The Storyteller: Curiosity takes our investigation to things that go bump in the night

We recently celebrated 14 years of TIP-X, the Exeter branch of Torbay Investigators of the Paranormal by re-launching our monthly meetings at a new venue, The Red Lion in Broadclyst. This is an interesting area of Exeter that is actually part of the Killerton House Estate, now run by the National Trust.
I visited the pub with David Hammond, on one of our excursions to record more material for the South Devon Folklore segment of his Riviera FM radio show. I had discovered that the church next door had nine examples of the Three Hares roof bosses and I wanted to find out why it had so many compared to other Devon churches. Sadly, I didn’t manage to find the answer to that question but I did secure a new meeting place.
This week we needed some more recordings, so I thought it was worth talking about the first building that played host to TIP-X meetings, one that has a very haunted history.
We visited The White Hart Hotel in South Street where, over a spot of lunch, I shared with David how it all began. Back in 2010, I was introduced to Sarah, my now partner via the John Govier Late Night Radio Show, on which my friend Maia and I were monthly guests, talking spooky stuff and fielding calls from the listeners.

Sarah and some of her friends, all of whom worked for the Devon Air Ambulance charity back in those days, fancied joining us on a ghost hunt, so we set one up especially for them in Totnes. This involved a walk around the town, with our old friend Bob Mann, followed by an investigation at The Bay Horse Inn, owned by another good friend of mine, Kathy.
Most of the girls who joined us that night were sensitive to spirit and really enjoyed the opportunity to test their gifts, so much so that they wanted to become part of TIP, but they all lived in Exeter, and it was a bit of a trek each week to come and join us at Churston Court. Not wanting to lose their enthusiasm, I decided to set up a branch of the group nearer to home for them and so TIP-X was born. All we needed was a place to hold monthly meetings. Someone suggested we try The White Hart, which was very old and had a fascinating haunted reputation. It was perfect for our needs and so, on the second Monday of each month, we gathered there to swap stories and check out exactly how haunted it was. Occasionally we were allowed access to areas of the building not normally open to the public, and so our research began...
The White Hart was originally built as a coaching house in the 14th century and would have served many horse-drawn vehicles, stabling horses overnight and swapping out teams to facilitate onward journeys. The inner courtyard still has some of its original cobbles, so it’s no surprise that the sound of horses clip-clopping over them can still be heard.

The hotel boasts a “Secret Garden”, one of the main features of which is an old well, now sadly filled in but, back in the 1640s, it was said to be home to a Cockatrice: a dragon-like, mythical creature on two legs that was a cross between a cockerel and a serpent. The story goes that a foul stench emanated from said well, getting so bad that a workman was sent down to investigate...he was never seen again. A second was sent down, but when he too failed to re-emerge, a full investigation was launched, but nothing was found. It is said that a Cockatrice devours its prey, bones and all...
The courtyard area is home to the spirit of a woman in a black cloak, pacing up and down, wringing her hands. This re-enactment possibly dates back to a time when court cases were heard upstairs in what is known as the “Boardroom”. When the usual venue, The Guildhall, was busy, The White Hart handled the overflow. Once a young girl was sentenced to death on the flimsiest of evidence, her spirit still resides there pleading her innocence to the judge, whilst the woman in the courtyard is possibly her mother, waiting to hear her daughter’s fate.
Young children are often seen, sometimes in tears, and whenever anyone goes near to comfort them, they disappear. These possibly belong to a past landlord, who had a large family, which he treated quite harshly, making them afraid of him.
A puritan woman, dressed in black, dating from the Civil War period, is seen climbing steps that are no longer there, possibly towards what used to be the maid’s quarters.
There has been lots of activity reported over the years, with plenty worth investigating and two areas in particular that have caught our attention. The first is the attic space which suffered a devastating fire back in the 1800s, claiming the lives of several guests. Since then it has only ever been used for storage space. Most members of staff don’t like going up there, but when they do they find the stored boxes scattered everywhere as if someone has run through the rooms in a blind panic, trying to escape smoke and flames...
One final place of interest is the Cromwell Lounge and, on occasion during our meetings, we were allowed to gather there as it contains a secret priest hole above the fireplace. This is where Catholic priests would have been hidden, after saying an illegal mass for the household, should anyone come looking for them. Once our brave friend, Nichola, climbed up into it. She could just about stand up, but there was nowhere else to go, so one hopes that the priests didn’t have to stay hidden for very long!
Ahead of my recent visit with David, I did a bit of research and discovered that the Cromwell Lounge is now part of a guest suite and when people first started sleeping in there, they had a rather disturbed night, for something kept shaking the bed. When this was reported to staff, their response was to move the furniture around, and the activity stopped. It would appear that the resident spirit in the priest hole, didn’t like being looked at by the people in the bed, but when it was facing the other way, they were much happier! When I inquired about this change of usage for the lounge during our recent visit, I was told that the Cromwell Suite is now the honeymoon suite. Sadly the area containing the priest hole itself is no longer safe so visitors aren’t able to view it any more.
Towards the end of our time at the White Hart, some refurbishment took place that made the area we used to meet in much smaller, and not so suitable for our needs. So we looked around for an alternative venue, and came up with the magnificent Cowick Barton, somewhere that TIP already had a history with...but that’s a story for another time...