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Grace Dieu Priory (Derbyshire)

Published: March 13, 2007

THE HISTORY OF THE LOCATION

The priory was founded in 1239 by Roesia de Verdun for fourteen Augustinian nuns and their prioress. Roesia was buried here in 1247, though at the time of the dissolution some three hundred years later, her remains were exhumed and re-interred in nearby Belton Church.

Grace Dieu has become associated with the white lady apparition which has been seen to emanate from this spot and cross the road, once causing a bus to stop to pick her up !

It is not known how exactly how many occupants would have lived at the Priory at any one time during its three hundred year span as a religious house, but it appears to have been a thriving business community.

In 1536 the prioress, Agnes Litherland, received a licence from the King allowing the foundation to continue, and the convent was re-established "in perpetuity". However, just three years later, in 1539, the poor nuns were turned out, the prioress receiving a scant compensation of just sixty shillings.

One of the commissioners was John Beaumont of Thringstone, who took advantage of his position by buying up Gracedieu at his own valuation. He converted part of the priory buildings into a residence so that the ruins we have today are partly medieval but mainly domestic Tudor (e.g. fireplaces and chimney stacks). Beaumont became Master of the Rolls in 1550, where again he abused his position for personal gain. His misbehaviour at the Treasury uncovered, his estates were surrendered to the King in 1552.

In 1553, Gracedieu was granted to Francis, Earl of Huntingdon, though the widow of John Beaumont regained possession in 1574 and from her it passed to her son, Sir Francis Beaumont. Gracedieu remained in the Beaumont family until it was purchased in 1690 by Sir Ambrose Phillips of Garendon, a wealthy Leicestershire landowner. His occupancy was only brief, though not brief enough to prevent him from pulling down most of the remaining nunnery church in 1696.

The site of Gracedieu Priory has become renowned as one of the most haunted locations in Leicestershire. Over the last eighty years, numerous people have claimed to have witnessed a ghost in the vicinity of the ruins. Almost all accounts make reference to a woman in white, which may carry some significance. For although the priory at Gracedieu was of an Augustinian Order (in which nuns wear black habits), the research of recent years has revealed that the Sisters of Gracedieu, in fact, deviated from the rule and chose instead to wear white.

But perhaps the most celebrated sighting of all was that said to have taken place in 1954, when the driver of a bus heading for Shepshed pulled over at the lonely shelter opposite the ruins to pick up a woman in white. The bus door opened but no-one boarded the vehicle. Both the driver and his conductor are said to have got out, astonished by the fact that the figure had simply vanished.

In further research we have also uncovered the story of a monk who was in love with either a servant or another occupant of Grace Dieu, in order to end their relationship they were bricked into the walls at opposite sides of the room with only their eyes showing. So they could see each other, but not be with each other.

THE INVESTIGATION

Well... This is the first expedition for the Haunted Britain team, and was a good start for us!

We chose Grace Dieu because it was one of the closest places to home (so if we got scared we could run) and had a lot of reported activity from regular people. The ground is open, but the ruins are in a state of collapse and best left alone.

So... what happened?

Despite the eerie look of Grace Dieu, every member of our team felt a sense of calm and were not at all scared or nervous of the atmosphere and surroundings. The building itself, is very dilapidated but the remnants of the house are still clear.

Paul noticed a figure near the old fireplace, which disappeared very quickly, and upon viewing the video footage we can't decide whether a dark patch was seen exiting the screen on the left side.

The only other point worth noting, was as we arrived at what seemed to be a dumping ground for workmen's signs, three quarters of the team became very cold and upon taking photographs, a light anomaly was photographed, yet not seen by any person present. Although, moments before the photograph was taken Gemma noticed a flash of light coming from the same direction.

There was also the sound of what seemed like a child's swing which only started as we left Grace Dieu, this was not caught on video.

All in all, not a bad start for the Haunted Britain team... lets see what happens next!

We decided to return to Grace Dieu for another investigation, as the first was our one and only, and therefore merely a base test.

The second visit, yielded far more positive results. At first, it did not seem nearly as daunting as the first visit. The light from the moon was much brighter, and lit up the old hall (main room) clearly and made it look very eerie.

Upon watching the video footage back, we noticed a fair few light anomalies around this area that seem to sweep in front of the camera and then back out again.

There was a small section, close to a main wall which seemed very dark and no member of the team felt comfortable around there. We decided it was best to leave this part alone, and headed out to the famed bus stop where the most major sighting had occured, this had no effect.

Before departing we placed a key as a trigger object and also left a dictaphone running in a secluded spot of Grace Dieu. The key did not seem to move, however the dictaphone tape does contain some noises we would consider "out of the ordinairy"

By far the best location was close to the old fireplace, in what seemed to be the kitchen. We attempted to communicate with any spirits. And upon asking for him/her to make a noise near a small wall close to us, we heard a rustling from the dead plants nearby as if someone was moving through and brushing them to the side.

We waited for a while and during this period, the wind did not move the dead plants at all. Upon viewing the video tape back at this point, a series of light anomalies were noticed around the wall, and they occur every time we ask them to.

When we returned home, we went through the photographs taken on the digital cameras and a very clear orbs can be seen in front of the small wall and around Grace Dieu. We have investigated whether they could be cars or passing trucks and have ruled them out as we were facing away from the road.

To sum up, there is definitely "something" at Grace Dieu, what however, we do not know. We will leave our photographs and audio recordings for you to make up your own minds.

Although Grace Dieu can seem a calm place, the uncovering of further stories regarding a monk and a forbidden love seemed to cast an eerie sense over the site.

On our third and final visit we were joined by the first two people outside of Haunted Britain, and we decided to split into two groups of boys and girls.

The boys headed of to the dead end corner of Grace Dieu, where previously everybody had been disturbed or simply didn't like the feeling of the place. Paul took on the role of communicator and spoke with the spirits, and upon asking them to show the group something a series of eleven light anomalies were recorded on video camera.

Meanwhile, the girls ventured into the middle of Grace Dieu and did not like the feelings of the site. A whistling noise was heard by the whole group, this continued for the rest of the vigil. Lindzi, a guest of Haunted Britain had her coat sleeve pulled by someone. Neither Sanny or Gemma had pulled her sleeve. However, this was not caught on camera - only the after effects of a rather frightened Lindzi!

Possible Light Anomaly At Grace Dieu Priory

30 minutes later the two teams swapped and the boys headed back over to the small wall where much had happened on the previous vigils. Again Paul took over the duty of communicating with any spirits present. Again, upon asking for them to show us that they were there, a series of 9 light anomalies were recorded and a dramatically high reading on the EMF Meter was recorded too!

To end the night, the whole of the Haunted Britain team decided to conduct a séance to communicate with any spirit persons present. After the first question footsteps were heard running round the group (this was heard by every member) and every light switched off on all the cameras.