All right, man, so I don't know if I told you this and Michael is wanting to get a new pet.
So we told him that he couldn't have another dog or anything, but so we got him a pet tree.
And we said, look, it's like a pet dog, except the bark is quieter.
Ha, ha, ha, ha.
Good evening everybody and welcome to the graveyard. Thank you for joining us tonight. My name is Adam and my name's Matt.
Now, we'll up a tombstone or settle into your casket and get comfortable because this is grave your tails
All right, everybody here we are again Matt. How you doing tonight, brother? Man, I'm good. Good deal. Good good
So real quick, we want to say go check out the pod belly network at pod belly dot com
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Topics and and and things that you can listen to but
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Where the shirt so make seven on the front up yours. No, okay, no, but I like that
This one was this the guy the he's like running a contest. It's
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And he you know holding up a seven up can yeah, and then he's going through these stacks and stacks of letters and he's going oh
I mean he looks at another good lord. He say I think we kind of I think they they're missing the point
And then it's just this montage of him looking at him and he's like
Looks like too big Christmas hams
I don't remember that one
Maybe I don't know what baby. Think of that. That's good. Show us your can. Yeah
Please don't wait. It's the jalo booty thing. Oh, that's probably it
We're not asking for canned footage though. I promise you that we
I
There's enough cans quote unquote on the internet. We don't need to see more
Yeah, we got it covered
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But Matt that's all I got so why don't you tell us what are we talking about tonight brother
Well tonight we're gonna go to the UK
And we're gonna talk
Yeah again
I know it we we keep jumping across the pond um
We're gonna talk about um
Well, I just I don't I really have a great intro for this place
Ashton Hall it's it's in Birmingham and
It's it's just it's a fascinating house fact Adam and I were discussing it before the show
um
Honiter not this is
You know that this is an amazing
Uh, piece of architecture and an English history. Yep
um
So even without the the the ghost stories that go along with it
um
It's really an incredible place and it's it's
one of the
If I'm right and Adam's gonna talk more about this. It's one of the last remaining
um
Homes of this particular style architecture, you know, so so there's a lot of it's it was um
Uh
Played a play to roll in the English Civil War
So a very unique place, but
Also quite haunted
Uh, according to visitors and guests and staff members
It's it's usually found on those lists of the some of the most haunted places in the UK
So uh, we're gonna get into it. We there is just like with all of these really old places especially in Europe
um
The history of it is
Uh, can be quite dark um, you know, things things weren't all coming up roses
For everyone during you know the the 1600s and and the the family that lived in Aston Hall
uh, they were also uh not immune uh to just hardship and
Just craziness to be honest with it is when you hear some of these stories you're gonna like Jesus
It's crazy. It certainly plays into the hauntings there. Yeah, it does it does so um
Aston Hall Adam, uh, let us know what tell us about Aston Hall
You know when it was built what it was built for all that good stuff
Well, it was built some years ago and it's built for this dude all right your turn. No, I'm good
I'm done
Long time ago and he's still there. I gave up on this episode. I just said screw it. I'm not
Nobody cares about the history anymore. I'm done. I'm kidding
Um, so as we always say go check the sources down on the bottom of the show notes
You can find where we found our information. I did it right that time Matt not like last time bingo
Um, now I'm gonna mess up everything else. Love it up. I don't write this stuff down
So this is gonna be just screwed up and there's a lot of information
Like Matt was saying that is out there
On the house and the area and stuff like that. We're not gonna cover all of it
Because we don't have 16 hours to run the history of the town and the area and the land and all that but if you're
Interest to go check our sources down on the bottom of the show notes now there is
History to the house, but like Matt and I were talking
There doesn't seem to be a lot of written
History about Aston Hall itself
Yeah, there there are some specific things that might I'll get into and then I'll get into but
You know, it's not as detailed as some of these other places in the UK which I'm not
Maybe it's just
We're not in the area so we don't have access to everything that they've got and we obviously don't have access to the oral history
Of the area, but we'll get into what we can get into
Now Aston Hall is a 17th century mansion house built in the Jacobian style in Aston Birmingham now
Aston Hall is located in the village of Aston three miles north of Birmingham and close to junction six of the M6
So if you're in the UK near Birmingham, you'll know
Exactly where that is
Now what is the Jacobian style just so we don't spend the entire episode wondering because I do that sometimes when I don't know
What a word means. I'll spend the whole time trying to figure it out and not listening to anything else that said
And so by the end of whatever speech or
Or monologue I'm listening to I'm stuck on what the heck is Jacobian? What is Jacobian and I missed the rest of it
Say it like everybody should already know like how could you be such a creep? Yeah, exactly
You wouldn't know what the Jacobian style does this is the Jacobian style built
You know as famous as it was during the Jacobian era and I've heard people say Jacobian
It's not Jacobian. It's Jacobian
Um, I mean you can say Jacobian if you want to that just makes me hungry
But you know
I mean if it even has been in it
Yeah, I'm telling you man hungry. I mean I'm gonna get a bowl of them Jacobians, please
Little hot sauce on them. So this is from
Westland London dot com now the Jacobian era it's from
Jacobus which is Latin for James
So it was the period in English and Scottish history from 1597 to 1625
The area coincides with the reign of James the 6th of Scotland who also inherited the English throne as James the first in
1603 upon the death of Elizabeth the first
So the Jacobian style is considered the second phase of English Renaissance architecture
The Elizabethan era saw the first introduction of Renaissance ideals into England
The arrival of Italian ideas a philosophy and art coincided with the development of a more international economy and an emerging middle class
So at the beginning of the Jacobian period there was
Little stylistic change from Elizabethan trends which continued to develop
So during King James's reign however
English architecture began more
decisively to adopt Renaissance motifs. This was partly due to an increase in the employment
Of flimish and German carvers and other continental artisans who brought with them renaissance
Styles and techniques. So this direct influence saw a departure from the Elizabethan style
Which had borrowed its classical details from books and we've talked about the Elizabethan style
in a previous episode I think
Oh, yeah
There there was several houses and and so even in the US that were in Elizabethan style architecture or so
But although the general
Principles of Elizabethan design still held sway architects began to take a more
Unified and consistent approach to formal design both in planning and elevation
So buildings from this period
Combined motifs from the late
perpendicular Gothic period
With classical elements like flat roofs with open work parapets columns
Pillarsters I guess is how you would say it and round arch arcades
These classical details were often imperfectly understood and somewhat clumsy
So many buildings influenced by the Jacobian style made use of the tooter pointed arch
As well as ornamental details that are also characteristic of Elizabethan design
Like scrolls, lozenges, and strap work
So lozenges yeah, and if you had a sore throat you could lick some of the walls
And I knew I knew I wasn't gonna get a straight answer
No, I was just like I've never heard the word lozenges used for anything other than
A throat drop, you know like the things I keep over here in case I get a little uh flimish
Right
It was the flimish style say you have lozenges exactly they they they knew what was up
Once a year everybody got sick they'd stick lozenges in the wallpaper
So it what I gather from that is the Jacobian style. It's kind of a mixture of
newer architecture coming in plus Elizabethan design
And renaissance kind of style, but it was all done
It wasn't as perfect as like Elizabethan style was it was it was more
I'm open to interpretation of the architect that was building it
So let's look at the house real quick
Then the house was built between 1618 and 1635
And Aston Hall was designed by John Thorpe in the prodigy house style a trend that saw vast and opulent houses constructed all over Britain
By courtiers and wealthy families. So the founder of Aston Hall was Sir Thomas Holt
Who in the early 17th century had risen in status under James I and felt he now needed a glamorous new home befitting his rank
Yeah, then this this sounds like this sounds like a kid that just signs a
A big NBA contractor, and you know an NFL contract. He's like, ah, yeah, I'm a I'm a pro ball player now
It's time for me to
Live in a house befitting of a professional athlete at age 24, right, right
And you go broke within two years make it make it big
You know make it make it very very
Gaudy and lavish and everything and that's what Aston Hall
Kind of is basically it was on that episode of Majakobian Cribbs
Majakobian Cribbs
Love it now
So this goes on to say that in 1642 Charles the first stayed the night at Aston Hall on his way down to London at an outbreak of the English Civil War
Yet before reaching the capital
Fought the infamous battle of edge hill against the parliamentarians
So the following year Aston Hall itself would bear witness to the violence of the war
Though it had been garrisoned with troops from Dudley Castle the 40 musketeers
Provided were no match for the 1200 strong parliamentarian force that arrived and it suffered severe damage
Evidence of this can still be seen today such as a hole in the staircase where a cannonball went straight
Through the window and into the banister. Yeah
Yeah, it's kind of cool. You can still see the cannon the cannonball
I'm glad they left it. I mean honestly. It's amazing history
So I'm glad they they left the the cannonball hole
But you know what's funny is they fixed the front portion like it went through a window
Through a door and then into the banister and
But they fixed the other stuff. I guess you had to you got to fix a door. Yeah, I got to fix a window
Can't let squirrels in
But I thought if you're already fixing it it was you know fortunate for for us, but
You know we get to witness some of this history
But why didn't you fix the stairs?
Yeah, maybe they couldn't maybe it was very ornate maybe it required more than just
Carpentry maybe it actually required an artisan to do. I don't know maybe
But like you said, it's fortunate for us, but you would think at the time they weren't thinking well
This will be a cool thing of history
Listen, I don't do anything in my house that I go
I'm gonna I'm gonna leave this because in 400 years
Somebody is gonna go wow. I'm glad they left this. Oh, Matt. That's because we're Americans
Where nothing over here is going to last 400 years. Yeah, true enough. We don't build anything
Important out of stone anymore. It's stealing glass. So it'll be gone within 50 years, but mm-hmm
So this says that despite the conflict the house remained in the possession of the Holt family until the early 19th century
When it was at last sold off in 1858 it became a park and museum
lasting in this capacity into the modern day
Now we mentioned Sir Thomas Holt was the
The big cheese of Aston Hall here. So who was he?
Well, this is according to history of parliament online
The Holt family acquired Aston in the mid 14th century and
Dunston it seat until the 17th century some 80 years later
So I'm just gonna jump in real quick forgive me
That there are a lot of UK names and places
And stuff in here that my Texas mouth is gonna go nope
You're this is what they would sound like if they were Texas cities
So you're just gonna have to forgive me
I know you'll tell me how after the episode you may be typing it already
And if you're typing it already just wait because there's gonna be a lot more that you're gonna have to correct
So well and and I know how to say
Birmingham
Because I'll watch picky blinders, so I think I've seen a couple episodes of that so and and help some you know
I could do it long. Yes, but this wouldn't help either so
I said, you know, Thomas Holt either chose the law or had it chosen for him that doesn't sound any better
You you sound like a guy like
Uh
Selling crap oh
In the dickens of Christmas care, you know, the guy standing on the street corner, you know, he's got my you've got a chimney sweep
Yeah, you need your chimney sweep. I've got it
Look at me look at me dust on me here
So I guess I said Thomas Holt either chose the law or had it chosen for him not entirely sure and in in May
1514 he was admitted to the middle temple as a member of clerks commons
So within eight years he was placed on the Warwickshire bench and about the same time Sir Henry will be of
Walleton
Nottinghamshire appointed him steward and supervisor of his lands in Derbyshire Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire
And Warwickshire a ton of shires
Yeah
There was the shire with the hobbits there too. I don't know exactly was I was fixing this
Bilbo was actually one of his servants
Um in 1523
Um he was fine
20s for using whatever 20s is if you're
From that area, please let me know. I I didn't take the time to look up how much
Money he was fined maybe silver. I don't know
I was reading that and I was going oh he must know what 20s me. Nope
No
Didn't didn't get around looking it up at the time and
Forgot so huh now
But he was fine for using defamatory and seditious words to Richard rich and others of his in
But this misbehavior did not prevent his letter promotion there. He may indeed have owned his
Return
To the parliament of 1529 for warwick to the patronage of a local magnate who was also a middle Templar
So rich's cousin sir George Throckmorton was this guy
So they think maybe this Throckmorton guy helped him get back in even though he used
defamatory and seditious words
Yeah
You're gonna find out
Thomas Holt was an enormous asshole
Yeah
Which explains the seditious words and stuff
But nothing is known of Holt's role in the house, but he was probably returned again to the parliament of 1536
In accordance with the king's general request for the re-election of the previous members and may have sat in 1539
When the members of warwick are unknown
So Holt served on a commission of inquiry into extortions and misdemeanors in the marches of whales
Which reported early in 1533 and in the following year bishops Lee the newly appointed president of the council in the marches wrote
Recommending him to Cromwell
So the minister who had known Holt before the parliament began
Um, aceded to Lee's request for his service and much of his time thereafter was spent in the marches
He also served on commissions in his native shire including that of 1536 for the survey of monasteries
So this guy did a lot during his time, but like Matt said
Kind of it went to his head a little bit
Well, and kind of a jerk
He was he was a very powerful man
Yeah, he had a lot of influence
so
You know even even when uh when he would
Get in some trouble
His his influence typically got him out of it um
But you can see the things that he he governed these in these investigations and everything i mean
he would uh
He he would be
Well, he was he was uh like the sheriff
Mm-hmm. I mean he he was actually a sheriff and
Yeah, it you're right it went to his head, but it gave him a lot of say over what people
did what they could and couldn't do
and
When you what that what is the what is the term they said, you know power
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Yep. It's kind of this guy
Yep, for sure
For sure, so let's look at Birmingham for a second
Now bring Birmingham is the second largest city in England
It began as an Anglo-Saxon village
In the early 12th century it grew into a town in 1166 the king gave the lord of the manor
Peter day Birmingham the right to hold a weekly market at Birmingham
So once a market was up and running merchants and craftsmen came to live in Birmingham
And it soon developed into a busy little town
In 1250 the people of Birmingham were given the right to hold a fair each summer
now i
Just i got to jump in again and say
The the time frame were in
They were they were allowed to have a market
They were allowed to have a fair
right
It was a big deal
Because he weren't allowed to do this stuff
So for the fact for them to be able to have a market and have a fair
It made that place seem pretty important
No, yeah, it's a it's a feudal system
You know if you if you're not of you know the
The hierarchy bloodline
You're you're surf. You know i called it the feudal system
It was feudal to try to move up
He was there there was the wrongs on the
socio-economic ladder were cut off
Yeah, you you stayed where you were and you had no choice
You know i'd imagine some of them lucked out and were able to marry into
A higher standing, but not often no no
It was like a few people climbed up the ladder and with each step they would cut off the wrongs as they went higher
So nobody followed
But as if you would have do that with a ladder the ladder eventually collapsed
So i mean it it this parable can i can keep going
We just like
I
Drag this out for another 20 minutes
So in the middle ages a fair was like a market, but it was held only once a year
So Birmingham's fair attracted buyers and sellers from all over the midlands
So medieval Birmingham became known for its wool industry wool was woven and died in this town
By the late 14th century burger Birmingham was also known for its metal working industry
By then it was also known for leather working
And other stuff leather was tanned and then used to make gloves saddles bottle shoes
And a lot of other things so think of this as a
production town
Yeah, that this this town was known
All around it for making stuff. Mm-hmm would work
wool
Leather if you needed it to work on your farm it probably came from Birmingham
Now in the middle ages the church ran the only hospitals in them monks would care for the sick and poor as best
They could when the early 13th century a quote hospital dedicated to st. Thomas was built in Birmingham
In 1500 Birmingham was still a small market town with a population of about 1500
And it would seem tiny to us and even by the standards of the time it was a little town
Well the old crown house was built in the 14th century
So that was that the old crown house is another
Place in Birmingham there in the 16th century Birmingham grew rapidly the
In 1547 the population was around 1800 people by
1560
It had probably passed 2000 people they say
And in the 17th century Birmingham continued to grow
Um, so by 1650 it had a population of about 5000 people and in that in that time it was considered a pretty large and important place
So in 1570 a writer actually said Birmingham was quote full of inhabitants and echoing with forges
The lower part of it is very wet the upper adorned with handsome buildings
So then after all that aston hall was built you know completed in 1635
now so all of that history and everything and we finally get up to aston hall, but it kind of shows you
the
Development of this town and why aston hall would be built in Birmingham right it was a growing town with a lot of people and this dude
Thomas Holt he wanted to be in the middle of it and be that important
uh
Feller yeah, he wanted to be over yeah, and and for all practical purposes he was
um
You know he had been he had he had made
Influential relationships that also provided him some power and some notoriety
um
But it gave him the ability to be the top dog
In in Birmingham for for a good period of time. So as we said at the beginning of the show he decided that
If if he was going to be top dog then he needed the nicest doghouse
So that was that was why they constructed aston hall
Now I admit I mentioned this earlier not only was Tom and hall Thomas Holt very rich
He was obsessed with his status
And he ruled not only over you know people of Birmingham, but his own family
Like a dictator
Okay, I mean he he thought like he could control everyone
And when he learned that his daughter's daughter Mary had made plans to alope with a lover of whom he disapproved
Hey locked her away in her bedroom
Hmm for sixteen years
Good lord now this is this is again according to legend, but there are some documents that support
This actually happening
Now being locked in that room Mary Holt eventually according to legend lost her mind and died without ever being freed
Now a report from a quote unknown source that appeared in the aston Gazette
Said that Mary did indeed eventually escape
But she fell down the stairs to her death. So you after all this time you finally escape and then you fall and die
Well after sixteen years. I'd forget how to use stairs to
well, and if you
Look at the images outside of where Mary's room was
Yeah, there's it's a crap load of stairs. It's like a I was describing it to Adam
It's like a geometric spiral staircase almost like her room is at the top of a tower
So I mean it it doesn't look like it's tremendously safe
You know, especially if you were already very distraught
um
You know, maybe even you know
mentally incapacitated you go flying out of this room because you finally break out. Yeah, you know now you got all these daggers steps to
Down you go
Probably they don't know for sure after sixteen years she didn't remember steps being there. So
possible
there's also
Some that believed that this was uh, this was a suicide
No, I'm you know just after all that time, you know, she realizes this is
You know, he's never gonna change his mind. I'm always gonna be here
And letters in dire in diaries have been discovered reportedly containing messages between Mary and her love
Francis
And one entry from Mary reads quote
I know under no circumstances when my father allowed me to marry a third class servant boy
Alas all he cares about is his money
She goes on to describe the man Holt had chosen for her as a quote vile cruel and pathetic man
And later describes her father as her mortal enemy
Bad blood man
Also in what looks like a hastily written and distraught note
Francis reveals that he is going to be executed for his relationship to Mary
And and he accuses in this note
Thomas Holt of being a murderer
Now there is a another note with a very sad tone for Mary that reads
He is gone
May his soul rest in peace
They have warned me before
Now he is dead as I will soon be too
so
There is um
There's really no indication that
Francis was executed
But he did die
Which may have led to a worsening of Mary's condition to the point that she might have been suicidal
Well, and they probably
Holt probably wouldn't have allowed that
To be recorded either if he was
Executing a quote servant boy for trying to date his
Daughter right he didn't want that out there. He's got an image to keep right and uh, but but this is uh, this is how he felt about it
Um
There is a letter or a diary entry from Thomas Holt himself
And it says
People are speculating that I am a murderer
It was a mere servant what value did his life have anyway?
He woke up every day just to serve me
I merely put him out of his misery
So
Holt might very well have had something to do with Francis's death
But I mean, he you know he gave no more
uh
credit credit to
Francis's life than he would
Stepping on a bug
Yeah, that's disgusting essentially, you know saying that he put this kid out of his misery because all you know
He was he wasn't worth anything
Well, how could I possibly be a murderer?
You know, this this life didn't mean a thing
It gives you the idea of the hubris involved here. Yeah, the the type of man that he was
Just
Didn't read he seemed to not really value any life but his own right
Now visitors to Aston Hall have reported encounters with a white lady
Who is believed by many to be the ghost of Holt's abused daughter
She has been seen gliding along the top floors of the mansion where she was imprisoned during the final years of her life
Mary spirit is the most commonly cited ghost story to come out of Aston Hall and she is Austin Ross
uh and she is often referred to as the grey lady or the white lady
Now a victim of Thomas's Holt's legendary temper Mary's ghost remains trapped in the halls of the man
Roaming the area around the room that essentially served as her prison cell
Photos from outside Aston Hall seem to show the grey face of a woman looking out onto the grounds
Um, and you can you can see these photos. They're they're very very common
I mean, you don't even have to look up ghosts you can just look up Aston Hall
You'll see these photos of this this face that is kind of
Just staring out of one of the upper floor windows
Um, it I mean it's a face could it could it be somebody else? Yeah, I mean it could be a staff member
But it's definitely there and it's definitely grey which is which is odd you know how if if somebody was looking out a window
Even in the shadow you could still
Make out some coloration. Yeah, this this face is completely gray. So if they think that they did some
They did a little makeup artistry
Mm-hmm
That's creepy man
But this all gives you an idea of how cruel Thomas Holt could be
But he didn't stop there
As I said Holt felt that he controlled his family and his children should do his bidding
Which involved catering to his desire to grow his name and his fortune
Holt hosted King Charles the first as a guest at the hall and used his influence to secure a position
Within the King's household for his second son Edward
He had he had big plans for Edward. Okay
This whole this whole deal
Was to increase his family's dynasty intending for his son to marry well and increase their influence even further
But to his dismay
Edward fell in love with a woman named Elizabeth King
She was the daughter of John King the Bishop of London
You know
Still somebody of some high standing, but not
In the position that Thomas Holt wanted
It's almost like
People love who they want to love and not who people try to make them love. It's weird. That's right
I mean
Yeah, I thought this this arranged thing worked
Ha
Hey, look at this guy. I got for you sweetheart. You know exactly
You know ridiculous fop you know some
Goofle wig and you know
So what's it telling you prince volume from space balls? Yeah, yeah
What you're telling me is I probably don't need to go ahead and pick Michaels
Wife then yeah, I'd probably probably bad idea let him find his own okay
All right
Good idea tough tough love and all go find your old wife kid exactly
I'm not gonna do it for you. You need to learn how to do
But you know, but Thomas Holt he
Of course he did not want Edward marrying this Elizabeth King
He refused to give his permission for this marriage and upon learning that Edward had gone ahead with the marriage regardless
He cut him completely out of all inheritance
So he just to say essentially disowned Edward for marrying Elizabeth King
Okay
And in fact
After dis inheriting Edward Edward King Charles himself
Urged Holt to reconsider
Okay, so Edward was
Edward was not a fop apparently, you know Edward was
You know probably a good-looking young man strong
Healthy from a good family
And and King Charles oddly obviously liked him
liked him so much
You know that he actually went to Thomas Holt on his behalf to say hey
Don't ex him out. He's a he's a good son
He just he he fell in love with somebody and and you should accept that right he didn't do it
Of course not. Yeah, I mean he was so hateful
That he quarreled with Edward for 20 years
And went to great lengths to try and ruin him so not only did he argue and fight with him
He actively tried to ruin his life
Over this
You know, I look
You know, I mean, you know with my kids
You know, they're they're gonna do what they're gonna do
You know, I may get upset with them because they you're not doing what I need them to do
But this is this is extreme
You know, I'm not gonna fight with one of my kids over something like this, but
You know Holt said no, I ain't working
So apparently Holt's anger toward his children
Left some pretty significant
Negative energy inside that house. Can you imagine here is the master of this house
Angry enough with his son to fight and argue and even actively do things against him
Right there in this house. That's gonna leave him more
20 years and you know, we've already talked about I mean he he most likely either had
His daughter's lover killed
Um, I doubt he he dirtyed his own hands. Yeah, I didn't but
You know, and then just blew it off like what what is what's wrong with you people
Yeah, murder. I mean, so this is this is gonna leave some energy behind and perhaps that is why
Spirit seemed to linger around aston Hall
Now after his eldest son George died in 1641
Holt remarried just to spite Edward
Now hoping hoping to have another son to serve his his heir so he would have a reason to
Truly completely exedward out
um
He uh, he took a wife who was much much younger than him
Um, but she did bear him a son
But unfortunately as was common at the times that um
The child died very early in life. Mm-hmm. Yeah
Now Edward was killed in battle in 1643 having never reconciled with his father
And when Thomas Holt died at age 83
He left behind
Only his young widow and a daughter named grace which
Essentially ended the whole line
But some reports say that in the days just before his death
Sir Thomas was finally persuaded to bequeath his title which was um
Um
Jerk face uh
Baronette okay um
To his uh
His uh his only grandson which was Edward's son
Robert Holt
So I mean, I assume that continues the line, right? This was his son's son
So the Holt line did carry on so some conflicting information there
um
But you know if if if Robert Holt was indeed his grandson and he would have been his heir
Um, even if it wasn't his director
Right, but maybe the unresolved issues keep his tormented spirit wandering the halls
And there are there are events in the hall that they
They they somewhat attribute to the ghost of Thomas Hall
Uh Thomas Holt
um
You know disembodied voices
footsteps
um
Just odd little things that most haunted locations have in ashton hall is no different
But the building is also home to a spirit that's known as the green late
What we at we've had we've had a lot of white ladies we've had a lot of
Ladies in red a lot of ladies in gray yeah
But not too many in green
So the green lady is believed to have been Thomas Holt's housekeeper Mrs. Walker
Hmm now the green lady doesn't do a whole lot of housekeeping in the afterlife
But I don't blame her
She is frequently approached by guests who mistake her for a staff member
So she's a fairly solid apparition
She's most commonly spotted in the great hall
Or in the housekeepers living quarters
She wears a high-collared green dress and is usually sitting down in a chair
Her appearances seem to become more frequent when major cleanings or renovations are being performed at the manner
So you know she she may be
Showing her approval or disapproval um, she may just feel like she's
Being an overseer when things like this that would have fallen under her jurisdiction as the housekeeper
Uh are occurring at the hall
Um, but but it is it is very common to see the green lady
Now in the 1980s a
Staff member was locking the large oak doors between the great hall and the saloon
As he walked through the great hall
He saw a lady in a green dress with a late with a lace collar
Now the receptionist desk, you know in 1980s this place is already a museum
The receptionist desk was situated just to the side of the oak doors
But she reported that she didn't see anyone
Now this staff member was later speaking of the incident with a former employee
Who told him that he too had seen the green lady some 20 years prior
On that night he had been called out to the house by police
Due to an alarm being triggered inside the home
And as he entered the house
He saw the same green lady walking down the stairs
Oh weird
Yeah
Another staff member saw the green lady in the mid 1990s
And he was working in one of the corridors
Where he could look out of one window
Into another window across the way
So if you if you look at Aston Hall it's kind of built
With like an open courtyard kind of style so it's yeah
You know you you've got a portion of the home that if you look out
An interior window you see the courtyard, but you see the windows opposite
The courtyard. Yeah, like those little hidden courtyards in Louisiana
Yeah, they're yet to walk down a narrow little thing between two buildings
But then you've got all the buildings surrounding
That one little courtyard. Here's some trivia for you Adam. Do you know what that little walkway is called
An alley
That's good guess. It's called a widow's wall
Huh, yeah, I didn't know that something I learned years ago, and I
managed to hold on to yeah, yeah
It's that useless information that we keep, but we forget how to get home some days
Yeah, that's right
I look I was writing my phone number down for a patient the other day and I wrote a phone number that I hadn't had in 15 years
Where did I pull that from I don't know if you asked me what that number was
I probably couldn't have told you right but just automatically and now I'm looking at it and I'm going what okay
Yeah, well when I move back to Texas and got my Texas license apparently
if you
Are born here and started driving here and you get a driver's license
They just keep your driver's license on file and I got the same driver's license number
I had 15 years prior when I left Texas what if you had the same picture
Oh
I don't even wanted to y'all seen pictures of me as a kid that that was not flattering
So but it was one of those things. I was like I know this number and then I just I mean
It was stuck in my head then and I recalled it and I can't forget it now so
Yeah, I did yeah many many years of the same drivers license number. They just had it on hold for me
I think I smiled in my first one
Yeah, I don't know why I'm just like you're so giddy to have a driver's license
Hi, yeah, it was it was kind of touch-and-go there for a minute. Yeah, government picture
And so many years later you're like uh government picture
All right, so so back to this um
So so this guy in the 90s
He's on one side of the building and he looks through a window and he can see into another part of the building through that
website window
As he watched he saw a woman walking past that window
Now when he's made his way over to where he had seen the woman he found no one there
Now at the time Aston Hall did not open until 2 p.m
Since it was before 2 o'clock
He knew there was no way a visitor had made their way into the house
So he described the woman by saying she was wearing a green velvet dress with fair hair
Standing about 5 foot 2
So he got a good look at this woman. Mm-hmm sounds like yeah
Now another spirit that's frequently seen is that of a young servant boy named Dick
Now while working in Aston Hall
I think that's the name of the Holt guy
Yeah, that's that was his nickname
Big big
But he worked in Aston Hall and and Dick was caught stealing a piece of bread
Now stealing bread was a crime in those days
I think it'd be a crime today. I just don't think don't you take my bread. It wouldn't be punished this severely
um
But as was custom
That Dick was locked away in the attic
Until his master
Thomas Holt returned to the manner. So he's a way
So the staff or you know, they catch Dick stealing his bread
They say all right, we're gonna lock you up in the attic until you know master Holt returns and he'll decide what your punishment would be
Now Dick knew whatever punishment that was gonna be it was gonna be horrible
You know because here's this guy, you know, he's he's locked up his daughter
He's disowned his son. What's he gonna do to somebody stealing bread?
No joke. Yeah
So fearing the wrath of his master
Dick hanged himself in the attic. Oh no
Now the young boys' apparition has been spotted by many roaming the halls of Aston Hall
particularly around the area where he died
Although some visitors have reported seeing the apparition of a man hanging from the rafters in the servants attic quarters
So yeah, I heard a really good description of this, you know, where they
Actually here you can hear the rafters kind of squeaking as if there's a weight hanging from
You know
I think that would probably be one of the things that would frequently out the most
Is if I went to Hauna place and got an apparition of that yeah
Like how horrible that yeah, that would just be that would make me turn around and leave
I think yeah, well, I don't see that no
But another death with an Aston Hall is rumored to have left a paranormal trace
The ghost of a former cook is said to haunt the home
After being murdered by Thomas Holt in the kitchen
Hmm, but this dude just goes around murdering everybody. Yeah. Yeah, he doesn't like your hair
Yeah, he doesn't like your hair today off with your head. Yeah
Yeah
After growing so angry over his cook's poor performance Holt allegedly grabbed a meat cleaver and used it to split his cook's head clean in two good grief
Now he would later use his power and influence to clear his own name of murder
Yeah, he probably did that several times. Yeah, I would imagine
You know when he's the most powerful guy around and he does something who's gonna be able to step up and go
You know you killed this guy and he's gonna be like okay, so what
You know and the people above him that they're not in the area so they probably don't really care
Or even know
Yeah, and when they probably did find out if anybody ever left and traveled
And and could pass a long word of this probably been
years
Now at that point again, you know these
wealthy people they
Whatever he can do what he wants to with his servants. I'm not I don't want to mess with him. He's an asshole
Yeah, exactly like have you talked to the guy? I don't want to talk to the guy. Yeah, I'm not he killed his cook
I'm not surprised. Yeah, yeah, I want to get involved. Absolutely not right
Now
Now there is an interesting tale from the hall that speaks of a glowing ball of white light
Which has been seen by staff and visitors alike
Coming out of a wall and flying at high speed towards the staircase
Now this has been linked to the cannonball which came into the house
Hit the staircase when aston hall was under attack during the English Civil War
This is the first ghost cannonball that we've talked about on this show
I know and then the writer of this article says essentially the same thing
You know, I've I've not ever heard of of a haunted
Of the haunting by an inanimate object
Right, right. Yeah, now we're not talking about like like
Up a something, you know like a jewelry box was haunted. We're talking about you're seeing the ghost of a cannonball
Right, you know or something along those lines a lot of times like if you look at
Battlefields here in the US from the Civil War
you may see the spirits of the
The the soldiers that got killed
And they may even reenact their death where they fall and you seem land on the ground
But you never see the projectile that hit them
Yeah, right. Yeah, you don't see a cannonball confounder. You don't see a musket ball
So this is wild. Yeah
But you know wild and I believe it I believe it's Gettysburg that this happens it may be one of the other ones, but
Um, I know when we talked about Gettysburg. I remember talking about
people hearing
Yes cannon fire
You know, even though it's not there. They're hearing cannon fire. They hear the horses
Okay
Which you know that that's that's pretty incredible in and of itself, but nobody's you know dodging ghost cannonball
Wonder what would happen if you got hit by like ghost cannonball
Yeah, if you were just standing there and this ghost cannonball came in it squaring your chest what would happen?
I don't know
Would it just go through you? Would it actually knock you down? I would imagine it would knock your spirit out of you
Oh, there you go, you know now your your body standing there and your spirits laying down going what the heck was that?
Well upper cut my spirit and this goes flying out of me
Am he got hit so hard at knock the ghost out of him
Now staff and visitors have also reported that's what happens to anybody Mike Tyson fights
Well, I saw that in a cartoon. I think
Somebody got punched so hard like their ghost popped out and then it jumped back in their body. Oh, yeah
It's like an old bugs bunny cartoon or something. I think that makes sense. Yeah
But as I said earlier the staff and the visitors report voices footsteps, you know
noises from rooms that are known to be unoccupied all the typical things
But apparitions of children have been seen in the nursery
And a rocking horse moves on its own as if there's a child riding it
No, thanks. Yeah
Now I'm a I had this in my notes earlier and
Then after the fact I
I got more information
So I'm gonna so I decided I'm gonna leave this in
So we'll talk about it when I'm done
There is a video taken in
2022 I believe just last year
It's taken outside of Mary's room and it
Might have captured the gray lady
Now in the video the person operating the camera is walking up the many steps that lead to Mary's door at the top
the door is a jar
And from the landing just below the operator stops and begins to speak to Mary
He calls himself Thomas and says allowed to what an unfortunate name for this guy to be Thomas
You know, why would he think Mary spirit would respond to anybody named Thomas
Yeah, right
But anyway, he says his name is Thomas and he says allowed to Mary that he means her no harm
And he wants to know if she's in the room
Now after several seconds pass a shadow is seen passing quickly by the opening into the empty room
If you watch this video
it
It looks pretty incredible
And obviously these these folks taking the video were surprised and frightened and you hear the visitors quickly turned to retreat down the stairs as the video cuts
Hmm, so
however
Uh a a a a tick-tock channel
unearthly paranormal
revealed the truth
um
Where the other investigator where other investigators went in there
Suspecting that maybe something wasn't exactly right with this video
Uh-huh, they ignored signs which I thought this was peculiar
They ignored signs that said do not open Mary's door or enter the room
And they discovered a projector that appeared to be producing the shadow
Yeah
How unfortunate, but I do want to make it clear the people that shot the video were not in on this they
They believed that they had captured some legitimate footage
Okay, but they were obeying the rules and they had not gone into the room
Um
But you know, they weren't trying to hoax anyone they were just trying to
Put this amazing video footage that they had captured while it asked and all
But the the follow-up video actually shows them
shows another group quietly opening this door and you see this
This
Type of projector there in the you know in the floor right there which look like it was responsible
Um for the shadow and there's even a light on
The left side of the room that you can see through the crack in the door where the the door hinges are
Uh-huh, which seems unusual that you would have a light situated there
And this bothers me so much. I know it
It really shakes the credibility of any of the other ghost stories from Aston Hall um
But
You know, I try to try to give them the benefit of the doubt here and
You know, look, you know, you get new staff this this place was built 400 years ago
Yeah, we've got these stories of this haunted stuff, you know, let's let's have a little fun
Let's make a little extra money. Let's let's let's build up some interest by just making
Making something happen
Okay, I
I understand it
but
You know and this this goes out to anybody else listening if you own if you operate if you
Uh, you know are are employed by any any place
That has a reputation of being haunted and
You know offers that as a reason for people to come and visit
Just let it be
Yeah, just let it be what it is
I think I think most people
When they go and they they stay in a haunted hotel or they take a tour of a place that's supposedly haunted
You kind of have this expectation you have this hope
That you experience something but there's always the expectation that you're not going to experience anything paranormal
right right so
Just let it go
I think if it if it's gonna happen it will happen
But when something like this is uncovered um
You're just kind of like man
Now it just sounds like a lot of it is a bunch of you know a bunch of bull
So I don't think this makes this makes asked in hall not haunted
Um, I just think maybe
You know the staff was trying to help things along
Um, but again, you know, I haven't I haven't verified any of this but I felt like if
When I found this information that actually has the video of them going in the
Zach door for the original video was taken and you see this thing in the floor and the light set up
It it looks bad. I mean as far as you know, maybe this particular thing somebody was you know trying to play up the haunted aspect
And the problem is not just
I
asked in hall now
And you've got somebody doing this and
This is going to tarnish the reputation of all haunted places
Everywhere because debunkers will go oh we'll see I mean asked in hall they had a projector up
I feel the same way about these shows these tv shows that are caught faking stuff
That I mean, I think I forgot which one it was but there was
A tv show that got real popular for a while early 2000s or something
That they were caught faking
their
evidence
this just tarnishes
The reputation of paranormal investigators of haunted places and everybody will say well look see
I mean they they had a projector at asked in hall so I guarantee you that's what's happening at
Uh, you know
Well, whatever another haunted
Castle in the UK or that's what happens at Bobby Mackeys here in the US. They're they're just doing
Projections it. It's nothing. It's fake. See right and I mean
Okay, so
You can't get the quote spirit to show up for everybody that shows up
So what if you're into the paranormal you understand that?
You know
That I may see it
But I'm probably not going to and that's what makes the
Seeing something you know witnessing something feeling something. It's what makes it more special. Yeah
Yeah
If you could get a
repeated
Uh response from a spirit
Then they would be testing it. They would be
The scientific method would be used on it
It would actually be allowed to be discussed in
Scientific circles and stuff. It wouldn't be look down upon
But then you go and try to make something repeatable by
faking it
And it just ruins the credibility of everything else. Yeah
Yeah, and and you know, it is unfortunate
because of that
But
You know
There's still a lot of other stories that go along with Aston Hall and including seeing the apparition of Mary outside of the room
Um
But it's just going to make people go well if you're willing to fake that you're willing to make up story
Maybe I don't know. I'm not I don't want to accuse
Anybody I just want to say you know this this is unnecessary
I really feel like this is unnecessary for any place
To to fake it
You know if you know you're just trying to earn a few extra bucks. Let it be what it is
You know even even if the people leaving have convinced themselves that they had a paranormal experience
Whether they did or not
That's a legitimate story that's going to go out into the community
It's going to spread you know
Look perception is reality if I think
That you know I saw something I can't explain if I saw something move if something touched me
Then that story is real and it's real to me and it's going to be real when I tell it to anybody else
Okay
And that I think that's what you just leave it leave it as you know, you just leave it at that
Um, yeah
But
Regardless of all that
Aston Hall is still an incredibly
unique place
Um, you know, it's like I said, it's one of the last
um
standing
Examples of this Jacobian architecture style
um
You know, they they can that can't it ball hole is real
Um, that's so so there is a lot of history there and and it did have a a unique role
In the English Civil War and that Holt guy was a jerk
Yeah, and and he was and you know a very polarizing individual with a big lavish house because
You know he he's trying to to show everybody how powerful and wealthy he really is
Look at me. I deserve it
I got deserve it. Oh
Yeah, well that just uh
That I hate that I deserve this gives me the willies
But anyway
But tell us what you think
Do you you know far listeners in the UK? Are you familiar with aston Hall you familiar with these stories
You familiar with this this story from last year about the projector
Um, let us know what you think the
Does this really does this tarnish the reputation of
Aston Hall being a haunted place let us know and the best place to do that is in our Facebook group
Go on search graveyard tails. You'll find our group. It's called the graveyard
Thousands of members. It's extraordinarily active
Uh a lot of fun a lot of a lot of good personal stories
Uh, you know, we've got people in there that ask for help with different problems
We got a lot of jokes and just a lot of fun. So so jump in there and enjoy it if you haven't already
um
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