Seeing as it’s the season for all things Halloween, I think it’s time I shared a spooky story.
The year I spent living in England for my GAP year, I got to live in a really old house that was used as a school/boarding house. The property has had people living on it for centuries and there is definitely that old, haunted vibe going on in the area. The surrounding forest is very old but also beautiful and is known for it’s protected wildlife areas.
Moyles Court School
The house has three floors, the first is classrooms, offices and the library. The second floor is bedrooms for the boy boarders, common rooms, a washroom and one classroom. The third floor is all washrooms and bedrooms for the boys, house mothers and the GAP students (that’s me).
Second Floor Hallway
There was one weekend in the spring when everyone was on holiday, meaning that no students or staff were at school for a couple of days. One of those days my roommate decided to go to London to visit a friend. I was completely alone in this creepy old house. Seeing as I didn’t have much else to do I spent most of the day in one of the common rooms watching films.
I was about three films in (#workhardplayhard) and watching Blood Diamond when I heard a noise above me. Now, having strange noises in an old house like that isn’t unusual, but after living there for some months I had learned which noises are normal house noises and which are not – and this was definitely strange. It sounded like someone was walking up and down the hallway upstairs and I immediately panicked thinking an axe murderer had gotten into the house.
I muted the movie so I could hear better, and locked the door to the common room. My logical brain was telling me it was the grounds keeper, Gary, because he was always around fixing things but I hadn’t seen him at all that weekend. I also hadn’t heard anyone walk up either of the staircases (which are creaky as shit) but I just chalked that up to being so focused on the film that maybe I hadn’t noticed.
Small Staircase
I then thought maybe it was one of the secretaries, but quickly decided it wasn’t because the office was below me, not above me – and they wouldn’t have any reason to be in that hallway.
It was when all these ideas were racing around my mind as I was trying to tell myself it definitely wasn’t an axe murderer that I heard the footsteps stop at one end of the hallway and then start again in the bedroom above me. Now I was really freaked out because when the boarders are away for holiday we lock all of their rooms – and I had locked them myself the day before.
At this point I was trying not to panic, thinking that “oh shit there might be more than one of them” and “if they get in here no one will hear me scream”. That was when I heard whoever was up there walk from the room above me into the hallway. “There is definitely something wrong going on. I definitely locked that door,” I thought to myself. And when I heard the footsteps start again in a different part of that floor is when it hit me: It’s the ghost!
The ghosts name was Dame Alice Lisle and she lived in the house during the 1600’s. She has a fascinating story which you can read here (tl;dr she was beheaded for harbouring fugitives) and had haunted the house for centuries. Luckily for me she had never been a mean or malicious ghost she just creeps people out from time to time, and this was one of those times.
Moyles Court School from back
Once I had figured out it was Dame Alice I felt so relieved that I wasn’t going to get murdered. I was still a bit unsettled. I spoke out loud telling her I was super creeped out, but if she wanted to watch Blood Diamond with me she was more than welcome. After about 20 more minutes of hearing weird noises they stopped. The only other movement I heard hours later was my roommate getting home from London, which did scare the shit out of me but when I realized who it was a laughed and told her the whole story.
Before I lived at Moyles Court School and had travelled around Europe I didn’t believe in ghosts. I was super skeptical because I live in Canada and hadn’t really encountered ghosts here. However after all of my travels I definitely believe in them now. There are too many weird and unsettling things that I’ve experienced, not only in that house but visiting other historic places (will probably post about Oxford prison later).
Do you believe in ghosts? Have any of you had weird experiences that made you believe? Have any of you been to Moyles Court School or to New Forest? I’d love to hear your stories – comment below!
Below are a few more pictures of the surrounding area. Enjoy!
Was just showing a friend where I went to school as a boarder between 1975-1979 and came across your story, yes, definitely haunted! I saw her! But when I went and told the matron Collie what I had seen i was told I had an overactive imagination and to stop scaring the other boarders 😂
Thank you for taking me back and for the pictures too, don’t know when you were there but it doesn’t look like it had changed much and yes the floor boards and stairs creaked like crazy!!
That’s awesome!! I’d love to hear more about your story if you’re willing to share. I was there from 2008-2009 and everything creaked like crazy when I was there too! If you know anyone else with an Alice Lisle ghost story it would be great to hear about it 🙂
I was also a boarder at Manor House School (Moyles Court) from 1963-1967, when my parents lived in India. It was an all girls’ school then, except for some very young boys who must have been 6 or 7 (most of the pupils in those days were boarders with overseas families). Never saw Alice, but the house certainly had an atmosphere! Was chuffed to see that dear old Collie (Miss Collins) was still there in your day!
Hello Steph!
Thank you for sharing, I love hearing from anyone that has spent time at the school. I didn’t know it was an all girls school, I thought after the war it had been co-ed the whole time.
I appreciate you teaching me something new 🙂
My two brothers and I were sent to Moyles Court around 1952 as holiday boarders. We were sent there from Dunhurst the junior school to Bedales in Hampshire whilst our Mother visited our Father in Guyana. There was definitely a ghost story then which scared me witless as I was only about 9 or ten. I remember that spooky corridor which had a bedroom off it that was said to be haunted by the ghost and in which one of my poor brothers had to sleep. I never knew the Ghost’s name only that it was a woman. We had to spend one Christmas there and a couple of other holidays I think. I hated it. The people in charge had two huge Great Danes which I found even more terrifying and found it difficult not to scream when they came leaping out when the head mistress invited me into their drawing room. I was SO relieved when our Mother returned and we didn’t have to go there again. My younger brother couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 and my elder brother a year older than me.
I can’t see any mention of this place being used as a holiday home or the names of the Principals who ran it. I am now nearly 81 years old.
Hey,
Thank you for sharing your story! I can definitely see how a couple of Great Danes would add to the creepy factor. I know that they sometimes let the rooms out during the summer for various reasons but I hadn’t heard about it over the Christmas holidays before. I always find the stories of different people about the same place fascinating.