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FOREST FOLKLORE | Gypsies, smugglers, snake catchers, highwaymen and witches all play a part in the colourful
folklore history of the New Forest. The area was also famous for its links with spiritualism and
this drew Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to both settle and be buried here.
The New Forest is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the country with stories
abounding of headless horses, weeping children and ponds filling with blood. | ELECTRICAL DISRUPTION IN THE
CASTLE Highcliffe Castle is spookily situated at the top
of a wooded cliff overlooking the sea.
Flickering lights and other mischievous
behaviours over the years have been
assigned to an invisible poltergeist spirit
lurking within the castle. | SIR ARTHUR
CONAN DOYLE Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
creator of Sherlock
Holmes, was drawn to
the new Forest because
of his fascination with
spiritualism and the
occult.
Conan Doyle lived in
Brook near Bramshaw
and is now buried in
the Church Yard at
Minstead alongside his
wife. | SPIRITUALISM Legend has it that
Sway Tower built in the
latter part of the 1870’s
was constructed under
the influence of the
spirit of Sir Christopher
Wren, the architect of
St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Judge Peterson, a
former High Court
Indian judge in
Calcutta, was said to
have been guided by
the famous architect,
who had died over a
150 years previously
via a medium, to build
a tower over 200ft
high in unreinforced
concrete. The tower is
now a listed building
and its eerie presence
can be seen from miles
around through the
forest mists. |
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