THE WORLD'S MOST HAUNTED PLACES

MINSDEN CHAPEL, HERTFORDSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM

Minsden Chapel is now nothing more than a ruin, standing isolated amidst trees in the Hertfordshire countryside. The site is very atmospheric, given its isolated position and long history. The haunting of the chapel is one of the best know in the Hertfordshire, mainly because it has been widely investigated.

Peter Underwood had a strange experience here, and a photograph showing a phantom monk was taken in 1907 by W.T. Latchmore.

The Chapel, now a roofless shell, is made of flint nodules and dates back the 14th century, when it was a stop off point on the pilgrim route to St. Albans Abbey. By the 17th century the chapel was a picturesque ruin, which was still used by those of a more romantic disposition for weddings. By 1725 the bells had been robbed from the chapel, and the danger of falling masonry had put an end to the open-air marriage ceremonies.

HISTORY: 

In the early part of the 20th century, the chapel became linked with Reginald Hine, who fell in love with the place.

Reginald was a local historian who researched into the chapel's history extensively. It was during one of his visits in 1907 that his companion, W.T. Latchmore, photographed a phantom monk coming out of the ruins.

Reginald committed suicide in strange circumstances at Hitching railway station in 1949. He calmly stepped in front of a train while in the midst of a conversation with one of his friends.

Long before he died he had said about the chapel "I will endeavor in all ghostly ways to protect and haunt these hallowed walls", so visitors beware!

HAUNTINGS: 

The site was visited with a group of clairvoyants in 1993 during a tour of the area. The three clairvoyants claimed to pick up images relating to a tunnel, a cellar with a bricked up tunnel entrance, and barrels being unloaded from a car. The barrels were then taken into the building revealing people hiding in the cart behind them. Several symbolic images were also picked up by one of the psychics. The Brocket Arms resembled the building that one of the psychics saw the barrels being unloaded. Staff told of a legend concerning a tunnel in their cellars that had been bricked up and led to Minsden Chapel. They said the pub was haunted by a monk, who either committed suicide by hanging himself, or was hung after being caught trying to burn the building down.

 Traditionally the chapel is haunted by a phantom monk. The monk is said to appear at midnight on All Hallows Eve, to the Northeast of the chapel, as the bells of the chapel begin to toll. He is said to climb a set of steps that no longer exist. Some witnesses have heard faint music from the chapel. Peter Underwood, the former president of the Ghost Club, spent a vigil here, and heard the sound of distant music, he also witnessed a white glowing cross on one of the walls, which disappeared and then reappeared. The chapel also has a legend about a murdered nun who haunts the area. This remote and very atmospheric ruin is well worth a visit, but beware of falling masonry and ghostly guardians.