The Croglin Grange Vampire... Truth or tinfoil?

After seeing another thread about vampires getting locked, I figured I would actually post something that would (hopefully) steer the interest in the subject away from the usual ‘I’m a vampire/psy vampire’ content and give ATS readers something to really sink their teeth into….

The following is supposedly an account of real ‘undead’ vampirism. But, unfortunately the passage of time and lack of solid historical evidence really leave this one open to personal speculation and interpretation.

The story concerns an account of what is known as the ‘Croglin Grange Vampire’.

Part one:

Croglin is a sleepy little hamlet in Cumbria, England, situated in the beautiful and picturesque scenery of the Lake District.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d3f5509d446e.jpg[/atsimg]

Croglin Hall, or as it is known now, Croglin Low Hall, was, originally owned by the Fisher Family. (It is mentioned in some accounts that the Hall was originally a single story building, whereas the building now has a second story addition). Some time in the early part of the 19th century, the ownership of Croglin Hall changed to the Cranswell family. Two brothers and a Sister, Amelia moved into the hall after a period of it standing vacant through a harsh winter. They settled quickly into the new residence and were welcomed by the local community and were very popular. Soon, the spring gave way to summer, and oftentimes they would sit out on the veranda in the early evening watching the lengthening shadows stretch across the vast lawns.

One night, Amelia retired to her bedroom and decided to leave her bedroom window shutters open so that she may enjoy the soft moonlight that came in, bathing the lawn in a silvery glow. She sat propped up on her pillows staring out across the lawn toward the belt of trees at the far end that separated their property from the church and its graveyard just beyond.

As she gazed out, she noticed two tiny points of light darting between the shadows of the trees at the far end. Puzzled, she got out of bed and crossed her bedroom to the window to try and get a better look. She could see them a little better now, and realized that the two points of light were definitely fixed in something. It was then that the ‘something’ broke from the shadow of the tree line and onto the lawn. With a start, she realized they were eyes that she could see blazing in a black silhouette. The figure was tall and very spindly, and seemed to cross the lawn in a matter of a few bounds, for as she backed away from the window in horror it was there, on the other side of the glass, peering in at her. A brown, wrinkled, hideous face with eyes that ‘burned like coals’. She tried to scream, but such was her fear that her voice did not oblige.

She ran across the room to the locked bedroom door balking at the fact that the door was near to the window, placing her closer to the ‘thing’ outside momentarily. Her only sobering thought was that the window was securely locked. In her terror, she fumbled with the key and it dropped into the shadows on the floor.

As she scrambled on the floor she heard a soft ‘peck peck peck’ sound coming from the window, and to her horror, realized that the creature was picking the lead from around one of the window panes. There was the sound of glass shattering on the floor and she saw a long bony hand reach in and unlock the window. The creature climbed through and before she new it, it was upon her. She felt a sharp pain in her neck. As though a release, she screamed.

Continued in part 2...

Part 2:

Her two brothers came running from down the hallway, only to find the door locked. They succeeded in opening. By the time they got into the room, the creature had already fled and was making its way across the lawn toward the churchyard. Amelia was unconscious on the bed; she was bleeding profusely from a wound on her neck.

One of the brothers gave chase across the lawn, but the creature outran him with ease and scaled the wall in what seemed like a single bound. He called of the chase to go back and aid his brother with his sister. She was bleeding heavily from her throat, but they managed to stop the bleeding and stabilize her. Amelia survived the attack, and they moved away temporarily to Switzerland to help put the experience behind them before returning to Croglin Hall, actually at the insistence of Amelia.

She returned to her room, overlooking the lawn, but this time, the brothers moved into adjacent rooms across the hallway, and the bedroom doors where kept unlocked. Two loaded pistols were kept on a table in the hallway. It wasn’t long before she witnessed the two points of light making their way across the lawn again, and saw the same wrinkled and hideous face at her window. This time the scream came effortlessly, and the two brothers came running to her aid, only this time, one grabbed a pistol and ran straight out side to see the creature running across the lawn. He took aim and fired, hitting it in the leg. It stumbled and faltered. He ran after it. The creature scaled the high wall, to high for Amelia’s brother to scale quickly, so he ran around the outside, losing precious seconds as he did so. He followed the creature into the churchyard, at a distance and watched it closely to see which vault it would go into. Alone and with an emptied pistol, he decided to head back to the hall and return upon daybreak.

The next day, the brothers and some of the locals went to the spot in the graveyard where the creature had vanished. Upon opening the vault they found caskets that had been broken open and the contents mutilated. There was one casket that appeared to be undisturbed, and upon opening it, found a withered corpse inside, identical to the description Amelia had given. The creature had a wound on it’s leg. One of the brothers produced a pocket knife and probed inside the would, producing a multi-colored mini-ball. The brother recognized it as one of the pistol balls he bought while in Switzerland…

The casket and its contents were dragged outside and it was set alight, thus bringing an end to the Croglin Vampire.


So, a nail biting story eh? To be honest with you, I’m really not sure how much of it is fact (with the exception of the location), and how much is fiction, considering that the tail has elements that are very close to the penny dreadful story of ‘Varney The Vampyre.

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A note on www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk also mentions:

‘Recent research by Lionel Fanthorpe suggests that the story is much older than reported. A chapel and vault closer to the house were demolished in Cromwells day, and a second storey was added to the house after this date. So the description from the story matches much better in the 17th century.’

I actually found this place many years ago while on holiday in the Lake District. The village, although beautiful, is a little disappointing, especially after reading the account of the vampire. Also, I couldn’t see anything that would look like Croglin Hall. Further research shows that Croglin Hall is actually a little ways outside the village, which would throw the belt of trees/lawn/graveyard vicinity out of whack, unless maybe they sold off some of the land?? Have a look at this view and you’ll see what I mean:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/93fe3f6e7de4.jpg[/atsimg]

So, what do you think? Was the ‘Beast of Croglin Grange’ a tall story, or the truth…?


Croglin church:
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/114f13edb1bf.jpg[/atsimg]

It was Scott Rogo who first noticed the uncanny likeness of the story of the vampire at Croglin Grange to the first chapter of Varney the Vampyre the popular vampire story originally published in 1847 (almost verbatim). He suggested that the entire Croglin Grange story could be dismissed as a simple hoax.

Clive-Ross, later discussed the case again with residents of the area, and was told that there was a significant mistake in Hare's original account: the story took place not in the 1870s, but in the 1680s, almost two centuries earlier. While this fact would definitely place the events prior to the publication of Varney the Vampyre, it also pushes the story far enough into the past as to turn it into an unverifiable legend.

Although this particular case of Vampirism is thus undocumented and unverifiable, the fact that similar historic cases throughout many countries tell similar tales, lends credence to there being some kind of truth behind these legends...but that puts it in the same category as Dragons, who although are ubiquitous in almost every culture throughout history, don't really have any verifiable existence in history. Such instances are more likely to be common elements of the Human Psyche (Archetypes) than have an origin in the physical world.

(However, being an O- blood type, I know I've looked at people and considered chewing out their jugular on those occasions when I've gone far too long without eating red meat or my blood-sugar or iron level gets dangerously low...but that's a far cry from real-life Vampirism! LOL)

reply to post by Genus_Unknown


Most of us love a good vampire story, so thank you for posting this one. I am one to think some of these tails could be embellished, but we were not there, so who knows?

A vampire story with actual basis? No way.

Thanks a lot for making this thread. I and many others, as kidflash said, love a good vampire story. This kind of research is what the forum is about.

Hopefully this will show the little 16 year olds hovering around the 'OMG I'm TOTALLY a Vampire like Edward'! topics that you can be interested in the topic whilst also approaching it from a historical and scientific perspective.

Thanks to the Original Poster for this thread. It makes for great reading, and the pics that are part of the thread add to it.

very interesting theory
I guess it could be true
but i have no idea what to belive anymore, so many different ideas, anything could be true

Hi Genus,
What a fantastic article. I commend you onyour research of the story and I just want to say how much I enjoyed it, especially the photos. I write for three websites myself and have written extensively on vampires and how they relate to folklore. At the moment, I am writing a thread on "Vampires of the British Isles" You can find this on:
minds-eye.ning.com...
apolloblessed.ning.com... and you can also catch me at:
bloodread.socialgo.com...

I have been researching vampire folklore for almost forty years and it would be absolutely marvellous to have your imput on the threads. Thanks again for the article, I really enjoyed reading it. For years I thought it was just a tall tale but your article points out that the tale may be far older than August O'Hare suspected, meaning it may actually be based on true events. Oh by the way, you'll find me under the title "The Gate Keeper" on Blood Read.
God Bless, My Friend,
Your Servant,
Randall

Thanks for your comments everyone, i'm glad that you all got something out of my research. I was beginning to think that this was going to be consigned to the 'forgotten files' lol!

Thanks for those links, i'll definitely check them out!

S+F
A very interesting read, it's obvious a lot of research has been done on the subject.
As to whether the legend is true or not, all legends have some basis in truth. Perhaps someone broke into the room and injured the woman, over the years that intruder turned into a vampire and the story was combined with other local tales?

I read this story many years ago as a more embellished version in a vampire anthology. I always thought if there were any factual basis, that it was likely a mentally ill person took up residence in the crypt and attacked the young woman. I have unfortunately seen mentally ill homeless people who look little better than animated corpses due to lack of health care, nutrition and hygiene, and they won't accept help and people who try to approach them get attacked. It's not outrageous to think a person hundreds of years ago, living with severe delusions, could look horrific and act in the manner of the Croglin Grange vampire. Taking up residence in a crypt would certainly do their health and appearance no favors.

The fact we have people in modern times who have convinced themselves they need to drink blood makes me think we have had this mindset among us since our origins. As for the reported speed and agility of the Croglin Grange vampire, mental illness would likely have made him heedless of risk so he would go bounding over fences fast. And with a habit of lurking about in the dark, he was probably used to being surefooted out there at night. Any other details like glowing eyes, were likely embellishments. I believe in a lot of weird stuff but vampires are something I still believe can be attributed to a universal tendency to a certain kind of mental illness or eccentricity. I just can't yet bring myself to believe in animated blood sucking corpses and think the old stories always have more mundane origins.

S&F
Thanks for the interesting read and beautiful pics