England Football ... blame the Ghosts of Bisham Abbey?

Bisham Abbey Manor House, Berkshire

It all started in the dim mists of the thirteenth century. The Knights Templar were at the height of their powers. They had bought some land in Berkshire and built an Abbey as a monument to their faith. But in less than fifty years their brotherhood had been destroyed by jealous monarchs amidst fearful punishments with burning at the stake being the norm. The Abbey was taken over by Edward II in the year 1307. Then, for the next 500 years there was a wide variety of owners including Henry VIII. The Abbey was used for many purposes, such as becoming a royal prison, with a succession of celebrated visitors, with Elizabeth I being foremost up until the late 18th Century. So there are 500 years at least of built-in misery, mayhem and murder, including the unexplained death (probably starvation) of one of the sons of Lady Hoby. She was a woman of enormous scholarship and as is so often the case with this trait, a woman of notoriously short temper. It is understood that she locked her son into a cupboard due to his poor intellect, and then forgot to tell anyone where he was. He died there.  However, it is rumoured that she eventually regretted his death and it is her ghost which is regularly seen around the corridors harbouring a look of harrowed grief which chills the blood of all whom she meets.

Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre

In addition, footsteps along the corridors at night can often be heard with wraith-like figures gently wafting along. Given the history of the place there can be no doubt that countless spirits are at large ... indeed the most fearsome one is that of the Abbot of Bisham Priory who cursed all and sundry as he was expelled from it during its destruction in 1538. He cursed all who shall inherit the buildings “Its sons will be hounded by misfortune”, along with more colourful promises.

This is what the National Sports Centre “inherited” when the property became a part of their training facilities. So, along with buildings and land have come a history of mayhem and, more worryingly, curses. And these are just the ones we know about. So maybe our footballers should think twice before returning there?

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