Ghosts in Waiting
Grace Dieu Priory is in ruins but it was an Augustinian
nunnery founded in 1239 by Roesla de Verdun. In 1539 the
Priory was sold to John Beaumont because of the Dissolution
of Monasteries and he converted it into a family home.
In 1690 it was again sold and the owner demolished almost
all that remained of the nunnery. After this it was abondoned
and fell into disrepair. It was never lived in again and
and the Grace Dieru Trust is workimg hard to keep what
remains of the ruins intact.
These ruins however are said to be the
most haunted place in all of Leicestershire. There is
a phantom "white lady" that floats around the ruins and
one such time a bus driver and conductor actually stopped
to pick up what they believed to be a passanger and were
pretty frightened when they opened the door to let her
in only to find out she has disappeared into thing air.
A police officer passing by Grace Dieu
saw a woman in a gray with a hood cross the road and
a council man working at the priory found a women leaning
over him and he was pushed harshly from behind, but no
one was there.
Currently it is believed that one of
the women haunting the Priory is Agnes Litherland who
was the Prioress of Grace Dieu in 1530. She had a child
out of wedlock so the child was cruely drowned in the
lake and she was walled up inside the priory as punishment.
Most people believe there are multiple female ghosts
that haunt the ruins, but a few believe it is the same
woman. Whatever the case, be it one ghost or five, there
is a lot of ghostly activity and it is worth a visit.
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