Three Cistercian monks were murdered by the inhabitants of Accrington in the late 13th century and according to tradition a local haunting dates back to this time. 'A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6' (1911) gives the following information about the historical events.

'The manor of ACCRINGTON was a member of the honor of Clitheroe, and was by Henry de Lacy granted to Hugh son of Leofwine together with Altham before 1177. It must have been surrendered to the grantee or his successor, for Robert de Lacy gave it to the monks of Kirkstall by way of compensation for the grange at Cliviger which had been recovered from them by Richard de Elland. The gift was confirmed by William son of Hugh de Altham for the love of God and for the salvation of the souls of himself, his wife and kindred.

The bounds recited in Robert de Lacy's charter show that the whole of New Accrington was granted, and possibly Old Accrington also; the New may be 'the wood called the hey' which is mentioned, for in later times New Accrington was regarded as in the forest, while Old was copyhold land. The monks made a grange there, removing the inhabitants to make room for it; and these, taking it ill, revenged themselves by setting fire to the new building, destroying everything in it and killing the three lay brothers who were in charge. Due punishment was meted out. The monks' tenure was of no long continuance, for in 1287 the abbot resigned his lands to Henry de Lacy, who agreed to pay 80 marks a year in return, chargeable upon Accrington, Cliviger, Huncoat and other manors. From that time the manor has remained a part of the lordship of Clitheroe. It is often called a chase.'

It is not however the monks who are thought to haunt Black Abbey. 'Centuries ago, Black Abbey in Accrington was home to a devout order of monks. A young member of the order fell in love with Ursula, the beautiful daughter of a nobleman. Biding their time until they could marry, they met secretly in a top room in an abbey tower. But one night, the young monk was captured by the girl's father and his henchmen, chained to a wall and set on fire. His beloved had been hiding, but hearing his deathly screams she ran to help him. There have been several reports of Ursula appearing in a halo of light. Golden tresses fall down her back, she is the epitome of radiant youth. But when she sees you, her flesh becomes withered and scabby, as though scorched by flames. Then she emits a horrible shriek and vanishes.' [Accrington Observer - 'Spooky tales of a haunted Hyndburn' by John Fahey – 30 October 2003]

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Who was the mystery man at Samlesbury Hall?

Ian emailed in to tell us another spooky story about Samlesbury Hall in Lancashire.

"I thought I would tell you this story about my father, Arthur, who used to be the M.D. at Samlesbury Hall several years ago. He told the story many times at dinners held at the Hall...

One night in the mid 19th Century a dinner was being held in the great hall at Samlesbury. During the evening one of the guests had to return to his bedroom to get some more cigars. As he walked through the parlour room he looked out of the window to see a six horse funeral carriage on the drive out side. The gentleman driving the horses looked up and straight into the eyes of the dinner guest. The driver had many missing teeth and a patch over one eye.

A little startled by this, the dinner guest ran back to the Great Hall and asked if any one else had seen or heard the horse drawn hearse - no one had seen or heard anything and laughed at our bemused and a little scared friend, accusing him of partaking in a little too much wine. The guest regained his composure and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

A week later and our dinner guest is in London for a business meeting. Staying at the recently refurbished Hilton Hotel. The hotel had just installed the latest elevators to assist some of the more infirm and aged guests staying there. Being allocated a room on the top floor of the hotel our intrepid friend decided to try the new-fangled elevator and pressed the call button to summon the elevator. Imagine his horror when the lift doors opened to reveal the driver of the hearse seen at Samlesbury the week before, dressed in the uniform of a lift attendant!

He panicked and started to run down the stairs to the lobby. After only a few seconds a terrible crashing noise was heard through out the entire building. On his arrival in the lobby our friend was greeted with a terrible sight. The lift cables had snapped and sent the car crashing to the ground floor. The lift doors had burst open with the impact and shattered several chairs and tables placed in front of them.

Picking his way through the debris to see if the lift attendant had been killed or injured he came across the hotel manager surveying the damage. There was no body or sign of blood inside the smashed lift car. "Where is your lift attendant?" asked our now very scared friend. "Lift attendant?" replied the hotel manager - "We dont have a lift attendant - why do you ask?"