Sussex Exclusive Magazine Edition II 2022

appearances that have graced our homes, ruins
and glades.
The headless hitchhiker
If Jacob Harris did not appear to the unwary
traveller, certainly the phantom “hitchhiker”
did in St Leonards Forest near Horsham. The
horsemen who took rides across the forest were
likely to find an unexpected passenger riding
pillion behind him. We know who it was, namely
Captain Powlett, which is just as well because
when hitching a lift, the Captain was not normally
wearing his head!
The Powletts were an ancient family in Shipley,
just south of the forest but just who the Captain
was, what he had done with his head and why he
needed assistance with his transport arrangements
is not clear.
The horse of Brewer Griffith
Certainly horses are known to appear when not
expected. My late father-in-law Ronald Kenyon
believed he saw a ghostly one crossing the road
in front of him when returning at dusk from
Brighton to Horsham at Dale Hill between
Pyecombe and Poynings. This was undoubtedly
the horse of Brewer Griffith of Brighton who was
murdered by robbers near this spot and his horse
turned loose. Like many other hauntings, recent
researchers have associated this spot with “ley
lines” radiating from Wolstonbury Hill.
Geranium Jane
Other Sussex hauntings can be linked by the
nature of the manifestations. The former Kings
Head at Cuckfield enjoyed the presence, and scent
of Geranium Jane. A former housemaid who
having fallen pregnant by the landlord, was killed
by him dropping a pot of geraniums on her head.
Other sad ladies who turn up to those that are
receptive seem to be characterised by their clothing.
There are plenty of “grey ladies” – they appear to
those prepared to see them at the theatres of the
Theatre Royal at Brighton and The Connaught at
Worthing, but they also crop up at Preston Manor
near Brighton and Michelham Priory.
Drummer Boy
White ladies abound too at Herstmonceux
Castle and Battle Abbey, whilst some of our well
documented hauntings are manifested by sound:
at Herstmonceux the ramparts of the castle are
well known (heard) to be frequented by the
Drummer Boy whereas elsewhere in the county
the acute may be regaled by ghostly music – the
monkish choir at Poling, near Arundel, the
lone singer at Didling and the phantom Polka
performer at Angmering.
Mysterious hands
Sometimes however the manifestations
vouchsafed to the faithful do not even offer them
a full apparition! At Hangleton Manor near
Hove, white hands have been known to resist
access to doors, whereas at Twineham Rectory
near Cuckfield, a gloved black hand was seen to
progress on its own along the landing. One could
say “unnerving”!
Happy to be home
So are the sad spirits from the past more likely
to appear to those of a receptive mind? Maybe.
Or perhaps, like the white lady at Preston Manor
they will be appeased when properly re-interred
in hallowed ground. Or some, like the old groom
who haunted a stable at Alfriston or another
benign spirit who crops up from time to time,
the late Sir Hubert Parry who has appeared in his
beloved Knightscroft at Rustington, perhaps they
are all just happy to be home. In fact, perhaps
these spirits are, like the rest of us, happy to be
home in Sussex.
Herstmonceux Castle
Theatre Royal, Brighton
A former housemaid
who
having fallen
pregnant by the
landlord, was
killed by him
dropping a pot
of geraniums on
her head.
15