Bedford
Black Tom
Places > Bedford > Ghosts
Phantom lord who terrorised
village
Ampthill and Flitwick Times,
12th July 1984
SIR Rowland Alston was notoriously wicked in his lifetime - and just as bad when he was dead. The ghost of this depraved baron used to walk through walls and tree trunks in broad daylight and ride a phantom black charger into the hall of his ancestral home, Odell Castle, where hoof marks could be seen on the flags of the floor.
He terrorised the neighbourhood so much that one night 12 clergymen with bells, books and candles ambushed him and practised an exorcism ceremony that consigned his spirit to a pond on Odell Wold. Here he remained for more than 100 years and although passers-by sometimes heard his snoring, his mischievous hauntings ceased for the time being.
Eventually he tired of his watery bed and managed to crawl out on dry land, only to find the Devil waiting for him! He was chased all round the countryside but managed to reach the village church just before the Devil pounced.
EVIL
He floated in through the keyhole as Satan shook the church in rage, leaving five giant fingermarks on the stone jamb of the porch. Nowadays Sir Rowland contents himself by riding a chariot and pair around his former estates once every 100 years. His next appearance will be in 2044.
Another evil character who continued to be feared after his death was the highwayman Black Tom, so called because of his swarthy complexion and coal-black hair. He was buried with a stake driven through his heart at the junction of Tavistock Street, Union Street and Clapham Road, a spot still known by some as `Black Tom's Grave'.
But this did not prevent his ghost haunting the locality in company with another unidentified phantom. In the 1840s, after several apparitions had been seen, people stayed indoors at night for fear of meeting the dreadful pair.
SINISTER
The last sighting of Black Tom was 20 years ago, in broad daylight, when a number of witnesses saw a man with a blackened face staggering along Union Street, his head lolling about in the most ghastly fashion, as if he had been hanged. As they watched in fascinated horror the shape faded and vanished into thin air.
Not all ghosts are sinister. On sunny days the spirit of a sweet happy girl with golden hair is said to grace the Swiss Garden in Old
Warden. She was once the mistress of the eccentric Baron Ongley who laid out the eight-acre gardens in the 1820s, and she lived in the summerhouse which still stands today.
A stone cross marks the grave of their son, who died when he was only nine years old. A strange haunting began when, many years ago, gardeners moved the cross to another part of the grounds. Shadowy figures, deep in conversation, were seen to wander through the trees, but if anyone followed them they quickly disappeared.
Their faint whisperings could just be heard above the rustling of the leaves, though no-one could quite make out what they were saying.
These elusive ghosts have not been seen or heard since the cross was put back in its rightful place.
Ampthill and Flitwick Times, 12th July 1984
Page last updated: 22nd January 2014