Читать книгу Haunted Britain and Ireland: Over 100 of the Scariest Places to Visit in the UK and Ireland - Derek Acorah - Страница 28

Wicken Fen is one of the last remaining undrained parts of the fens. It is Britain’s oldest nature reserve and celebrated its centenary in 1999. It is a haven for wildlife – over 200 species of bird, 1,000 species of moth and butterfly, 1,000 species of beetle, nearly 2,000 species of fly, 29 species of mammal and 25 species of dragonfly have been recorded there. Charles Darwin collected beetles there in the 1820s and today 40,000 people visit the fen each year.

The fen is also visited by the ghosts of days gone by. To the north, where today Spinney Abbey Farm stands, there was once an Augustinian priory, and occasionally the sound of chanting monks can still be heard drifting across the fens. One of the monks can sometimes be seen on the path leading to the fen in the early hours of the morning. He is believed to be one of three canons who stabbed the prior, William de Lode, to death in the priory church in 1403. He wears a brown habit with the hood firmly pulled down over his face.

The flickering lights of the Lantern Man (see page 32) can also be seen between the farm and the bank leading to the fen.

Roman legionaries have been reported to loom up suddenly out of the fen and phantom armies have been heard.

The most sinister ghost to haunt the fen, however, is a huge black dog with enormous eyes. According to legend, anyone who sees it will soon be dead!

Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve, Lode Lane, Wicken, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB7 5XP; Tel/Fax: (01353) 720274; Website: www.wicken.org.uk

Wicken Fen lies south of the A1123, three miles west of Soham and nine miles south of Ely.

The visitor centre and café are open Tuesdays–Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays. The fen is open daily, apart from Christmas Day, from dawn to dusk. Some paths are closed in very wet weather.

Formal education programmes and special events take place on a regular basis.