A fleeting visit to The Cloisters in Letchworth revealed eerie encounters and lingering echoes from the past, writes EMMA SAUNDERS of Ghostly Gatherings
I’ve only been in The Cloisters once – just a walk-through – but it was the most extraordinary experience.
Even without a full investigation, there was so much happening.
The building was now owned by Freemasons, and I was there just to check it out for a possible investigation.
It has that hushed atmosphere you find in old ceremonial spaces, yet beneath it lingers something heavier, as though the building is holding onto stories it is not ready to release.
In the main meeting room, I had not even crossed the doorway before I felt a huge weight on my back, as if I were carrying something heavy.
It was such a physical sensation that I instinctively straightened up.
Then, sitting over to the right at the front, I felt a tap on my left shoulder.
There was no one near me – just empty chairs – followed by a quick burst of laughter.
Light, almost cheeky, and gone before I could place it. It gave me that little rush you get when you know you have just had your first real moment in a building.
Upstairs, there is a flat. The head Freemason told me his mother had lived there before she passed. In the small side room stood an old kitchen table, brought up from the kitchens during a refurbishment.
As I entered, I saw a gentleman in a cap, waistcoat and brown corduroy trousers sitting at the table drinking tea.
He looked straight at me, smiled, lifted his cup in a small salute, took a sip – and then vanished. He appeared so clear and so normal that for a split second I almost expected him to speak.
In the main room of the flat there is a raised platform. As soon as I stepped onto it, my heart began racing and I could not catch my breath.
Later, I was told that the lady who had lived there had suffered breathing problems. I believe I was picking up on her energy. It felt deeply personal, like stepping into someone else’s struggle.
Along the corridor, up in the roof space with the big wooden beams, I saw a soldier – First World War, I believe – with a backpack and rifle. He was hiding in the eaves. He did not acknowledge me, and vanished as soon as I saw him.
It felt like a residual presence, just a moment caught in time, but it gave me a jolt of recognition when the image matched exactly what I was picturing in my mind.
History of the Cloisters
The Cloisters was built by Miss Annie Jane Lawrence as an Open Air School and Theosophical Meditation Centre. She moved to Letchworth in 1905, leased the land and, by January 1907, had opened this extraordinary building. She claimed the design came to her in a dream.
It featured a half-oval open-air room called the Cloisters Garth, a swimming pool, and carvings rich with symbolism – doves, bats, bees and butterflies.
During the Second World War the army took it over and left it in poor condition. Miss Lawrence wished it to remain for the community, but the council declined.
In 1948 she offered it to the local Masonic fraternity, who accepted, carried out extensive renovations, and by October 1951 held their first Lodge meeting.
Miss Lawrence, pleased to see it in use again, died in 1953 aged 90.
I never returned – there were booking issues – but I wish I had.
There was much more happening in that building that day, and I know I only scratched the surface.
It is one of those places where the energy shifts from room to room, leaving you wondering about all the stories you did not have time to uncover.
Have you sensed the paranormal at The Cloisters in Letchworth? Tell us about it in the comments section below!
