Blackbeard's house
Hopefully you will find this an interesting read since it is almost Halloween. Atlantic Beach and Beaufort, NC are one of my favorite vacationing spots. I have been to visit Blackbeard's home several times. They have a haunted tour where you are walked around the town at night and they tell you all about the history and possible haunting of the area. Below is a link that tells about the history of Blackbeard's home.---- IMAGE REMOVED because photobucket.com no longer allows embedded images ----
One thing that I found very interesting concerning the history of these homes are the windows usually about the 3rd floor up. The loved ones of the sailors or pirates that were out to sea would be able to go up to these 3rd floor windows and look out for their loved ones. They were lookout windows! All the homes in that area have them.
Beaufort used to not have as much land. The water would come right up to the porches of these homes. One of the stories that was told to us was that Blackbeard would come in from the sea right up to his porch and tie his small boat to the porch. I try to imagine this in my mind and can't understand how the home didn't get washed away.
Comments (15)
There are plenty of haunted houses and castles here. I tend to stay away from them, and definitely wouldn't stay in them overnight like some do
On the main street of this city, many of the older buildings have outside steps going up to a higher level.
These were from when the streets were quays and boats used to come up delivering goods.
I would post a pic but I can't since they got rid of the upload function.
You could see an example here if you wanted:
I would absolutely love to visit the castles in Ireland, Scotland and England, among other places. So rich with history.
Some of the smaller ones, like Luttrelstown Castle, are used for weddings. David and Victoria Beckham got married there
Others, like Bunratty Castle, are visitor centres
No internet then but pirating is still alive and kicking..
Charles Tottenham came to take care of the mansion in 1666 with his second wife and daughter from his first marriage, Anne, while the Loftus family were away on business. During a storm, a ship unexpectedly arrived at the Hook Peninsula, which was not far from the mansion. A young man was welcomed into the mansion. Anne and the young man became very close. One night, the family and mysterious man were in the Card room playing cards. In the game, each player received 3 cards apart from Anne who was only dealt 2 by the mystery man. A butler serving the Tottenham family at the table was just about to question the man when Anne bent down to pick another card from the floor which she must have dropped. It is said that when Anne bent over to pick up the card, she looked beneath the table to see that the mysterious man had a cloven foot.
It was then that Anne stood up and said to the man you have a cloven foot and the man went up through the roof, leaving behind a large hole in the ceiling. Soon Anne became mentally ill. It is believed that the family were ashamed of Anne and locked her away in her favourite room where she would be happy yet out of everyone's view which was known as the Tapestry Room. She refused food and drink and sat with her knees under her chin looking out the Tapestry Room window across the sea to where Dunmore East is today waiting for her mysterious stranger to return until she died in the Tapestry Room in 1675. It is said that when she died, they could not straighten her body as her muscles had seized and she was buried in the same sitting position in which she had died.
A rumour states that the hole could never be properly repaired, and it is alleged that even to this day, there is still a certain part of the ceiling which is slightly different from the rest. Meanwhile, it was believed that the stranger with the cloven hoof returned to the house and caused persistent poltergeist activity. A number of Protestant clergymen apparently tried and failed to put a stop to this. The family, who were themselves Protestants, eventually called on Father Thomas Broaders (a Catholic priest, who was also a tenant on the Loftus Hall estate) to exorcise the house.
The apparent success of Father Broaders' exorcism did not end the ghostly visitations at Loftus Hall. The ghost of a young woman, presumed to be Anne Tottenham, was reported to have made frequent appearances in the Hall and has been reported to have been seen on the tour, opened in 2011. Interest in the ghost story has remained strong and many aspects of the story seem to have attached themselves to the house. Also mentioned in a documentary about the mansion many years later after the last owners had gone had said that there were reports from staff that had previously worked at the mansion, that they have seen Anne's ghost walk down the stairs, and that horses can be heard around the building