The Ghost of Coombe Abbey

Coombe Abbey, the Warwickshire stately home owned for centuries by the Craven family, has always had a reputation for being haunted. 



The stories go back to its ancient origins as a Cistercian monastery in the 12th century. One ghost is supposed to be that of the Abbot Geoffrey, who was murdered in the cloisters in 1345. He is supposed to appear as a hooded figure, his face never visible.

If there is any historical truth in this, he may be identified as Abbot Geoffrey II who presided over the monastery from 1335-1345. Visitors to the abbey have reported seeing a cowled figure floating around the grounds at night or lurking in the cloisters.

And there have been other spectres reported too, including that of a gypsy-girl named Matilda who after becoming pregnant by one of the Craven men reputedly put a curse on the family. 


Nowadays the house has been converted into a hotel, but the stories linger, and staff and visitors have both told tales of the presence of a "poltergeist" - an invisible ghost who moves, or throws things. 
Who is this ghost and why is it haunting the ancestral mansion of the Craven family?  Is it Abbot Geoffrey, angry that his murderer was never caught, or is it the unhappy Matilda?


To find out more about the Craven family and the writer Elizabeth Craven who lived at Coombe Abbey, see



by Julia Gasper. Vernon Press 2017
https://vernonpress.com/book/334

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