Berechurch Mysteries - a 'Jane's Walk'

Why do you call me 'The Lady in White'?

Why do you act like I give you a fright?

Why do you see only this satin dress?

Can you not see that I look like a mess?

*

October 1845. Charlotte White wakes to find that all is not well and life, or death, will never be the same again.

Haunted by a devastating secret and compelled by powers beyond her comprehension, Charlotte must find a way to escape from the ghosts of her past, present and future, together with a torn white dress that holds brutal significance.

Life and death are, indeed, strange masters. 

* 

'Charlotte - The Lady in White' is my novel, based on the true story of Charlotte White, nee Smyth, late of Berechurch Hall, Colchester, Essex: a lady, who is said to haunt the former grounds of Berechurch Hall, to this day.

On Sunday last, as part of the annual 'Jane's Walks', my friend Wayne Baker organised a walk around the Berechurch area of Colchester, taking in various aspects of local history and local issues.

As part of this event, I was asked  to reprise my role as Charlotte. I was able to surprise the crowd off 33 walkers, by making a few appearances along the way. The first was at 'Charlotte's Pool' - a very beautiful location in Friday Woods. The second was at outside the Audley Chapel of St Michael's Church, off Berechurch Hall Road, where Charlotte was buried and her burial monument still remains. 

There, outside the Audley Chapel, I surprised the walkers, by appearing again and performing 'My Past Existence': the poem, which opens my novel.

After this, inside the Audley Chapel, I read an extract from 'Charlotte - The Lady in White', set in the Audley Chapel itself.

The walk appeared to be well received by the walkers, the weather behaved itself and Charlotte's story was shared, once more, with the people of Colchester.

Photo courtesy of Belinda Baker

For more information on Charlotte White and my adventures in researching her life, please read the following past posts from this blog.

Remembering Auntie Hazel - an extract from 'Charlotte - The Lady in White'

Jane's Walk - Monkwick Memories - A Charlotte White Story
Charlottes Pool - History and Legend
More on Charlotte White nee Smyth
My Past Existence - Charlotte White nee Smyth
Charlotte's Pool
Charlotte Exhibition Preparation Part 2
Charlotte Exhibition Preparation Part 1
Charlotte's Pool Colchester

© Annie Bell 2019

Jane's Walk - Monkwick Memories - A Charlotte White Story

Regular followers of this blog will already be aware of the extensive research I have carried out, into the life and afterlife of Charlotte White, nee Smyth, the daughter of prominent Colchester MP Sir George Henry Smyth, who lived at Berechurch Hall, Colchester in the first half of the 19th Century. Links to previous posts can be found at the end of this post.

Yesterday, I was honoured to have been asked to play a role in a 'Jane's Walk' that was taking place in Monkwick, Colchester. The walk promised to include information about a range of local history, including some of the places connected with Charlotte's life. 

It was a wonderful, sunny afternoon, just perfect for a stroll. Those, who had joined the walk, enjoyed stories of Monkwick's history and life growing up there, from Cllr Dave Harris and Wayne Baker. Please click here for images from the day.

When, about halfway through the walk, the participants were led into the gates of St Michael's Church, they were in for a surprise. 

They walked up the path, through the churchyard and into the Audley Chapel, where they were able to take in the various memorials and interesting architectural features, which have been preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust. One of those memorials is Charlotte White's memorial - a beautiful white marble relief sculpture with a wonderful epitaph.

As the walkers stepped out of the chapel, they were greeted by 'Charlotte' - me fully dressed as Charlotte and in character. 

I performed my poem 'My Past Existence', which expresses Charlotte's frustration at being sought as a ghost. It is the opening to my novel. 

To see the performance, please click below.

 

After I had disappeared, the walk continued, through Charlotte's Grove, until they reached the site where Charlotte's pool once stood. There, they were joined by Charlotte once more.

The group then listened, as I read them an extract from 'Charlotte - The Lady in White', in which it is her 10th birthday and her Daddy takes her into the woods and shows her the grotto he has had built for her. A video of the reading is below.

It was a real honour to be given the opportunity to bring some aspects of Charlotte's story and history to life in such a way and I owe Wayne Baker many thanks for giving me the opportunity to contribute to the walk he organised.

A note on the novel itself

Despite my hideous neglect of this page over the past two years, I have been working on my writing quietly and I am proud to be able to announce that I have a completed manuscript for 'Charlotte - The Lady in White'. Now, I am in the process of seeking an agent and / or publisher, so that her story can finally be released for the world to see. If anyone can help, please get in touch! 
Annie Bell on Facebook 
Annie Bell on Twitter

For previous posts on the subject of Charlotte White (nee Smyth) please see the links below.

Charlottes Pool - History and Legend
More on Charlotte White nee Smyth
My Past Existence - Charlotte White nee Smyth
Charlotte's Pool
Charlotte Exhibition Preparation Part 2
Charlotte Exhibition Preparation Part 1
Charlotte's Pool Colchester

© Annie Bell 2018

To purchase a copy of 'Charlotte -The Lady in White' a novel based on the Life of Charlotte White, nee Smyth, please click the link below

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/704533011/charlotte-the-lady-in-white-by-annie?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1

More on Charlotte White (nee Smyth)

Following on from yesterday's post, with a poem I wrote about Charlotte White (nee Smyth), I thought I would share some more aspects of her story. 

Back in August 2012, when I was in the process of researching Charlotte for the story I was writing for the WriteNight anthology, I began by using Google.  In that process, I came across references to Charlotte's pool in some of the historical documents online.  Please click this link for information on her lineage and her father (Sir George Henry Smyth)'s role as MP for Colchester and this link for a reference to her father building her pool, as well as details of the history of the Berechurch area.  

I discovered many references to her ghost.  One was on the paranormal database, where a sighting is listed in the 1930s.  There are numerous references to the 'Lady in White' at Berechurch Hall in books about local ghosts, available in Colchester Library.  I have read accounts of German Prisoners of War in World War II seeing her ghost, when interred at what is now the Military Corrective Training Centre in the grounds of Berechurch Hall. Another account describes a lady called Mrs Chilvers watching a white figure gliding up the drive to the door of Berechurch Hall, as she called in her cat.  She only realised what she was seeing, as Charlotte's apparition came much closer to her and rose into the sky.  I even heard accounts of a 'Lady in White' appearing in one of the modern flats, which are now occupying the space where the original Berechurch Hall once stood.

A link to a poem written by another poet, who describes an encounter with the ghost of Charlotte around 1980 is below. It is a beautiful poem, which is evocative of the remains of Charlotte's gardens, which still remained back then but which are now long gone.  To read the poem, click the link below.

Charlotte's Well (A ghost story) by Wayne Richard Baker

I really like this poem.  For me, it is mystical and beautiful and it shows clearly that there should be nothing to fear from any encounter with Charlotte's ghost.  It is no longer possible to see what is described, such as it was but this poem provides an intriguing snapshot of Berechurch Hall and Charlotte's Pool as it might have been.

Charlotte's Pool

Following on from my earlier post about my meeting with Reg, I am happy to report that I followed Reg's instructions and I finally located the original site of Charlotte's pool.

The pool itself is very near to the modern Lethe Grove estate, within Friday Woods.  It is marked by a deep hollow in the ground, which two enormous horse chestnut trees tower above.  Their roots are eroded, word and fully exposed on one side.  It is a strangely eerie and beautiful sight.  

Sadly, many people have seen fit to use the site as a dumping ground for rubbish.  It is such a shame as the pool, in its day, was a stunning sight.  A semi circular shelter stood at one end of the pool, with three recesses for Charlotte and her maids to sit in.   The pool itself was built in red bricks and decorated with hundreds of shells.  In the central recess was a massive stone bearing Charlotte's name.  

To see it now, you would never imagine the splendour of it.  A picture of what remained of it in 1926-7 is located in Colchester Library.  It shows a vague shadow of what it might have been. Even that looks beautiful.

In a newspaper report from the 1930s, the pool is described as follows:

"Here in Leafy Grove is Charlotte's bathing pool, snugly built in the rising earth, and below, near where the small crystal stream of spring water flows eternally onwards is the pool itself.  The pool is circular in shape, encased in red bricks and cement, rather small in circumference.  Cut on the rising ground is Charlotte's toilet room, a perfect little arcade.  Here in the centre is Charlotte's little niche, where she could rest at her ease, disrobe, walk out and descend a few steps and enter the circular shape pool and bask in the limpid waters.  Her two maids, who had seats in the crescent shaped niches, formed a useful bodyguard, together with the large and faithful wolfhound resting on the rising ground above the pool where Charlotte took her fresh morning bath."

To purchase a copy of 'Charlotte -The Lady in White' a novel based on the Life of Charlotte White, nee Smyth, please click the link below

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/704533011/charlotte-the-lady-in-white-by-annie?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1

Charlotte's Pool - Charlotte's Family

As regular readers will know, I have been spending quite a lot of time researching, writing about and painting around the subject of Charlotte White (nee Smyth) of Berechurch Hall.  

Last week, I met with Reg Johnson, who wrote a fascinating book on the history of Berechurch Hall.  He arranged for me to meet some of Charlotte's living descendents.  

How I came into contact with Reg was a strange string of coincidences.  I told my Dad about my research for my story, he told my great uncles, and my great uncle and auntie told me they knew the location of Charlotte's pool.  We went in search of the pool without success but we did make contact with a string of people, who led me to Reg's book and, therefore to Reg.  

Reg is an amazing historian, whose research on Berechurch Hall is extensive and impressive.  He showed me many interesting documents and images pertaining to Berechurch Hall and the families who have lived there.  Charlotte's descendents were lovely - really friendly.  They found Reg through a similar string of coincidences.  It seems that someone wanted us all to find each other.

Reg also told me the location of Charlotte's pool and I am hoping to find it soon.  

If you are interested in reading Reg's book, there are two copies available for loan in the Local Studies area of Colchester Library. 

To purchase a copy of 'Charlotte -The Lady in White' a novel based on the Life of Charlotte White, nee Smyth, please click the link below

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/704533011/charlotte-the-lady-in-white-by-annie?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1

Charlotte Exhibition Preparation Part 2

Since the last time I blogged about this, I have been working on ideas for my first piece of art for the exhibition.

My initial idea is to put together a woodland scene with the ghost of Charlotte hovering somewhere around the centre of the piece.  

The first two pages (below) show different photographs of woodland scenes, which I have examined and the options I looked through in order to decide what the ghost should look like.  I have thought about her hair, dress and position as well as the degree of transparency the ghost should have.

The following two pages show my final choice for the woodland scene and for the ghost.  In addition to this, I created a media experiment, in which I have recreated the woodland scene in 4 different media: acrylic paint, watercolour pencils, colouring pencils and oil paint.

I have decided that  I will make the final piece an oil painting.  I like that the paint doesn't dry so quickly, which enables you to blend the colours much better, whilst building up an interesting texture as well.

My next step will be to experiment with the ghost to work out how best to paint her whilst maintaining her transparency.

To purchase a copy of 'Charlotte -The Lady in White' a novel based on the Life of Charlotte White, nee Smyth, please click the link below

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/704533011/charlotte-the-lady-in-white-by-annie?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1

Charlotte Exhibition Preparation Part 1

As you are aware from my previous post on Charlotte's Pool, I have been working on a story about a young lady called Charlotte White (nee Smyth), who died in 1845 and whose ghost is said to walk the Earth still, especially in the area around Berechurch Hall and Friday Woods in Colchester. 

I became interested in this after I was set the task of writing a story based on the theme of Colchester.  I remembered hearing about the legend of Charlotte's Pool at Lethe Grove when I was in Primary School and decided to investigate in more detail.

My research took me and three others (Lesley, Sioux and Hollie) on an intriguing journey as I described in my previous entry.  Now we have decided to collaborate on a larger scale project, putting an exhibition together about her life, her story and the various sightings and experiences of her ghost.  We are not sure where the exhibition will take place but it should be somewhere in Colchester.

Between us, we have a massive range of exciting ideas we are looking to explore in a variety of media.  So far, it looks like there will be paintings in oils and acrylics, prints, poems, stories, photographs, music, and filmed performances.

I thought it might be interesting to show pictures of my sketch book as I put it together.  The most recent pages are shown below.

To purchase a copy of 'Charlotte -The Lady in White' a novel based on the Life of Charlotte White, nee Smyth, please click the link below

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/704533011/charlotte-the-lady-in-white-by-annie?ref=shop_home_active_1&crt=1