White Ladies Priory
An interesting and eerie place I've had the pleasure to visit is White Ladies Priory in the Shropshire countryside. This is a set of ruins of a medieval convent that dates from the twelfth century, although there is evidence to suggest that this was a religious place long before the Norman invasion of 1066.
I've always thought that the name White Ladies has a suitably ghostly feel. However, the most likely explanation for the name is quite simple. The nuns who lived here were well known for their white robes. They probably couldn't afford or didn't think it necessary to dye their habits black as in most other convents.
There is another couple of explanations for the name "White Ladies" which are much more interesting.
One tale is connected to the legend of King Arthur. After Arthur's death his queen, Guinevere, hid away from the world and became a nun. Her final home was a poor and little known convent which eventually became known as The White Lady's Priory.
The name Guinevere is derived from the language of the ancient Britons and means "white spirit".
Another 'White Lady' connected to the priory is a statue of the Virgin Mary. This statue was supposed to have stood in the middle of the priory for centuries and was revered by the nuns. It was made of fine white marble and was believed to have miraculous powers. Whenever terrible things were about to happen - deaths, wars, famines - the statue was said to have glowed with a shining, golden light. This was a warning to give the nuns time to prepare.
Legend has it that the last time this statue glowed was in the early 1530's shortly before the priory was closed down. In 1536 Henry the Eighth's soldiers arrived to kick the nuns out and steal all their valuables to take back to the King. The glowing statue, however, had disappeared.
It is thought that the statue ended up at St Mary's church in the nearby village of Brewood. But sadly this statue is not made of fine, white marble and is not known to glow in times of trouble.
After the nuns were evicted, the Priory became a private residence. At the time of the English Civil War it was owned by a wealthy landowner called Charles Giffard who also owned Boscobel House just down the road.
Cromwell's patrols were all around and the King was forced to spend an undignified night hiding in an oak tree. (This is why so many pubs have the name Royal Oak.)
The following day the King was hurriedly whisked into Boscobel House where he was hidden in a priest hole. He could hear Cromwell's soldiers outside threatening immediate execution to anybody who helped the King. Fortunately, everybody managed to keep their nerve and Charles eventually managed to escape to the safety of France. He was restored to his throne a few years later and those who helped him were handsomely rewarded.
White Ladies Priory definitely has a ghostly presence around it. The people who built these places didn't just buy a piece of land and begin laying bricks. They searched for special places that they thought were spiritual enough to build a house of worship. White Ladies Priory, with its legendary queens, lucky kings, and glowing statues is such a place.
Older/Newer
« Haunted Ships and their Ghostly Passengers | Haunted: The future »
9 Comments
Leave a comment
Authors
Joanne Morris - Founder of the biggest paranormal investigation group in the Midlands
Hi Joanne,
Thanks for the new blog. I haven't been to White Ladies, but I've heard so much about the place. Now after reading this I am determined to make a visit promptly.Thanks once again, it has been a joy to read.
Hello Joanne, I've found this blog fascinating as it takes me back to my younger days. I remember Whiteladies as an eerie place and have had some experiences there myself. I always had the feeling of being watched as I approached the ruins. It just gives you the shudders. I have never seen anything there, it's just the feeling I get and some of the sounds you hear that are unexplainable.
Unfortunately last time I was there, the lane leading upto the priory has been used for fly tipping etc. Not only that but to my dismay within the ruins are the left over man made fires that are just terrible to see. This is a very special place, a part of English history that should be preserved and looked after.
I don't know if you have been up there, but it might be worth you paying a visit. Thanks for blogging about the priory I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Hi Joanne,
Yet another fantastic read, I have heard so much about this place and one day I hope to visit it, just have to ask my partner to see if she is willing to go. I love reading your blogs as they are so informative and interesting to read, it really does make me more intrigued about certain things. Keep up the good work, and cant wait for the next one!! xx
Hi there,
would just like to say I love reading these. Keep up the good work! regards Penny
Hey Joanne,
Great new blog. Never been to White Ladies as I don't come from the area, but sounds really interesting.
Seasons Greetings,
Mike
Brill read Jo, White ladies is a place we need to visit again, perhaps in the summer this time, coz ya need ya thermals in this weather. Thanks for all your hard work on writing these blogs and making our Birmingham and surrounding areas a more interesting place to live xxxx
I remember meeting a woman who uses one of Raquel Welch wigs like I am and she sad that she has also been there. She said that place is really worth visiting because it has a certain doze of mystery. It's like in a fairytale. I think I will go visit it too this summer.
This article is made up of half-understood and misunderstood fragments. It's so full of inaccuracies, I hardly know where to start. I've traced some of them back to an American visitor, who mixed up White Ladies priory, an Augustinian house, with the nearby Black Ladies, a Benedictine house closer to Brewood itself. The extant statue mentioned is clearly early-modern, baroque in style, not medieval, and is in St. Mary's, the Pugin-designed Catholic church in Brewood. It was probably used in the Giffard's 16th-18th century chapel at Black Ladies, not at either of the priories, and is thought to have suffered damage in the Civil War. At that time, White Ladies and Boscobel were owned by Frances Cotton, a widow and a member of the Giffard family, not by "Charles Giffard", whoever he was, and not directly by the Giffards of Chillington. The hiding in the oak happened some days later, when Charles Stuart was hiding at Boscobel, and after an abortive attempt to cross the Severn at Madeley, not while he was at White Ladies itself. Etc.
Make your life time easier take the loan and all you want.