The ghost of Anne Boleyn may be the most famous in the Tower of London, but one of the most frightening spectres in the Tower would have to be that of Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury. You see unlike Anne, Margaret died unwillingly, resisting her death to the end. And the final result was a bloody spectacle, literally speaking. The fiesty Margaret was over 70 years old and innocent of all crimes she was accused of committing. She really was killed as an act of vengence. Her son had his differences with the ruler at that time, the same Henry VIII who killed Anne Boleyn. But her son was safe from Henry's evil designs because he was conducting his long distance battle with Henry from France. Unfortunately his mother was within Henry's reach. She lived in England. Henry retaliated by taking it out on the man's poor mother, the Countess. He ordered her execution and his word was the law because remember, in those times he who had the Tower had the power.
At the execution site, the Countess did the unthinkable. She simply refused to kneel over the block where the axe was positioned to brutally lop off her head. Instead, she told the axeman, 'I challenge you to remove my head as best you can.' And that's what happened. The axeman chased the defiant Countess around the execution block. The end result was a bloody scene, he hacked her to death in a pool of blood. It is possible that her execution was one of the most gory in the history of the Tower of London. And it should surprise no one that the Countess still haunts the site of her brutal death, centuries after she was hacked to death. On the anniversary of her brutal execution, her ghost has reportedly been seen running around the execution block, chased by a phantom axeman, holding over his head a blood stained axe. Those who have seen the gory sight will no doubt never manage to forget it, as hard as they try. Infact, it has been reported that one witness of this gory, ghostly spectacle became insane soon after and took his own life. But fortunately for many, they only hear her gruesome execution being carried out. There was a well publicized case in 1975 about one such incident. It was first reported by Army personnel who live within the Tower of London, in Army personnel quarters known as the Waterloo Block. This block happens to overlook the site of the execution centre where prisoners were beheaded.
The Army blokes who lived there with their families were rudely jolted from their comfortable slumber in the early hours of the morning by a sound that made their skin crawl. They heard piercing screams echo in the distance. Coincidentally, the two sentries on duty at the Byward Tower, a good distance away from the Waterloo Block, sent in a curious report that very same morning. Around two am in the morning, they became aware of something rather unusual, a woman was shrieking in the distance.Although it sounded distant, there was no mistaking it. At that hour in the Tower you could hear a pin drop, they said. When the shrieking persisted, they decided to track it down. As they As they moved closer to the screams, they became aware every hair on their body was standing on end. It was a surprise to them because at that point they were really more curious than afraid.The woman's pitiful shrieks began to grow louder and louder as they approached the execution site. It was only then that the two battled hardened men started to feel nervous. But when they finally got to the execution site, they were greeted with an eerie silence. The woman's shrieks had abruptly stopped. There was no one around. The execution platform gleamed mysteriously under the moon light as they strained their eyes, scanning the darkness for clues to the woman's agonising cries. They saw nothing. But they did smell something; both men began to retch violently when they were hit by a sudden overpowering, musky smell that made their stomachs turn.
It was the smell of fresh blood. There was no mistaking it, they said. The smell was so distinct. Yet, there was nothing there to see or even hear' just an eerie silence, broken only by the occasional gust of wind that rustled the leaves of trees around them. It was only much later they became aware of another chilling fact. That very day was the anniversary of Margaret Pole's execution. So what did they hear that early morning of 1975? Was it really the death cries of the Countess, so brutally hacked to death centuries ago?
At the execution site, the Countess did the unthinkable. She simply refused to kneel over the block where the axe was positioned to brutally lop off her head. Instead, she told the axeman, 'I challenge you to remove my head as best you can.' And that's what happened. The axeman chased the defiant Countess around the execution block. The end result was a bloody scene, he hacked her to death in a pool of blood. It is possible that her execution was one of the most gory in the history of the Tower of London. And it should surprise no one that the Countess still haunts the site of her brutal death, centuries after she was hacked to death. On the anniversary of her brutal execution, her ghost has reportedly been seen running around the execution block, chased by a phantom axeman, holding over his head a blood stained axe. Those who have seen the gory sight will no doubt never manage to forget it, as hard as they try. Infact, it has been reported that one witness of this gory, ghostly spectacle became insane soon after and took his own life. But fortunately for many, they only hear her gruesome execution being carried out. There was a well publicized case in 1975 about one such incident. It was first reported by Army personnel who live within the Tower of London, in Army personnel quarters known as the Waterloo Block. This block happens to overlook the site of the execution centre where prisoners were beheaded.
The Army blokes who lived there with their families were rudely jolted from their comfortable slumber in the early hours of the morning by a sound that made their skin crawl. They heard piercing screams echo in the distance. Coincidentally, the two sentries on duty at the Byward Tower, a good distance away from the Waterloo Block, sent in a curious report that very same morning. Around two am in the morning, they became aware of something rather unusual, a woman was shrieking in the distance.Although it sounded distant, there was no mistaking it. At that hour in the Tower you could hear a pin drop, they said. When the shrieking persisted, they decided to track it down. As they As they moved closer to the screams, they became aware every hair on their body was standing on end. It was a surprise to them because at that point they were really more curious than afraid.The woman's pitiful shrieks began to grow louder and louder as they approached the execution site. It was only then that the two battled hardened men started to feel nervous. But when they finally got to the execution site, they were greeted with an eerie silence. The woman's shrieks had abruptly stopped. There was no one around. The execution platform gleamed mysteriously under the moon light as they strained their eyes, scanning the darkness for clues to the woman's agonising cries. They saw nothing. But they did smell something; both men began to retch violently when they were hit by a sudden overpowering, musky smell that made their stomachs turn.
It was the smell of fresh blood. There was no mistaking it, they said. The smell was so distinct. Yet, there was nothing there to see or even hear' just an eerie silence, broken only by the occasional gust of wind that rustled the leaves of trees around them. It was only much later they became aware of another chilling fact. That very day was the anniversary of Margaret Pole's execution. So what did they hear that early morning of 1975? Was it really the death cries of the Countess, so brutally hacked to death centuries ago?
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