As mist swirls around the Test Vale,
And moonlightthrough cloudscape shines pale,
A figure in white,
May give you a fright...
Sit down, and I'll tell you the tale.At Wherwell, an abbey once stood,
Which housed ladies pious and good;
But being a nun,
Young Kate found no fun,
So swore to escape if she could.And long did she mope in those cloisters,
With dreams about feasting on oysters,
But lived but on gruel,
In circumstance cruel,
And wishing for dancing and roisters.The year was 1393,
At last she took chance to be free,
'Twas really quite simple,
She threw off her wimple,
And from Wherwell abbey did flee.She stayed on the loose, seven years,
And then, conscience pricking, in tears,
With great resolution,
To crave absolution,
Returned amid sisterly jeers.Now what does the bible say oughter
Be done with a prodigal daughter?
Go slay fatted calf,
Have a time and a half,
And feed her on wine 'stead of water.But listen my children, I'll tell yers,
Therein, with those God-fearin' fellers:
They gave Katie Faulk-
ner no chance for to talk,
But walled her alive in the cellars.It's Chilbolton Rectory stands,
Where once were those monastic lands,
Poor Kate has no peace,
Still cries for release,
From her fate at the bigots' commands.For if you pass by there some night,
You'll see, in the moon's feeble light,
The ghost of that maid,
Imploring your aid,
To free her from bigotry's spite.
The following from http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~villages/folklor2.htmCHILBOLTON Chilbolton Rectory is reputed to be haunted by a nun, we know that she is Katherine Faulkner who ran away from the Benedictine Abbey at Wherwell in 1393.
It was seven years later that she returned to the cloistered life, but, her escapade did not go unpunished by the church. She was walled up alive in the nunnery..
The Rectory was built on the former site of the old nunnery and accounts for the haunting, the figure of Katherine appears at a window, seemingly beckoning for help.
Last updated: Tue, 06 Mar 2001.