Author Topic: Shuttleworth House, Old Warden, Bedfordshire  (Read 3770 times)

Offline ukghostinvestigators

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Re: Shuttleworth House, Old Warden, Bedfordshire
« Reply #9 on: Tuesday 10 January 17 13:42 GMT (UK) »
Swiss Garden
A dog cemetery was created with some 14 headstones belonging to the family’s beloved pets, on which the names are still visible.
Stone Cross marks a grave
One legend is that Lord Ongley had a Swiss girlfriend, and he built the garden for her which included a Swiss
Cottage. She became ill after being caught in a heavy shower in the garden and later died.
Another legend is that Lord Ongley's Swiss girlfriend had a son who died of pneumonia aged 9.
Grey Lady? Possibly ties to Swiss girlfriend
The Swiss Garden was in a dilapidated condition as the number of gardeners had been reduced during the war. Mrs Shuttleworth returned from gardening down there one day and was adamant that she had seen the ghost - the 'grey lady' who had come near her as she was weeding a flower bed. The condition of the garden encouraged the idea that it was haunted. It is also said that the stone cross was removed by the gardeners, but they were haunted with the sounds of voices so they returned the stone and the voices stopped.
1841
mary nind age 73. born out of county
eliza barnes age 19. occ. independent means. born in county.
1851
hannah palliser age 58 keeper of swiss cottage

Recent history
The most hair-raising event occurred at Hill House when one of the students, an ex-Commando, went berserk one night and went for another student with a knife. Staff knew nothing about this until next morning but ex-service students at Hill House dealt with him. They rang friends in the mansion to seek a bed for the potential victim and then endeavored to knock out the raving student! When he came into breakfast the    following morning he certainly looked the worse for wear! He later became the subject of a police inquiry. He was the brother of an identical twin who had died from an infection as a child and from that time had gone off the rails on occasions. His arm was scarred with attempts he had made to commit suicide and the sound of bells set him going!
Sadly his girl friend jilted him just when he was about to leave Shuttleworth and within weeks he had married a waitress from a Biggleswade restaurant. They had a daughter. He then had one of his 'turns' and attempted to commit suicide and was put on probation. One night, after visiting the pub, he returned home and murdered his wife with a hammer. His daughter might have been killed too but he changed his mind at the last minute. He was sent to Broadmoor and I have heard no more. He was the most notorious of Shuttleworth students and I have deliberately omitted his name out of respect for his daughter and former friends.
Another student, Pengelley-Phillips, an ex-Royal Marine, was with a party that visited the Hare and Hounds one evening and, in the middle of the night, I was woken by the sound of someone calling 'Help!' I recognised his voice and went to his bedroom on the top floor of the mansion. The handle had been removed but the night porter had come with me and he found a screwdriver so that we could get in. There were five beds in that room and one was empty! I aroused the others and we started a search for the missing student. We even went on the roof and it was from there, looking over the parapet, that I saw Pengelley-Phillips lying on the grass below an open window. It was obvious that he fallen out while relieving himself. We called an ambulance and I accompanied him to the Bedford Hospital. He had broken his back and, sadly, was incapacitated for life.
Louis Pengelly-Phillips Died July 2014 aged 89 sergeant in ww2

Offline LizzieL

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Re: Shuttleworth House, Old Warden, Bedfordshire
« Reply #10 on: Tuesday 10 January 17 13:50 GMT (UK) »
Wow, you have a lot. Nothing of note happened in the two years I was a student at Shuttleworth college. I remember seeing the dogs graves, but think that was just outside the Swiss garden, near where the (now moved) Bird of prey centre got set up..
Berks / Oxon: Eltham, Annetts, Wiltshire (surname not county), Hawkins, Pembroke, Partridge
Dorset / Hants: Derham, Stride, Purkiss, Sibley
Yorkshire: Pottage, Carr, Blackburn, Depledge
Sussex: Goodyer, Christopher, Trevatt
Lanark: Scott (soldier went to Jersey CI)
Jersey: Fowler, Huelin, Scott

Offline johnP-bedford

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Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Partridge - North Beds; Northants & Peterborough
Bishop - Bedford; Hunts, Hemingford Grey
Allen - Hunts, Hemingford Abbotts
Clement - Croydon
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