The Haunting of Combermere Abbey

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
Lord Combermere died in 1891, and a photograph taken during the time he was being buried became renown for establishing proof of life after death.

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Combermere Abbey c.1929

​Combermere Abbey located in Cheshire, England, was founded by Benedictine monks in 1133. In 1540, King Henry VIII ran out the Benedictines, and closed down the Abbey, which later became the Seat of Sir George Cotton KT, Vice Chamberlain to the household of Prince Edward, son of Henry VIII.

Combermere Abbey had a reputation for being haunted since early in its history. There was an old nursery where the ghost of a young girl dressed in a frock with an odd little ruff round her neck, was seen in what had once been the nursery. The room had been turned into a bedroom, and she was seen by the niece of a late owner standing near her bed. The ghostly girl starting running around the bed in a wild way, with a look of suffering on her face.

She told her widowed aunt about what she had seen, who recalled that her late husband had described where his favorite sister had died many years ago. One of their games was to run around the bed.

In 1814, Sir Stapleton Cotton, a descendent of Sir George, took the title Lord Combermere and in 1817 became the Governor of Barbados. His son, Wellington Henry Stapleton-Cotton born in 1818, became the second Viscount Combermere in 1865 upon his death. He was a cavalry commander in the early 1800s, who distinguished himself in several military campaigns. ​

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The figure of a man can faintly be seen sitting in the chair to the left. His head, collar and right arm on the armrest are clearly discernible. It is believed to be the ghost of Lord Combermere c.1891

In 1891, Lord Combermere was visiting London when he was struck by a horse-drawn carriage. He was seriously injured, but the 73-year-old started to mend and regain the use of his legs. But then he died suddenly on December 1 after a blood clot stopped his heart.

His remains arrived on December 5, at St. Margaret Church in the town of Wrenbury. His son Robert accompanied the hearse from the train station to the church, where after a short service he was interred in the family vault in the church graveyard.

Sybell R. Corbet had been engaged to take pictures of Combermere Abbey, and on the afternoon of the burial she was photographing the library at approximately 2 p.m. Her sister Lady Sutton was renting the abbey at this time.

Miss Corbet did not develop the plate until over 18 months later, and only then did she realize she had taken the photo the same day of the funeral, which was taking place four miles away. There were very few people about the house including the servants, since they were attending the services.

She showed the photograph to her sister Alice Rowley who said it looked the late Lord Combermere. The light-colored beard and bald head did not match any men in the household at the time, and most importantly the style of dress did not match anyone either. The most significant point was that the figure was seated in Lord Combermere's favorite chair.

The story and the photograph was published in the December 1895 volume of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, and was shown only to members of the society in order to protect the family's privacy, even though eventually the word did spread about the photograph.

Though some thought the image was a product of the plate not being processed correctly, in other words double exposure, Sybell Corbet insisted she had been very careful during the entire process. Others saw it as proof of life after death, and that Lord Combermere had come for one more visit to his ancestral home.

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Lord Combermere when he acted as governor of Barbados from 1817 to 1820

Lord Combermere's father was involved in the famous case of the Moving Coffins of Barbados while he was governor of the island. The coffins would be found moved around despite being inside a sealed vault. Every time a new interment would take place, the heavy coffins would be strewn around the inside. There was never a logical explanation given except for the supernatural, and the family finally reburied each separately in a secret location in Christ Church Cemetery.

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