Two spirits haunt the unique Lord Crewe Arms Hotel in Blanchard, Northumberland, says RICK HALE
Lord Crewe Arms Hotel
The Square, Blanchland DH8 9SP
Located in the Pennines mountain range is the charming village of Blanchland, a small town formed from an ancient medieval abbey.
Here can be found The Lord Crewe Arms Hotel, a uniquely decorated and atmospheric hotel with a history for being haunted.
History Of The Lord Crewe Arms Hotel
The hotel, like the town began its long history in 1165, as the Blanchland Abbey founded by the white Cannons of the Premonstratensian order.
The hotel itself was originally built as the Abbot’s lodge. And the gardens served as the cloisters for the monks.
The Blanchland Abbey saw four centuries of peace, prosperity and devotion to the service of God and others.
All that came to an end in 1539, when the Abbey was dissolved by King Henry VIII. The monks fled to the Moors and went into hiding.
They feared if they were captured, they would be imprisoned or worse.
The Abbey sat empty for a time until it was purchased by the Radcliffe family and later by the Forsters of Bamburgh in 1623.
The Forsters converted the abbey into a manor house and into the town you see today.
In 1708, Lord Nathaniel Crewe took over the town. It’s from this time the Hotel gained it’s ghostly reputation.
The Ghost Of Dorothy Forster
The Lord Crewe Arms’ most notable ghost is Dorothy Forster.
In 1715, her brother Tom became the commander of the Jacobite forces during the uprising.
Tom, who was ill equipped to command anything, surrendered to government forces without a fight.
Tom was carted off to London and imprisoned in Newgate prison to await trial for high treason. A trial that would certainly earn him the death penalty.
Three day before his trial, Dorothy staged a daring jailbreak rescuing her brother from certain death.
When they returned to the Lord Crewe Arms, Tom was hidden in a “priest’s hole” behind the large fireplace.
After a short time of hiding, Tom was smuggled into France and Dorothy stayed in the Lord Crewe Arms until she eventually died.
The apparition of Dorothy has been witnessed by both staff and guests in the Bamburgh Room.
She is said to manifest by the side of the bed imploring whomever is in the room to take a message to her brother in France.
She desperately wants him to know that it’s now safe to return home from his exile.
Her apparition is said to vanish before anyone can give her an answer.
The Ghostly Monk
In the 1990s, an American guest staying in the Radcliffe Room was awakened in the middle of the night by a peculiar sight.
A monk in a white robe silently sat at the end of her bed. She reached out to touch the figure who was quite solid.
When she drew her hand back she watched in awe as the figure simply melted into the air.
When she reported the incident, she reported that the unexpected visitor wasn’t scary. But, rather peaceful.
Where is the Lord Crewe Arms Hotel?
The Lord Crewe Arms Hotel in the charming village of Blanchland is a comfortable hotel with fully modern rooms. While maintaining its medieval appeal.
You can have a meal or a few drinks as you relax in the former abbey’s crypt.
If you’re the outdoorsy sort, you can explore the Pennines and the Moors of southern Northumberland.
The Lord Crewe Arms Hotel is a unique hotel with a unique history and a couple ghosts to make your stay memorable.
I used to work here for a time and also was tasked to lock up on a night, I can confirm lots of odd goings on in here and in the rest of the village (the village was raided by vikings in the 11/1200s and the entire population murdered where they stood.) I never felt theatened by any of it, was more curious than anything.