DianaWerribee Mansion
May 24th 2008 10:27
Am getting super-frustrated with myself cos trying to download pictures for you dear readers and nothing going well on that score. A fabulous picture of the mansion would go really well with this post, so sorry about that.
Anyway, following on from previously, we drove up the road to the mansion and due to poor sign-posting actually stumbled our way ungraciously through the brilliant Sofitel Hotel entrance!
When we did eventually get to the front of the mansion: wow! On this brilliant late autumn sunny day late in the arvo it sure looked stunning! Imposing. Immense.
It was then I realised that my offspring haven't been to many big old mansions, 'cepting in Tassie where they visit their grand-parents for the summer and have done Clarendon House and so forth.
The effect of this mansion on them was electrifying. In silence we walked into the imposing gilded hallway and so started to explore the rooms.
You know what these places are like, rooms reproduced in the style of a former era, in this case around 1870. One of the things that makes Werribee so special is that most of the rooms are furnished with the original stuff the family(Chirnsides) used.
It lives and breathes history and a by-gone era. It is eerily only just not-peopled by those from that era.
It has atmosphere.
After we had viewed the magnificence of the dining rooms we turned a corner and entered the servants areas and also the kitchen and laundry sections.
This part of the house was in very original condition. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise and a weight on my forehead as we made our way down the darkening hallway.
The kids had fallen silent, Michael had even stopped swishing his flag he had got at the zoo shop.
There was an old musty smell and I can honestly say it felt kinda creepy. But what happened when we reached the pantry and scullery was weird.
Lisa whimpered and clutched my hand. Michael, bravely in front, stopped dead in his tracks and refused to go any further. Mattie, a bit behind us, said, 'Feels funny here, mum,".
I paused.
For some reason none of the other visitors were with us and we were alone. Small rooms led off either side of the corridor and they were dark, ancient looking and very musty.
I don't know what the kids sensed but I was sure getting creepy vibes.
I turned and led my little group back out of that area and we did a tour of the bedrooms instead. One room had them silent and Lisa started to cry. We moved on and they were fine, Michael being his annoying self as usual.
By the time we got to the gift shop I felt a bit light-headed so bought us all some chocolate and we went onto the sunlit lawn to loll for a bit.
The children were wildly chatter-boxing now and asking me all kinds of questions about the place, the family, the possibility of ghosts etc.
Lisa has come home determined to research the place. Michael says he ain't never gonna go down that hall again; Mattie has asked which other old homes we can visit.
I feel a bit dazed and confused. Dredging through my memory there have been articles about hauntings and sightings in the mansion in the press: I also feel interested to do some research!
Anyone else got something to share regarding this type of experience?
Anyway, following on from previously, we drove up the road to the mansion and due to poor sign-posting actually stumbled our way ungraciously through the brilliant Sofitel Hotel entrance!
When we did eventually get to the front of the mansion: wow! On this brilliant late autumn sunny day late in the arvo it sure looked stunning! Imposing. Immense.
The effect of this mansion on them was electrifying. In silence we walked into the imposing gilded hallway and so started to explore the rooms.
You know what these places are like, rooms reproduced in the style of a former era, in this case around 1870. One of the things that makes Werribee so special is that most of the rooms are furnished with the original stuff the family(Chirnsides) used.
It lives and breathes history and a by-gone era. It is eerily only just not-peopled by those from that era.
It has atmosphere.
After we had viewed the magnificence of the dining rooms we turned a corner and entered the servants areas and also the kitchen and laundry sections.
This part of the house was in very original condition. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise and a weight on my forehead as we made our way down the darkening hallway.
The kids had fallen silent, Michael had even stopped swishing his flag he had got at the zoo shop.
There was an old musty smell and I can honestly say it felt kinda creepy. But what happened when we reached the pantry and scullery was weird.
Lisa whimpered and clutched my hand. Michael, bravely in front, stopped dead in his tracks and refused to go any further. Mattie, a bit behind us, said, 'Feels funny here, mum,".
I paused.
For some reason none of the other visitors were with us and we were alone. Small rooms led off either side of the corridor and they were dark, ancient looking and very musty.
I don't know what the kids sensed but I was sure getting creepy vibes.
I turned and led my little group back out of that area and we did a tour of the bedrooms instead. One room had them silent and Lisa started to cry. We moved on and they were fine, Michael being his annoying self as usual.
By the time we got to the gift shop I felt a bit light-headed so bought us all some chocolate and we went onto the sunlit lawn to loll for a bit.
The children were wildly chatter-boxing now and asking me all kinds of questions about the place, the family, the possibility of ghosts etc.
Lisa has come home determined to research the place. Michael says he ain't never gonna go down that hall again; Mattie has asked which other old homes we can visit.
I feel a bit dazed and confused. Dredging through my memory there have been articles about hauntings and sightings in the mansion in the press: I also feel interested to do some research!
Anyone else got something to share regarding this type of experience?
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Comment by Hades
Thomas Chirnside, one of the two brothers who built the stately residence, suffered depression and committed suicide by shooting himself in the laundry in 1887.
His restless spirit is thought by many to be still roaming the mansion.
He was said to carry a torch for Mary, his brother Andrew’s wife, a love that remained unrequited.
In the early 1900s, Mary met a tragic end when her hair caught fire from the flame of a candle she was holding and she perished.
Romantics believe they could be together as ghosts in the after-life.
Comment by Loki
I stumbled into a disused room underground, and felt a strange and eerie presence. I turned, and to my surprise I could see a shadow in human form in the corner. Thinking it was a caretaker, I spoke to it but got no reply.
To my horror, the shadow coalesced into a spectral, white-faced woman with long hair and smouldering eerie eyes. She held out her hands towards me. I backed out of the room but she soundlessly glided towards me.
I shut the door. But she glided THROUGH it! I tried to scream in horror. The lights were dim. I ran up the nearest staircase. It was dank and fetid. IT followed me up the stairs. The door at the top was locked! IT grabbed me and pulled at my leg. No! No! No! IT pulled and pulled and pulled!
Just like I'm pulling yours.
Comment by Plutonian