In the 1970s, Diane Berthelot and her family visited the village of Worstead in the North Norfolk District for a summer holiday. Diane had recently had surgery, was taking antibiotics, and was feeling unwell, so the family decided to duck out of the summer heat and visit St. Mary Church.
Diane decided to sit in one of the pews and say a prayer to help aid in her recovery, while her husband and son toured the building, snapping photos, including one of her seated in the pew.
As she prayed, Diane reported having “a feeling of warmth and peace wash over me.” And the family left that church feeling much more cheerful.
According to the Eastern Daily Press, “Months later, back in Essex, the family and their lodger Barbara decided to have a slide show and view their summer snaps for the first time. They were astounded when Barbara asked: “Who’s that sitting behind you, Di?”
“Mrs. Berthelot said: “I looked up, saw the white figure and my feet started to ‘tingle’, this sensation eventually engulfing the whole of me. It was a pleasant, comforting feeling.” The photo appears to show a woman dressed in light-colored, old-fashioned clothes, with a bonnet, sitting on the bench directly behind Mrs. Berthelot.
When she visited Worstead the next summer and showed the slide to the late Vicar of Worstead, Rev Pettit, he told the family about the legend and said there was talk that the White Lady was a healer who appeared when there was sickness. For many years, Mrs Berthelot said she experienced the same tingling sensation whenever she looked at the photo, although this has since stopped.”
However, this White Lady of Worstead is not a specter to be toyed with. According to The Paranormal Guide, she has a bit of a cranky side to her. “In the 1830s, a man was staying in the King’s Head Tavern in Worstead, North Norfolk, United Kingdom, where he heard about the legend of the White Lady of Worstead Church.
The legend stated that the White Lady would appear every Christmas Eve, and anyone who witnessed her would suffer an untimely death.
This gentleman, not believing in such tomfoolery, stated that he would stay in the church, and if the White Lady appeared, he would kiss her. As it also happened to be Christmas Eve, he was definitely keen to put the legend to the test and show these backward local folk a thing or two!
He entered the church and climbed the belfry.
After a time, and with anxiety building over his late return, his friends went searching for him. They found him huddled in the belfry. He was shaking with fright and muttering to himself. He was obviously dying.
His last words were, “I’ve seen her, I’ve seen her.””
In a comment on ghostsnghouls.com, commenter Max Darbyshire said that he had once lived in Worstead and that the White Lady had been seen by many villagers, including vicars.
He said: “I remember as a child that a fish and chip van would pull up in the village square by the haunted church on a Friday night, and the man running it would often talk about how he once saw the white lady while he was closing up shop.
“He said she moved between the gravestones and walked through the large doors of the church; he then claimed that a white light seemed to emanate from the windows. He believed it to be an angel.
“Another time, a friend of mine was drinking with a couple of friends in the graveyard (don’t judge, rural England can be extremely boring for teenagers) when he claimed the gravestone he was seated against seemed to lurch behind him, upon spinning around there was a woman in a white dress and bonnet staring down at him with a stern face. All three of them ran out of the graveyard and didn’t return that night.”
Murdering ghoul, healing spirit, or avenging phantom? Perhaps over a century of haunting has mellowed our Lady in White somewhat. Whatever the case, I suggest that if you decide to tour St. Mary Church in Worstead, you choose to say a prayer, rather than trying for a little snogging in the belfry.
Happy Friday!!!