Special Halloween Series: A force haunts roadside grave near Newmarket

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Near Kennett, on the outskirts of Newmarket lie crossroads.

For some, a crossroads is where two streets intersect, forming an 'x,' where drivers can go in one of four directions. For others, a crossroads has religious meaning.

For that reason, people who committed suicide were sometimes buried at a crossroads in years gone by.

The church viewed suicide as the murder of one's self, said Ron Murrell, curator at Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St. Edmunds. The church did not permit the body to be buried on consecrated ground and the family would thus select a crossroads, so their loved one could be buried near the crude shape of a cross in the road.

You've just entered the RAF Mildenhall Fright Zone, and the story you're about to hear is actual accounts of local residents.

Driving in either direction on the B1506, a distinct cross is formed by an intersection with the B1085. A close look by the roadside reveals an unmarked grave where Joseph, a boy belonging to a group of travelers, took his own life near there in the 17th Century, and is believed to be buried in the grave.

Many claim the site is haunted and in his book titled "Paranormal Suffolk," Christopher Reeve states that cyclists are "mysteriously forced by some strange unseen power to dismount as they near the spot."

According to Kennett locals at a nearby public house, the grave has been a local landmark for a long time, and traveling people marked the site with a cross in the 1970s. An inscription reads: 'Joseph - the Unknown Gypsy Boy. Rest in Peace.'

One pub customer, Jessie Welch, said Joseph was herding sheep one day and one from his flock went missing. He took his own life rather than bringing shame upon his people and eventually facing execution for the sheep theft.

"While some believe one of his sheep went missing, others think he merely miscounted," said Murrell. "But, it's almost certain that if a sheep was missing, the boy would have been hung. There's little chance a [traveler] would have gotten a fair trial in the 17th Century."

Welch explained that superstitious horse racing fanatics or gamblers sometimes visit the gravesite for good luck.

I visited the grave Sept. 17 to confirm Welch's account and spotted the gravesite quickly as I came down the B1506 because a small gathering of people was there.

I approached one individual and identified myself as being a journalist and relayed that I was doing a story on local hauntings.

He wouldn't provide his name. In fact, no one wanted to be identified or associated with the legendary haunting, but one middle aged male confirmed he was visiting Joseph's grave for good luck.

"I come here before the races, you see," said the man in a Suffolk accent. "I fancy checking out what color flowers are left here, and then bet on jockeys wearing that same color."

The Paranormal Database, a website dedicated to paranormal activity across the United Kingdom, tracks the unmarked grave near Kennett and published similar accounts of the haunting there.

According to their website, "the gypsy boy was falsely accused of sheep stealing, and committed suicide rather than [going] to jail. Flowers and other items of respect are left here by a number of people; some for luck, some to avoid suffering an accident in the area. Several cyclists have reported coming off their bikes along this stretch of road, for reasons unexplained."

Are race-goers, Paranormal Database, Welch and the other Kennett locals all victims of a long-enduring rumor about a haunted unmarked grave that happens to be located at a nearby crossroads or is the grave indeed haunted?

I can say that I was there and may know the answer to the last question, but I'll leave that for readers to discover for themselves ...

Stay tuned as the 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs office brings the next RAF Mildenhall Fright Zone. This special series will run until Halloween 2011.