
In the wake of the book's success, Underwood moves to a new home in Hampshire - the White House, near Farnham - a town with many entries in the Gazetteer.
(The house subsequently manifests strange phenomena of its own..)
