Our spooky campus
This autumn we asked our alumni community to share their spooky stories from their student days, and they did not disappoint!
Just a trick of the light?
When Esther moved into West Wing for her first year at Ripon in the 1970s, she was warned that the area was haunted. But it wasn’t until later that she realised just how haunted it was!
Anne and I shared West Wing 8, which was traditionally the female Students’ Union President’s room. We had two lovely 2nd year students (Kath and Michelle) next to us who looked after us and showed us the ropes. They also informed us at some point that the corridor was supposed to be haunted, but we laughed it off. However, we both experienced the same thing at different times.
I woke early one summer morning to see a tallish cowled figure at the end of Anne’s bed. I thought I was seeing things and dived back under the sheet. Perhaps it was a trick of the light through the curtains?
Then in our third year, Anne came to me one day and said that she had been asked by the current Students’ Union President, (Sheila?) who was now residing in West Wing 8, if she had ever experienced anything strange in the room. Anne immediately replied “No”, not wanting to alarm her, but admitted to me that she had. Neither of us had wanted to frighten the other so we hadn’t spoken about what we’d seen. However, we agreed that the figure, possibly a monk, was not malevolent, though we never told Sheila!..
“He’s behind you!”
When Peter moved into Ure Lodge for his second year of study in Ripon, he soon began to experience a series of spooky circumstances…
Ure Lodge was a residence outside the college. It had been an old people’s home, so there was a presence. During my time there I remember going for a wash and looking in the mirror to see a man in a bowler hat standing behind me. When I turned around, he had disappeared. Another time while I was sleeping my room went very cold and I felt someone was standing over me. Again I turned over but there was no one there.
The rooms often felt a chilly even when the heating was on. One day a student came back to find things had been moved in his room when no one had been in. Spooky it definitely was…
The ghost of Christmas past
When John returned to his shared student house in 2005, he discovered that an unfriendly housemate had decided to move in…
When I was a first year in halls of residence, I came back from the Christmas break to an empty house as all my housemates were still away.
I remember being in the kitchen on the phone to a friend, and I could hear banging coming from the room above the kitchen. I said to the friend that I thought I was the only one in but there’s obviously someone upstairs. After the phone call I went upstairs and I could hear the banging, but the door was locked. When I sent a text message to the occupant they said they were still at home…
This then set off a whole series of experiences from extremely loud banging, to doors locking themselves and unlocking themselves, and lots of strange noises constantly.
All 5 of us were in the bottom bedroom one evening playing on Mario Kart together when we became increasingly aware of a slamming and jangling noise coming from the kitchen – it sounded like the cutlery drawer being opened and shut loudly. To the point where one of my housemates just looked at us all and said – « there is someone or something in that bloody kitchen » and ran in to find it empty.
I had phantom knocking on my door at night, we had books falling off shelves – so much activity from that one night after the Christmas break until we all moved out in the summer…
Last Halloween we shared even more spooky stories from across our community, including another strange occurrence at Ure Lodge! You can read last year’s spooky stories by clicking here.
