Grace Dieu Priory - Thringstone, Leicestershire
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N 52° 45.657 W 001° 21.415
30U E 610871 N 5846944
The Grace Dieu Priory was an independent Augustinian priory near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England. It was founded around 1235-1241 by Roesia de Verdon and dissolved in October in 1538. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St Mary.
Waymark Code: WMHZVZ
Location: East Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/02/2013
Views: 1
"The priory is reputed to be the site of frequent paranormal phenomena, sometimes attributed to the priory's proximity to the Thringstone Fault, several lay-lines and some possible Pagan significance attached to the site.
The ruins are home to the mythical ghost the White Lady.
A comprehensive record of sightings, dating back as far as 1926, has been compiled by Stephen Neale Badcock, with all accounts backed up by information sources. Many of the sightings share a remarkable uniformity in terms of description and specific location, tending to refer to white or grey apparitions, robed, with no hands or feet, hovering or gliding above ground level and appearing on the opposite side of the road to the priory, in the vicinity of an old 'bus shelter.
Paul Devereux refers to the Grace Dieu phenomenon in his 1982 book, "Earth Lights: Towards and Explanation of the UFO Enigma", and sets out his theory that such manifestations are a rare but naturally occurring phenomenon, wrought by unusual electromagnetic fields associated with fault areas which interfere with the normal cycles of the atmosphere. Expanding on this, Neale Badcock's research has shown that the site of Grace Dieu priory is located directly above the Thringstone Fault, as shown by a geological map produced by the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society in 1965. The site is also located close to a standing stone, in a field to the west of the priory, examples of which are often found close to geological faults. The presence of this stone suggests that the area may have been regarded as a sacred site in ancient times, Mesolithic flint scrapers having been found around the base of the stone. As such, it has been suggested that the site's prehistoric religious significance may have influenced the choice of location for the medieaval monastic foundation. However, whilst this may have been the case for many Christian foundations during the Saxon period (the nearby parish church at Whitwick for example would almost certainly date back to a Saxon origin, intentionally sited in a sacred place, above a natural spring) it is probable that the link between the much later foundation of Grace Dieu Priory and a site of possible pagan significance occurs more by co-incidence. Hillier and Ryder offer a more prosaic explanation for the location of the nunnery, suggesting that the chief influence would have been its proximity to a fresh water source."
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"These ruins are said to be the most haunted place in all of Leicestershire. There is a phantom “white lady” that floats around the ruins and one such time a bus driver and conductor actually stopped to pick up what they believed to be a passenger and were pretty frightened when they opened the door to let her in only to find she has disappeared into thin air.
A police officer passing by Grace Dieu saw a woman in grey, with a hood, cross the road and a council man working at the priory felt a woman leaning over him and he was pushed harshly from behind, but no one was there.
It is believed that one of the women haunting the Priory is Agnes Litherland who was the Prioress of Grace Dieu in 1530. She had a child out of wedlock and so the child was cruely drowned in the lake and Agnes was walled up inside the priory as punishment. Most people believe there are multiple female ghosts that haunt the ruins, but a few believe it is the same woman. Whatever the case, be it one ghost or five, there is a lot of ghostly activity and it is worth a visit."
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