Haunted York ~ Part Five

Mad Alice Lane

Once again, we’re visiting the world’s most haunted city, York. It’s so haunted, that each year through September and October they celebrate it with their Ghosts in the Gardens display throughout the city. Each one of the wire mesh statues celebrates a ghost found in York. When November hits, they become Ghosts After Dark, where the statues are lighted from within.

Dick Turpin, a Ghost in the Gardens at York Merchant Adventurers Hall.

Haunted York, so far

So far in our tour of York we have covered the Treasurer’s House with the Roman Legionaries, the Coppergate Centre with the ghosts of Viking merchants, Barker Tower that held the bodies of those who drowned in the Ouse, and the Four Alls pub with its highway man ghost. Now we move on to Mad Alice Lane.

Off on my holidays

Recently, I took a trip to York and I found Lund’s Court, or rather Mad Alice Lane. It’s one of York’s Snickleways and runs between Low Petergate and Swinegate. It’s partly covered way runs between some of the historic half-timbered houses that York is famous for, having managed to avoid the fires that burned down other medieval cities. It’s called Lund’s Court after the Lund Family’s estate in the 18^th or 19^th Centuries. Prior to that it was called The Rackett. No mention of Mad Alice here, so why do the signs say, formerly Mad Alice Lane?

Mad Alice Lane in York

Who was Mad Alice?

There are two different stories about that.

Story, version 1

A woman with mad, staring eyes lived in the street. All her neighbours feared her, and eventually she was hanged as a witch. And now she is doomed to haunt the snickleway forever.

Story, version 2

Mad Alice was hanged for the crime of poisoning her husband, and her restless spirit haunts the snickleway.

So, which is true?

The problem with all these ghost stories is they tend to be exaggerated by the tellers of the tale. I know for a fact my late husband moved one ghost to York from another city, just to fill a gap in his ghost walk tour. (And no, I’m not telling you which one.)

Both Stories are real, for a value of real. They are oral traditions that pass from storyteller to apprentice and on. While there is no record of a woman who lived in the area and was hanged for either the crime of ‘wild staring eyes’ or for poisoning her husband, it’s likely that an injustice against a poor, old woman has been preserved in the local oral traditions. And her ghost walks to prove the point, even if the original story of her grievance has been lost.

There are always people who want to debunk the stories of ghosts, but in these historical cities, never doubt that the ghosts walk.