Читать книгу Haunted Ontario 3 - Terry Boyle - Страница 11

Burwick House

~ Black Creek Pioneer Village ~

All windows should be opened at the moment of death

so that the soul can leave

Come. Don’t be afraid. Open the door and enter. Now close the door. Turn around and embrace a world of unexplained occurrences that reach beyond your rational mind. In fact, just take one step beyond the veil of time and space and explore Burwick House at Black Creek Pioneer Village.

According to Catherine Crow, “The most famous and publicized spirits at Black Creek Village reside here, in Burwick House.”

The home was built in 1844 in Burwick, Ontario (now Woodbridge). This dwelling, suitable for a country gentleman, is complete with fine furnishings made in Upper Canada and a selection of imports from Britain and the United States. A substantial stable and a landscaped yard and garden, reflect an owner with comfortable circumstances.

A number of staff members who have worked in the Burwick house have reported many cases of paranormal activity.

The Burwick House, 1844

Catherine stated, “Several members have reported unexplained activity, including knocking sounds, moving objects, hearing footsteps and feeling cold spots throughout the house.”

“One young worker reported looking up from the kitchen table he was sitting at to see the dark shadow of a woman standing in the kitchen doorway. She [the shadow] disappeared shortly after that.”

Another employee has claimed to have seen the same dark shadow of a woman on the central staircase.

In June of 2005, authors Maria da Silva and Andrew Hind highlighted the haunting of Burwick House in an article they wrote for Fate Magazine :

“It was late into the evening by the time Marlee and a co-worker began the short walk back to the administrative building after one of the park’s nighttime events. Marlee found her eyes drawn towards the second floor of the building, where a pale white light illuminated one of the windows.”

A staff member described the light as flickering, like a candle sputtering on its own wax. That employee thought someone might have forgotten to extinguish an oil lamp and decided to investigate.

“Pushing open the front door, Marlee and another employee felt an ominous presence that caused Marlee to pause in her steps. Regaining her composure, she began to climb the creaking stairs but her knees grew weaker with each step taken. She reached the landing, exhausted by the short ascent. There was no lamp burning, but Marlee suddenly caught sight of a black figure, a shadow that walked across one of the upstairs bedrooms and vanished. Marlee fled the building!”

According to Maria and Andrew, one psychic shed some light on the woman who appears as a dark shadow. “Upon entering the building, the psychic was overcome by the presence of a distraught woman. As she slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor, four rooms came into view: a child’s room, a sewing room, another child’s room, and then, the one she felt the most drawn, to the adults’ bedroom. A crib stood to one side and mourning clothes were laid upon the bed.”

Was her spirit still looking for her child more than a century later? Who designed the room and chose to lay a mourning dress on the bed and to place a crib in the room; and did they know something?

Energy is felt around the crib.

The psychic said, “The details were clear. It was a woman between twenty and twenty-eight. Her pain was overwhelming to me and I felt the need to reach out to the grieving mother. To everyone else present there was nobody in the bedroom, but I knew differently.”

A lovely old grandfather clock graces the interior of Burwick House. This is no ordinary clock — it is enchanted. Although the grandfather clock no longer works, it has a tendency to chime when visitors arrive on the second floor and stops when they vacate the premises.

“When the mother and daughter first began to climb the stairs, the pair felt nothing out of the ordinary. Soon after they had reached the second floor, they began to feel cold and unwelcome. The young girl in particular was ill at ease. She felt a soft hand gingerly touch her face and momentarily cup her chin. And then the clock began to chime. It wasn’t the peaceful ringing that is so endearing about grandfather clocks. Instead, it sounded ominous somehow, almost agitated. The mother took her child’s hand and fled downstairs. Once there, the clock stopped chiming.”

In 2003, Jennifer Fulton, an employee at Black Creek Pioneer Village, had a paranormal experience.

“I was working in the Burwick House. On this particular day I was alone in the parlour. There were workmen working outside on the building. I started to walk through the hallway to the kitchen when I suddenly heard men talking downstairs in the basement. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I did know that the staff room was located in the basement. I just thought they were employees taking a break.

“I was still in the kitchen when I saw the livestock girls go downstairs. I told them there were people down in the basement but according to them that was impossible. The staff room was locked up. We went downstairs together and indeed the room was locked and [there was] no sign of anyone. I know I had distinctly heard men’s voices in the basement.”

One former employee said she felt a very protective energy in the kitchen and up the back stairs. She felt it was a male presence.

In July of 2006, a visitor sensed sadness that seemed to linger in the house. Toronto Ghosts and Hauntings Research Society provided the story.

“Last summer my husband and I took our children to Black Creek Pioneer Village. Upon entering the Burwick House I immediately felt a little uneasy. We passed through the bottom floor of the house and proceeded upstairs. Halfway up the stairs I sensed a horrible feeling of utter sadness and something very sinister.

“At the top of the stairs I felt very uneasy again and wanted to leave. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I said, ‘Let’s go’ to my husband. He said, ‘Wait, I want to see the rooms.’ I told him I had seen enough. He simply said, ‘Come on’ and took my hand.

“We looked in the rooms and I continually had this horrible, strong sense of uneasiness. I turned and told my husband I would meet him outside. My husband of course didn’t sense anything.”

Apparently this visitor also commented that she felt the sadness or sinister feelings around the cradle in the adults’ bedroom on the second floor.

In 2007, on the ghost walk tour of the village, a group shared some experiences with Catherine.

“During this tour we had a number of visitors report strange sensations, feelings, sounds, and sights, while exploring Burwick House. One little girl broke down into hysterics because she felt someone touching the back of her shoulder while she was by an upstairs bedroom door. Another kid felt the icy grip of a cold hand through her thick woollen mitten. One couple reported hearing a crying sound coming from the bedroom. They said it sounded like a sad, mournful wail.”

Other people have seen a female spirit who looks out of the second-storey windows. Visitors have felt an entity brush against them as they climb the stairs to the second floor. Catherine herself has sensed the strong feelings of unease. She even broke out into a cold sweat on two occasions.

“I had to pause a few times in the middle of the ghost story to catch my breath and calm myself down. I could literally feel a woman’s overpowering presence behind me while I was giving my talk. Several visitors were showing me strange orbs [circles of light] they had caught on their digital cameras. I even captured a few on my camera.”

There is an item in the Burwick House that has the power to move on its own — the rocking horse.

The rocking horse is situated in the upstairs bedroom on the right. One employee has just stood there and watched the toy horse rock back and forth, seemingly under its own power. (Could a child be sitting on the horse and rocking it?)

The rocking horse rocks on its own.

The alarm system in the Burwick House is composed of motion sensor units that seem to have the ability to detect spirits moving about at night — an experience had by employees there.

Ruthan Johnson encountered paranormal activity while employed at Burwick. She is quick to point out that the spirit of a woman has been seen at the fireplace on the main floor. She also confirms the presence of a female spirit upstairs where the rocking horse resides.

Ruthan has a story, about Adele, an elderly employee and a direct descendant of the family who once owned the home. She asked her for help with the second-storey window curtains.

“Adele would close the curtains on the three windows facing the street. She would then go downstairs, lock up, and leave the building. Once she was outside she would look up at the second-storey windows and the curtains would be pulled back.

“To help her, I entered the building and went upstairs. I waved to Adele on the street and closed the curtains. I went downstairs and exited the building. I saw Adele and looked up at the windows and the curtains were pulled back again!”

A shadow appears in the doorway of the kitchen.

Ruthan pointed out the butler’s pantry; a small room by the office is closed-off from the public by a chain hanging across the middle of the doorway. On occasion, people — Ruthan’s husband, Dennis, is one such person — has witnessed this chain swinging back and forth on its own.

Another area of activity in the house is the office downstairs. Ruthan stated, “The office feels like an ice box even in the summer.”

Jeff Farrell, a staff interpreter who has worked at Black Creek Pioneer Village for several years, feels the spirit associated with the office is that of a man. Jeff told me he has a female friend, Rhona Hasting, who is a “sensitive.” She visited Jeff one time when he was working at Burwick House. According to her, five or six spirits inhabit the house.

Rhona Hasting stated, “In the upstairs of the Burwick House, I would stand there for a very long time as a child. I would look into the rooms and feel at ease, very content. As an adult, I would feel a difference in the atmosphere, more of a sadness. A couple of years ago, I went to the house and had my camera with me. I went upstairs. The camera was hanging around my neck on a strap. Then the camera went crazy and started clicking and winding itself in some way. I was by myself and did feel like I was being told to leave, so I did — very quickly.”

There is no question that Burwick House is a busy place, layered in time, beyond the rational mind. Why not visit for yourself and see what experience may await you. Perhaps you may see through the veil of time and embrace the past too.