The Society for the Investigation of Spectral Phenomena
Statements Taken Regarding the Ecclesden Tankard
Ecclesden Manor, manor house, Angmering, West Sussex
I.Background & History
Ecclesden Manor is a Grade II* listed country house in Angmering, West Sussex. It was built for John Forster in 1634, and stands as a listed building of the county.
The Society holds no further facts of its building history that it can vouch for. The house lies in the parish of Angmering, in the downland country between Arundel and Worthing, not far from Highdown Hill.
Source: Ecclesden Manor, Wikipedia
II.The Entity
The Pewter Cupbearer
A lidded pewter tankard of seventeenth-century make, which is always found warm, and always a little fuller than it was left. Those who look long into it see, on the dark surface, a figure in a stiff collar standing behind their own shoulder, though the room behind them is empty.
Assessment of Peril
Class IV: Malignant
Every keeper of the vessel has died within a year of receiving it, each found seated and with the eyes open. The tankard itself is never harmed and always passes on.
III.The Account
The Society took its first statements in the autumn of 1907 from the household then resident at Ecclesden. They are given here in the order taken, and the reader will observe that they do not agree. The Society has not tried to make them agree.
Mary Tuck, under-housemaid, stated that the tankard came to the house on the feast of St Michael as a gift from a gentleman of Arundel, who pressed it upon the master with great warmth and would not stay to dine. It was plain, she said, and ugly, and had no lid. The cook, Mrs. Harriet Lusted, stated that it had a lid, which was hinged, and that she had polished it herself. She added that it was never cold, even in the larder, and that she had stopped polishing it after the second week. Both women agree that the master kept it on the dresser in the hall.
The gardener, Josiah Pelling, stated that the master took to sitting before it in the evenings, and that he saw him through the window, speaking low, with his lips moving as though in answer. The footman, Alfred Voke, said he had never seen the master speak, only listen with his head inclined. Pelling said the master was dead by Candlemas. Voke said it was the week after. The coachman, Daniel Marten, who drove the body to Angmering, said only that the lid was open on the dresser the morning the master was found, and that he closed it himself.
IV.Recorded Manifestations
- ✦The tankard is always warm to the touch, even after a night in an unlit room.
- ✦The vessel is found a little fuller than it was left, with a liquid no one has ever consented to taste.
- ✦A second reflection, in a stiff collar, appears in the pewter behind the viewer's shoulder.
- ✦Keepers are heard conversing at night in the low, patient tone of one who is being answered.
- ✦The lid is found open each morning, however it was closed.
- ✦The tankard returns to the household of any who attempt to be rid of it, unbidden, within the week.
Testimony of Witnesses
“I never liked it, sir. It was warm as a loaf, and I have scrubbed nothing since that did not feel the same.”
“I looked into it only to prove the thing a trick of the light. There was a collar behind me, sir, and I did not turn.”
“It wears the collar of whoever has it next. I have seen it put on mine, and I am very tired of being polite to it.”
V.Rite of Expulsion
Difficulty: Perilous
Requisites
- ☐A clean linen cloth, never before used
- ☐A pint of well-water drawn before dawn
- ☐A tallow candle
- ☐A small iron nail
- ☐A chair set with its back to the vessel
The Rite
- I.1. At the hour of two in the morning, set the tankard upon a bare table with its lid closed.
- II.2. Seat yourself with your back to it, and do not turn your head whatever you hear.
- III.3. Light the tallow candle and speak the name of the last keeper three times, without an answer.
- IV.4. Pour the well-water upon the linen cloth and lay it across the tankard.
- V.5. Drive the iron nail through the cloth into the table, so the lid cannot rise.
- VI.6. Remain seated until the candle is out, and leave without looking behind you.
Caution. Should you hear your own voice reply, you have already been given the vessel. The Society's Mr. Garrow answered once, in 1921, and was found at his table at dawn.
VI.Hauntings of the Surrounding District
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St Margaret's Church · Church · 0.7 miles
The Lady of the Cold Font, white lady. A pale woman in a christening shawl is seen in the porch at dusk, offering an empty bundle to any who pass.
Zachary Merton Hospital · Hospital · 2.0 miles
The Ward-Sister of Night Bells, spectre. A nurse in a starched cap is seen between the beds at three, adjusting the sheets of patients who are never seen to wake.
Poling Preceptory · Templar Preceptory · 2.1 miles
The Red-Cross Muster, phantom procession. Mailed figures kneel in the ruined enclosure at dusk, their faces turned toward whoever intrudes.
Highdown New Mill · Old Mill · 0.2 miles
The Miller's Dust-Hand, poltergeist. Flour drifts from the empty hopper in the shape of a hand, which writes a name upon the floor.
Southern Theatre Arts Centre · Old Theatre · 1.7 miles
The Stalls Prompter, spectre. A voice prompts from the wings at midnight, and the lines it gives are those of a play never staged.
English Martyrs' Catholic Church · Church · 2.1 miles
The Rosary-Dropper, revenant. Beads fall one by one in the empty nave, and a figure is seen stooping to retrieve them with a face turned away.
St Nicholas Church · Church · 1.9 miles
The Belfry Ram, spectral animal. A pale ram is seen upon the tower stair, and its hoofbeats follow the sexton home.
St Mary's Church · Church · 2.3 miles
The Veiled Churchwarden's Bride, white lady. A veiled woman stands at the lychgate each wedding morning, and the brides who see her do not reach the altar.
Slayer's Slab · Tomb · 3.4 miles
The Slab-Sleeper, revenant. The stone is found warm at midwinter, and a long shape is seen to lie upon it that the frost does not touch.
Castle Goring · Manor House · 1.7 miles
The Gallery Gentleman, headless apparition. A gentleman in evening dress walks the long gallery carrying his own hat, and nothing above the collar.
Titnore Wood · Ancient Wood · 1.3 miles
The Coppice Lantern, will-o'-the-wisp. A small blue light leads woodcutters from the path, and returns alone at dawn.
Highdown Hill · Downland Hill · 0.9 miles
The Barrow Whelp, phantom hound. A hound the colour of old chalk runs the hilltop at night, and leaves no print upon the turf.
Littlehampton Friends Meeting House · Church · 3.3 miles
The Hush at the Bench, unclassified entity. A silence gathers in the meeting room that grows heavier, until some present cannot rise to speak.
St Catherine's Church · Church · 3.4 miles
The Borrowed Sexton, possession. A grave-digger of the parish is seen to speak in another man's voice, and digs a grave of the wrong length.
Lyminster Priory · Abbey · 3.4 miles
The Hooded Chanters of Lyminster, phantom procession. A line of hooded figures crosses the field in silence, and those who count them find one more than before.
