Haunted sites in western Sydney revealed
With Halloween approaching we’ve ventured out to the most haunted sites in western Sydney. Expect ghostly figures, strange sensations and even spirits who will follow you home. Read on, if you dare...
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With Halloween this Sunday we bring you the most haunted places in western Sydney.
From an old haunted gaol to creepy homesteads and graveyards, western Sydney really has got enough scary sites to keep you up all night.
PARRAMATTA GAOL
Parramatta Gaol officially closed its Iron Gates in 2011 as the longest serving gaol in Australia.
But according to Peta Banks, paranormal researcher and tour guide, the gaol’s evil spirits
remain.
“With the likes of Michael Murphy – the ringleader behind the rape and murder of Anita Cobby, Leonard Keith Lawson – a text book definition psychopath who committed multiple rapes and killed two women, and notorious escape artist Darcy Dugan, for which the prison built an inescapable cell,” she said.
She said: “We have many different spirits who interact with us in the gaol.
“The most prominent is Leonard Lawson.
“There are specific spots he has been seen in the chapel of the gaol, which was the area of his downfall, and we find guests have experiences in those spots before we have even told them of the history and experiences there.
“We also have an old guard who likes to walk the landings of 6 wing. He doesn't interact, but you can hear him clearly walking along the walkways and sometimes checking the locks on the doors.
“He has been seen multiple times but he ignores our guests and just does his rounds.”
MAMRE HOMESTEAD
Mamre House was the home of the colonial chaplain, magistrate and pastor, Reverend Samuel Marsden.
It was built between 1824 and 1832 to accommodate Charles Simeon Marsden’s family, the son of the prominent colonial.
Today, Mamre House is run by Catholic Care.
Paranormal expert Rob Wilson said the home is a “paranormal hub” and said there have been many reported incidents.
“Plenty of different types of paranormal phenomena has been witnessed inside and outside the homestead,” he said.
“Figures have been seen on the property. A figure has been seen in the house and captured in a photo.
“Doors have locked by themselves. Equipment flashing, answering questions, there’s been multiple things.”
In the front yard there is said to have been a lot of activity which could be attributed to a spooky past.
“This is the front yard and across it lies the sewerage system. In the 60s, when digging in the trench, they had to stop everything because they came across seven unmarked convict graves. The story goes that there were more,” Mr Wilson said.
People on his tours have seen many a strange occurrence, he said.
“Perhaps that’s what people were seeing, some convicts during the tours. Apparitions have been seen moving around in trees.”
Little is known about what the rooms were previously but now there is a little kitchen at the front which used to operate as a cafe.
The ladies who worked here would have to acknowledge a woman called Martha when they came in otherwise they’d have a bad day, he said.
Martha has also reportedly been seen at the top of the stairwell.
Perhaps one of the most interesting rooms is one in the back corner of the home.
“It’s where Charles Marsden passed away,” Mr Wilson said.
He recalled a peculiar incident from one of his tours.
“In this room, I left three ping pong balls on the mantle during a tour. I was looking out asking Charles some questions when I heard a ping pong ball hit the floor. It was just sitting on the concrete.
“One of the attendees told me he saw the ping pong ball on the far right cross over and then drop. The funny thing is, it stayed where it dropped. Ping pong balls don’t do that. They bounce.”
ROSE COTTAGE
Rose Cottage in Wilberforce has had plenty of reported paranormal activity over the years.
This home was originally occupied by Thomas and Jane Rose, the first freesettler family to make Australia home, making Rose Cottage the oldest standing timber slab cottage in Australia.
The main bedroom is considered to be one of the most haunted rooms. This is where the only original piece of furniture, belonging to Thomas and Jane Rose is kept – the trunk they brought with them on the First Fleet.
Rob Wilson, founder of Penrith’s Paranormal & Cryptid Taskforce, has experienced plenty of paranormal activity in that room.
“I had about nine people in this room and we were all focused on the bed. I had some equipment, I was asking questions like ‘is there anybody here?’ he said.
“A lady to my left said ‘look at the cot, it’s moving’.”
When the group turned around, the cot is said to have been steadily rocking back and forth.
“Keep in mind, the ground is level. There is no breeze going in and out and I assure you I wasn’t using any magnets. It was rocking by itself and then it just stopped,” Mr Wilson said.
And that is only one of many paranormal experience he’s had there.
Last November, he came to the cottage on a Thursday afternoon to see how hot the place could get on a 40 degree day.
“I unlocked the door and couldn’t open it. Something was blocking the doorway,” he said.
“I gave it a good shove and this long, heavy bench was in front of the door.”
“No big deal, right? Or so we thought.
“That’s the thing. You can’t do that and get out because the windows are fixed and the front door is locked from the inside.”
SARAH’S GRAVE, CRANEBROOK
Say the word ‘haunted’ to anyone around Penrith and chances are the first place to pop into their head will be Sarah’s grave.
Sarah Simpson’s grave, located in Castlereagh Cemetery, is something of a mystery.
Rob Wilson, founder and lead investigator of PACT (Paranormal and Cryptid Task-force) provided an insight into Sarah’s past and why he thinks the site is haunted.
“Sarah was a convict who stole an item of clothing and about that time, she met another released ex-con named James Simpson. They fell in love and had eight kids out of wedlock which was frowned upon at the time,” Mr Wilson said.
“Fast forward to when Sarah’s in her forties, she’s walking home one day when she gets set upon by a group of men who assault her and leave her to die. The next day she got buried here in Castlereagh cemetery,” Mr Wilson said.
“The story goes that John actually married her at her grave so she wouldn’t pass on in sin.
“Since then, it’s said that she haunts this cemetery giving people a hard time. Cars won’t start out the front, screaming is heard but there are houses around so that is a bit hard to substantiate,” Mr Wilson said.
“Jewellery goes missing, people feel horrible, they get touched or feel sad,”
ST BATHOLEMEWS CHURCH, PROSPECT
St Bartholemews Church in Prospect is an eerie place where many weird and supernatural incidents have been reported.
It is said that some ghost tour participants had even seen ghost appear on their drive home.
St Bartholemews Church cemetery contains the grave of famous colonial Australian explorer William Lawson, who with William Wentworth and Gregory Blaxland, were the first Europeans to find a way across the Blue Mountains in 1813.
People have said there is one particular troublesome ghost at the site and others have complained of feeling sick and nauseous around the cemetery.
ARMS OF AUSTRALIAN INN AND MUSEUM
Located in the Penrith Valley, at Emu Plains, the Arms of Australia Inn Museum is at the gateway to the Blue Mountains National Park.
The inn was once a staging post for travellers making the trip from Sydney over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst and then onto the goldfields.
This historic inn and museum is said to be haunted by a number of benign spirits, including a man who was beaten to death in the cellar.
It has been reported that his spirit has been seen peering out of the windows with a saddened expression while others say they have felt cold spots, heard ghostly voices and heard and felt walking up and down the main hallway.
MAFIA HOUSE, ORCHARD HILLS
It’s long been urban legend that ‘Mafia House’ was once owned by the mafia and now is haunted by all the crime lords that were supposedly executed in the home.
There are a range of paranormal stories told by locals as people try to gain access to the property to experience it themselves.
It must be said that entering the house is illegal and police have made arrests for trespassing on this property.
Locals say that lights appear in the tower of the house and if you shine your headlights up the driveway you can often see a white figure coming down the driveway.
Some also have claimed that their camera battery drained rapidly and that they could hear the sound of gunshots coming from inside the property.
VICTORIA PASS
The Victoria Pass is a piece of NSW history with a dark past.
The snaking stretch of road serves as the setting for one of the areas most horrific crimes that led to the urban legend ‘The woman in black’.
In 1842 a bloodied body of a teenager was found by a postman at Victoria Pass. She’d been raped, beaten, her head struck with a rock, which lay covered in blood nearby.
That teen is now known as ‘the woman in black. There have been various reports over the years of people seeing her including many truck drivers, especially on cold nights, when the threat of black ice would force them to travel slowly along the Pass. All accounts of ‘The woman in black’ are similar, white face with a black dress.
OLD GOVERNMENT HOUSE, PARRAMATTA
As one of Australia’s oldest colonial buildings, it is no surprise that many people believe Old Government House to be haunted.
There are numerous accounts of people seeing a lady in blue and her dog from an upstairs window which is believed to be one of Governor Bligh’s daughters.
Other accounts say that ‘Lady Fitzroy’ haunts the estate after she died in a horse and cart accident in 1847.
Her body was brought into the centre of the house foyer and to this day anyone who stands there is said to feel a ‘strong presence’.
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