Is ths a haunted house? Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England

This post will have a lot of photos to view and hopefully they will give you a 'feel' of what it was like to actually be where I was........................

All the photos can now be viewed by clicking on any photo. They are also able to be viewed at this Picasa album. It might be best for your imagination if you look at them first........ 

Even though it was a bright and sunny day there was a distinct feeling of isolation and eeriness as I turned into Bank Mill Lane from the little bridge over the canal.

I had spent the morning walking along the canal feeling the history and the toil that had gone into the building of the canal.

Opposite the bridge there was a sea of undergrowth and overhanging trees (as you can see on the right of the first photo).

The entrance to the property that caught my attention was partially boarded up but as I peered through an opening I could see the remnants of a truck that had obviously been sitting there for some time.

How could anyone resist exploring a little further? And I would only be a minute (so I thought).

I cautiously walked up the driveway past the truck to see a vista that took me right back to the core reasons I was visiting Britain. One of those reasons was that I grew up reading English novels set in the 1950s and earlier. Novels by Enid Blyton based on children getting up to all sorts of adventures exploring places they shouldn't be exploring! And frequently there was a house just like this one.

The view that opened up before me was a classic haunted house setting. It truly felt like something from one of those horrors movies that made you hide under the covers at night as a child. 

I considered coming back again later that day. Maybe at a time where it would have been even more atmospheric. Not in the middle of the night but possibly when the sun was setting.....                                                                                                                                                            

As you can see from these two photos the exterior wasn't exactly inviting me to take a closer look inside.

But I did anyway.

In the entrance hall there was something scrawled on the wall..............

Now this could mean anything of course but if you have any sort of imagination....

The results of my subsequent research appears at the end.

I had to be very careful as I continued further inside. The ceiling had a number of holes in it that let the light in from the upper floor. The staircase in front of me was covered in debris which prevented me exploring upstairs so I continued on to the room which appeared to be a front parlour.

Here again the ceiling was rotten in places. Someone in the past had lit a fire in the old fireplace but the flue must have been blocked as the wall around the fireplace was blackened with soot.

The window to one side still had faded material covering the pelmet at the top of the frame.

I then discovered one of my most interesting finds. A couple of faded old magazines lying in the middle of the floor. One was lying open and as I picked it up I searched for a date. I found it had been published in 1961. But when I turned to the front cover it seemed to be in almost pristine condition.

What was the story behind the magazine being here? Was it left here fifty years ago by the last owner?

Was what I was seeing something that was directly connected with the last owner? It seemed likely.....

I was feeling as if I was in some some of time warp. I was taken back to my memories of how I imagined being on the same adventures with the characters from the novels I had read all those years ago.

The house didn't smell musty. Probably explained by there being no glass in the windows which allowed ample fresh air in. But conversely there seemed little damage from the rain either. Possibly explained by the amount of vegetation around the windows.

It was very quiet inside the house. Which was probably a good thing. If the house had creaked at all I think it would have set my heart racing.

Photos and words rely on imagination to give a true feeling of a situation.
Luckily for me I was too engrossed in exploring and where to place my feet to let my imagination run too free about what was behind this house being abandoned and slowly deteriorating. 

Because I couldn't reach the upper level with any degree of safety I moved outside again.
Around the far side of the main building there were numerous outbuildings and attached to the house was a stable block/workshop area.
These contained a lot of the odds and ends you find in any area like this. Paint tins, lengths of timber, old tools and the accumulation of many years of occupation by one person.
And other things I just could not identify.

The other outbuildings must have had a purpose at some time but their uses are not clear.

When I did some research I came across some interesting points but details are a bit scarce.
I was told the house was built in the 17th century and is called New Lodge. But I can't see it being that old.
Currently there is a proposal that the area of the property be re-developed and 50 various dwellings be constructed. Part of the condition for the development is that New Lodge be retained but the developers are being criticised for not fulfilling this obligation by letting the house fall down on its own.
I haven't been able to find out anything about recent owners but a Rear-Admiral Arthur Hale Smith-Dorrien lived at New Lodge from 1904 until his death at the age of 77 in 1933 (1856-1933). The Rear-Admiral was found dead in a railway cutting not far from the grounds of the house. No cause of death was stated in the article.
At the time, the house often hosted garden parties and local fetes.
A far cry from how the property looks now no doubt.
He was 10th of 15 children but apparently had none of his own.
Smith-Dorrien was also related to Augustus John Smith (1804-1872)
There is either not enough, or too much information available on this family to be able to determine who may have inhabited New Lodge after Arthur's death in 1933.
The property may have passed to one of his siblings.
I ran into representatives of the development company as I was leaving but they were unable to give me any history of the place.
The only aspects I could glean from a couple of locals were that there had been a death and the property became a subject of dispute between various family members.
Ownership of the place must have been finalised for the development proposal to go ahead.

My conclusion (based on the sketchy evidence of the magazine) is that the house has stood empty for decades. Possibly up to 50 years.