After the first world war one of Britain’s most charismatic soldiers settled into a small cottage about ten miles from Dorchester, in Dorset. Today, if you visit this cottage you will be startled by the austerity of the rooms which demonstrate quite clearly the materially uncomplicated character who lived there.
The year was 1923.
The owner was T.E. Lawrence, better known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia.
About twelve years later Lawrence was discharged from military service and thus had ample time to pursue his passion for speed by driving his motor cycle with, what was reputed to be at the time, complete disregard for safety. This later resulted in his death when he came upon two boys in the road whom he had to swerve around. He lost control and died six days later in hospital.
Since then, the spirit of Lawrence is said to haunt the cottage with numerous sightings of an individual in arab dress entering the house. But those who try to find him there, have found nothing. Although there have been stories of his arab friend having been seen inside the passageways.
There are also numerous stories of the sound of a motorcycle which mysteriously stops just when you expect to see it.
There is still controversy about his death with a phantom car having been seen in the vicinity but which too disappeared. So maybe the two boys had nothing to do with it. Hence the coroner described the death as “most unsatisfactory”.
In 1985, on the fiftieth anniversary of his death an exorcism was carried out at the scene of his accident to help his spirit find rest. This seems to have been successful as there have been no further reports of sounds or sightings.
Lawrence was extraordinary not only in life, but also in death. May he now rest in peace.
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If you enjoyed this article you may also like P J Cadavori's sexy supernatural horror novel Catacombs of the Damned.
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