It sounds like a bad horror
flick but England’s screaming skulls have been making a nuisance out of
themselves since the 16th Century. The origins of how the skulls got
here is a little fuzzy and stranger still is how some of these bad boys are
regarded as good luck charms for the families.
Usually tucked away on a
bookshelf, on the mantelpiece, or stuffed in a box, the legend is that the
skull would start a ruckus if removed from its comfy resting place until returned.
Aside from the aforementioned screaming, it was reported that poltergeist-like
activity would kick up and storms may envelope the surrounding area.
Bettiscombe Manor
How annoying is this?
Azariah Pinney in 1685 traveled to the West Indies, bringing home a servant as
a souvenir who later became sick and died. His last wish was to have his body
returned to his homeland for burial. Not getting the hint, Pinney instead had
him buried in the local churchyard. Unfortunately for those living close by, the
grave produced moans and screams that echoed through the night while Betticombe
Manor’s windows swung open wide only to slam shut, rattling more than the glass
it took a toll on the nerves of the family as well.
Digging up the servant’s
body, they brought it back to the Manor house where it decomposed in a barn
until only the skull remained, the rest of the bones scattered by animals. The
skull was returned to the house for safekeeping and all was quiet until years
later a new owner of Betticombe Manor was completely creeped out and he threw
the skull into a pond on the property. The wailing and screaming cried out
drove him mad until he retrieved it from the pond and brought it back to its
box.
Another owner decided he’d
had enough of the infamous skull and buried it in a deep hole, glad to be
finally rid of it. In the morning, he arose to find the skull had somehow dug
itself out of the Earth and returned to the house on its own.
Challenging the legend was
an archaeologist in 1963 who had the skull examined. He determined that it was
not a male from the West Indies at all but the skull of an Iron Age woman most
likely found at a nearby settlement called Pilsdon Pen though why she’s
screaming is anyone’s guess.
Burton Agnes Hall
Sure, the lovely Elizabethan
manor house, Burton Agnes Hall, is serene and peaceful now but its tale weaves
murder and anguish within the stone walls. Early in the seventeenth century,
Sir Henry Griffith built the grand home for his three daughters, the youngest
of which was Anne. Anne was a bit of a wanderer and during one of her walks was
attacked by vagabonds who robbed the girl and left her for dead after a severe
beating. After being found and brought back to the Hall, Anne fell into a
fever, making her sisters promise to return her head back to her beloved home
while the rest of her lay buried in the churchyard. Most likely squicked out at
the thought of this, they agreed though later buried Anne’s body with its head
firmly attached.
It wasn’t long before the
family began hearing terrible screaming echoing through the house, filled with
panic and horror. Returning to the churchyard, they dug up the body of their
sister and found that the head was already separated from its spine and devoid
of flesh. Bringing the head back as Anne had requested before her death, the
screams quieted until a maid who discovered the head in a cupboard and threw it
out the window. Really, who leaves a skull in a cupboard?
Anne yelled her head off
until the skull was found and brought back into the Hall where it remained
until future owners of Burton Agnes Hall tried to once again get rid of it by
burying it in the garden only to be met by more screaming. Well, they had been
warned. To guard against any further attempts to remove the skull from the
house, it’s rumored the family had it placed within a secret spot within the
walls and covered over so no one would be tempted to once again toss poor Anne
from her home.
