Willington Mill

 Willington in Northumberland was still a small town in the early nineteenth century. Until 1974, the northern English administrative unit belonged to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Today, the town is part of the Metropolitan County of Tyne and Wear. Willington is known as the birthplace of Robert Stephenson, the designer of the steam locomotive, and for its haunted mill .

The mill's owner , Joseph Procter, was a Quaker (1) and never superstitious. However, for 12 years, he kept a journal in which he described strange phenomena occurring in the house belonging to the mill . This journal was later inherited by his son, Edmund Procter, and donated to the Society for Psychical Research (2) .

The first incidents occurred in 1835. At that time, the Procters had one child, two-year-old Joseph. Over time, more children were born: Jane, Henry, and Edmund.

One day, the girl's nurse reported hearing terrifying footsteps above the child's room. She had heard these sounds many times and was therefore very concerned. However, the room she spoke of was unoccupied, locked, and barricaded. Mrs. Procter showed little interest in the matter, dismissing it as her nurse's imagination. Mr. Procter wrote in his diary:

"Soon the entire family would witness what the nurse described. Almost every day, and more than once, one of the residents heard these strange footsteps."

These footsteps were so loud and heavy that even the windows in the children's room shattered. Later, other sounds were added: trembling and shrill whistles. They also heard something like a chest lid closing and a scraping sound.

Later, Thomas Mann, a neighbor of the Procters, reported seeing a white, female figure on the second floor. Shortly thereafter, Mann's wife also saw the figure. The couple described the phenomenon this way: "She was walking back and forth along the window when she finally stopped and leaned against it. She was shimmering and transparent at the same time. Her form resembled a priest in a white surplice."

The couple immediately called their grandmother and her daughter to demonstrate the phenomenon. By the time they arrived, the creature's head had almost disappeared. However, it took another full 10 minutes for the figure to disappear from top to bottom.

"It was a very dark and moonless night, without the slightest glimmer of light. The shops were closed, and the figure seemed to float through the windows. It seemed to pass through the wall on both sides."

Shortly after this incident, some residents felt their beds gently lifting during the night. Little Joseph explained that it looked as if a man was lying under the bed, supporting it with his back. At the same time, other residents reported seeing a creature enter their rooms even though the doors were tightly closed.

Four-and-a-half-year-old Jane reported to her parents one morning after sleeping in her aunt's bed that she had seen a strange head—what she believed to be an old woman's—appear at the end of the bed. She also saw a woman's hand with at least two outstretched fingers touching each other. Little Joseph also heard voices so loud that he was afraid to go into his room. He said the voices said things like, "Do nothing!" and "Take it!"

On July 3, 1840, when only the servants and Mr. Procter were in the house, Dr. Edward Dury, an acquaintance from Sunderland, came to the mill with his friend Thomas Hudson , intending to take a picture of the events. The two planned to spend the night sitting on the stairs. After midnight, they heard footsteps from upstairs, as if someone were coming down.

"When I looked at my watch, it was 10 minutes to 1:00. Then I looked at the wardrobe, which was open. There I saw a woman's figure in a gray dress, her head bowed. She held one hand in front of her chest as if in pain, the other pointed clearly at the floor. Slowly, with cautious steps, the figure approached us. When she reached my friend Hudson, she reached for him. As I screamed, I tried to stand between them. Instead of catching the figure, I fell through it, straight into Hudson. I don't remember anything significant that happened for the next three hours. I was told I was in a terrible agony of fear as I descended the stairs."

Despite having small children, the Procters endured this event for 12 years. It wasn't until 1847 that they moved to Shields. On the last night before the move, only Mr. and Mrs. Procter were in the house, and they heard the sounds of boxes being dragged up the stairs and furniture being moved—in short, an imitation of the sounds associated with moving.

"What a terrible night my parents must have endured... Not because they heard the sounds they were accustomed to, but because these sounds could mean that these uninvited guests were also preparing to follow them to their new home. Fortunately, however, this worry was unfounded."

Edmund wrote that—as far as he remembers—the last eight years in their new home were free from all the sounds they had experienced for 12 years in the old mill in Willington .

Although this incident is on the fringes of poltergeist activity, Harry Price described it in his book Poltergeist over England. The period of poltergeist activity is unusual—it lasted 12 years.

Edmund later contacted Thomas Mann to ask if more similar incidents had occurred at the mill in Willington . He mentioned two incidents but said nothing more. The house was later demolished.

This case was thoroughly described by the Procter family. A possible explanation for this phenomenon can be found in a crossed-out sentence in Mr. Procter's diary:

"An old woman, the mother of R. Oxon, the mill builder , lived and died in this house. After her death, these strange occurrences were attributed to her..."

(1) Quakers, Religious Society of Friends – a Protestant denomination within Christianity that strongly emphasizes the role of personal inner revelation. It is characterized, among other things, by adherence to a pacifist worldview. In 1947, the Quaker community was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

(2) The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) was the first scientific group to study parapsychological phenomena. It was founded in 1882 in London.