The white lady and the Rooks.

 I'm interested in the characters of Newstead and the idea of a ghost as a memory.

Ghosts of ourselves, disturbing the time line of events, displacing characters from the past. Connections within the stories we tell and edit and evolve. The evocative nature of old buildings and the distorted lens of looking into the past from an impossible distance. Here is some information I found online about Newstead's most sighted ghost- The White Lady.

White Lady

After Byron left Newstead Abbey he sold it to an old school friend, Thomas Wildman. A devoted fan of the poet and his work, Sophie Hyatt came to live at a nearby farm. When the Wildmans learned how fond she was of Byron's work they kindly allowed her to wander around the grounds whenever she wanted. Sophie lived on an income provided by a relative. In 1825 the relative died and the money dried up. However, Sophie had another relative in America and decided that she must try to make contact to ask for help. She left a note for the Wildmans to let them know what she was doing and set off.

When Mrs Wildman read the note she dispatched a rider to catch Sophie and offer her accommodation in the grounds of Newstead for the rest of her life. The horse and rider set off in hot pursuit and reaching the Market Square found a great crowd gathered around a horse and cart outside the Black Boy pub. Intrigued, the rider dismounted and pushed through the people to find Sophie lying on the ground – dead.

She had been run over by a cart, not hearing the drayman's warning. She can now be seen wandering through her beloved gardens, especially along one path now known as White Lady’s Walk.

 I have a general interest in superstitions and supernatural tales that accompany historical sites. 

I wanted to include this as I'm mindful of the religious history of the building, why were the souls of the monks not in heaven? the past is a ghost, and tales like this become a part of a places history, irrespective of truth.

The Rooks

Washington Irving, the author of the famous American ghost story 'Legend of Sleepy Hollow' stayed at Newstead in the 1800s. He noted with interest that each morning the rooks would fly away, en mass, to sweep the countryside for food. They would return in a similar manner in the evening, where their discussion of the days events would echo around the estate.

Irving was told that the rooks observed the Sabbath; they set out every day except Sunday, when they stayed in the abbey grounds. He didn't believe this until he saw it for himself. Indeed it appeared that the rooks visited their neighbours and friends, devoting Sunday to their nearest and dearest, but didn't leave the estate.

Irving tells us that the local tradition had it that the rooks at Newstead were the souls of the 'Black Monks' reborn as birds, still occupying their old abbey. Indeed so strongly was this belief held that, contrary to common country practice, the Newstead rooks were not shot, and were generally left unhindered.