Coombe Abbey was founded in 1150 as a Cistercian Abbey, and  has been host to queens and princes through the ages. Nowadays it is an impressive hotel and country park situated in the county of Warwickshire, in the English Midlands. 

Photograph of a Ghost?

In the summer of 2003, while staying at the Abbey,  According to the photographer, Ross Corby, he took a photo (left) of his wife sitting in the lobby, near the Cloisters Restaurant; not, incidentally a part of the building associated with any known 'hauntings'. When they got home and downloaded the photograph from the digital camera onto the computer, they discovered that there was a mysterious clouding effect around the room, which was apparently not visible to the naked eye at the time the photo was taken. Despite appearances, the photographer claims it is not cigarette smoke as there was apparently nobody else around at the time. Does the picture have any connection with alleged hauntings at the Abbey - perhaps a ghostly former resident of the haunted building? Or is there a more down to earth (and likely) explanation for the photo, perhaps human breath in front of the lense?

There are one or two folktales of ghosts and hauntings at Coombe Abbey. One concerns Abbot Geoffrey, murdered at Coombe, probably by one of his own monks, in 1345. There have been reports of  a cowled figure floating around the grounds, and of various objects being hurled around in the kitchens, the latter poltergeist type activity being attributed to the restless spirit of the murdered monk. There are also tales of Matilda, a green-eyed gypsy girl betrayed in love by the master of Coombe more than 300 years ago. She put a curse on the family which apparently caused premature death for the eldest sons, and now her ghostly footsteps can be heard on the cobbles near the stables. 

Other ghostly legends connected with the Abbey include a mysterious horseman, said to ride past the lodge house at night, and a strange woman in Victorian clothes riding a bike on the road outside the abbey. Today there are apparently frequent reports of mysterious draughts, doors slamming on their own, and a eerie presence. On occasion it is claimed that guests have been so frightened that they have ran out of their rooms.

Any comments / questions about the Coombe Abbey ghost photo can be sent to the photographer Ross Corby here.
 

 

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