Ghostly sightings at Robin Hoods grave
Surprisingly, Robin Hood’s longest running connections with the occult and “dark arts” focus on the many claims of supernatural sightings and vampirism that in later years have become associated with his most well-known, presumed gravesite at Kirklees Priory, in Yorkshire - where, according to the traditional tale, Robin’s treacherous cousin, the Prioress, deliberately bled him to death, in league with her evil, forbidden lover, Red Roger of Doncaster.
Frequent ghostly apparitions, a succession of paranormal investigations and numerous books written on the subject, have resulted in an endless stream of media stories that have constantly fired public imagination. There are hundreds of reported sightings in and around the grave-site and probably thousands more that were not reported by people who feared they might not be believed!, Roger Williams described a typical encounter that he and a friend experienced in the 1960’s, when the figure of a woman, (believed to be the evil Prioress), silently glided towards them. At a distance of five yards, they could see her face with its brooding, annoyed expression and dark, mad, staring eyes, then, without looking back, she was gone! Amazingly, this all took place at 2.30pm on a bright, sunny afternoon!
Up until the early Twentieth Century, Kirklees Park, the private home of the Armytage family, was in its prime and considered to be an area of particular scenic beauty but as the grounds and buildings on the estate fell into decline and became in need of repair, the overgrown and isolated environment surrounding the site of Robin Hood’s Grave developed a more corrupt atmosphere and a spiritual “sense of place” that over the last 50 years has evoked an abundance of supposed supernatural and paranormal associations, including claims of being cursed by vampires!!