Phantom Felines And Other Ghostly Animals - Gerina Dunwich 2006

The Legend of England’s Last Bear
Other Ghostly Animals

by Gerina Dunwich

Legend has it that the last bear in England was killed in the forest near Verdley Castle, just south of Fernhurst, England. The animal’s ghost is said to haunt the area; however, some folks claim that the apparition appears only once a year at Christmas.

Accompanied by an Australian film crew, a half-dozen psychic mediums (among them a psychic artist and a psychometric medium), and two historians met at the ruins of Verdley Castle in 2004 to film a documentary on animal ghosts. It was one of ten one-hour programs in a series about cryptozoology (the investigation of creatures whose existence is unproved), and its main purpose was to establish whether a ghostly bear presence existed in the Verdley Woods.

In order to prevent them from being subconsciously influenced, the psychic were not told anything beforehand about the legend of the ghost bear. The reason why the filmmakers were there was also not disclosed to them.

The filming began early in the evening and continued into the wee hours of the night. While on camera, the psychics walked around the site, each picking up different vibrations from the stones that remained of the ruined castle and from the area surrounding it. They talked about their psychic impressions and collectively covered a wide range of possible uses of the ruins that spanned several centuries.

One of the psychic sensed that the ruins were at one time used as a protective fortress, while another strongly felt they were connected to ancient religious practices. One received impressions that the place had once been a hunting lodge. And still another seemed sure it had something to do with the breeding of horses. However, none of the six psychic picked up anything having to do with the killing of a bear or of the animal’s ghost.