Black Tom
Extract from: Phantom lord who terrorised village
Ampthill and Flitwick Times, 12th July 1984

 People > Black Tom

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

Ampthill and Flitwick Times, 12th July 1984

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