The Sinister Minster
A place with a few stories to tell
Hello, everyone. Oh my goodness, where have the last twelve months gone? Here we are with Christmas looming on the horizon, and we still have loads of shopping to do!!
However, we still managed to find the time to record a new podcast episode for you all to enjoy. In the episode, we visit Great Yarmouth to look at a location with a few strange stories to tell.
It’s another look-and-listen episode, hence this article. If you’ve not experienced one before, it’s all very simple. We share a link to the podcast episode, and you listen along while looking at the images shared in this article.
So, without further ado, let’s get this show started.
THE LINK FOR THE PODCAST EPISODE
https://shows.acast.com/outthereparanormal/sinister-minster
We hope you enjoy the show.
The Location Itself
The First Blue Plaque
The Horror of the Ressurection Men
It’s a reasonably inconspicuous entrance to BodySnatchers Row, well suited to Thomas Vaughan and his nefarious activity.
Just a short hop across the road, and you are in the graveyard of the Minster. It is ideally located to keep an eye on the site and carry a corpse back after a night of digging.
There's not much left down BodySnatchers Row. The building used by Vaughan is long gone, perhaps a victim of time or destroyed during WW2.
The old Vicarage, the birthplace of Sir Astley Cooper. Thomas Vaughan’s best customer.
Two of the many methods employed to combat the Bodysnatchers are shown here. The first image is a Mortsafe, designed to be placed over a new grave to make it much harder for the bodysnatchers to dig up the fresh corpse.
The second image is a cemetery gun. These were loaded and left with a tripwire to set them off. It is not designed to kill the bodysnatchers but to scare them and provide an alarm.
We mentioned an article about the remains discovered in a dig near the Royal London Hospital. Here is the link if you are interested in reading it.
If you want to “dig a little deeper” into the history and stories behind the Resurrection men, this blog is well worth reading.
The Ghosts in the Graveyard.
How the Minster would have appeared in 1872 when the ghost sightings occurred.
The Minster Graveyard today is not as full as you would expect. However, there are gravestones lined along the walls, so it may have looked much fuller in 1872.
This gravestone has yet another fascinating story to tell!
Could it have been something like this that the crowd saw?
The Awful Smell in The Priory School
The Priory School circa 1871
Priory school pupils in the main hall.
Perhaps the mummy looked a little bit like this.
The Priory Centre, as it stands today, is now called The Priory 1101. It is a wedding venue and function centre.
The Last Blue Plaque
A sad tale to tell.
The front page of Matthew Hopkins's book.
Swimming witches to gain a confession. All sorts of cruel torture and punishments were used to force a confession.
Gt Yarmouth Tolhouse, where the trials of the accused witches took place.
The names of the accused in the parish records
the signature of Matthew Hopkins
The North side of the Great Yarmouth Minster graveyard. The graves of the witches would not have been marked, so we can only guess where they were buried.
So, there you have it, folks. A selection of strange stories from the Sinister Minster, all rather unusual and perhaps a little chilling in their own way.
We hope you have enjoyed the podcast and have found the look-and-listen presentation interesting.
We have more podcasts, more articles to share and some great investigation videos coming soon. Until then, we will leave you all with a very hearty Seasons Greetings from both of us at Out There Paranormal.
Nigel and Juliette❤️xx