The History of Acklam Hall
There was an inquiry made by the Kings Treasurer in 1277 regarding the duties of knights to supply men-at-arms for the King. This enquiry showed that William de Boynton had land at Acklam. In 1303 there was a similar inquiry but which now showed that Acklam was held by Ingerlam de Boynton. It through the marriage of Sir Ingleram de Boynton, in the time of Henry I, to the daughter of the House of Acclun (or Acclam).
The next note in history shows that in 1612 Acklam Grange was rented to William Hustler, a wealthy drapier from Bridlington, by the current owner Frances Boynton and then in 1637, the son of Francis, Matthew Boynton, finally sold Acklam Grange to William Hustler.
Acklam Hall, which stands today, was built in 1683 by the grandson of William Hustler - another William Hustler (who was knighted in 1678) - and was built in a contemporary fashionable style, with Dutch influence in the gables (which are sadly now gone).
The Hall continued to be held by the Hustler family - both through the direct line of Sir William Hustler and then, later when no male heir was born to a Thomas Hustler and Constance Boynton (a descendant of the previous owners) the Hall was passed to a nephew Hustler Hopkins who upon inheriting the estate, changed his name to Hustler Hustler.
The Hall and grounds which covered over 40 acres were purchased by Middlesbrough Corporation in 1928 from the last private owner, Mostyn Hustler. Looking at the autioneers list suggests that no actual bids were received other than a sum of £11,500 by the Corporation.
Acklam Hall School opened in 1935 and in 1958, the remaining ornamental gardens were removed and extensions built for a Hall and woodwork and art classrooms. In 1968, Acklam Hall Grammer School merged with Kirby Girls Grammer to form Acklam High School.
The Haunted History of Acklam Hall
The main ghost that exists within Acklam Hall is the `Grey Lady` - although there are no known stories (which are reputable, that is!) which can identify her or which give any more details. Any stories that do concern her seem to come into the "I saw something" category.
In 1967 there was a caretaker who claimed that his dog would never upstairs after the unfortunate mutt experienced something up in the library and, "as you know", claimed the caretaker, "dogs are very sensitive about such things ..".
Finally, A young boy in ragged Victorian clothes was seen in the cellar by a workman back in 1997. The workman watched him walk into a side of the cellar and, when he went to investigate, there was of course, no-one there and with no other exit within the side room - no way anybody could have left without the workman noticing.
Comments
At the time, although we had certainly heard of The Grey Lady and Charlotte Hustler, we did not associate this with her because of the modern clothes. It was so ordinary but so unordinary.
Unfortunately, the friend I was with died this June and so I cannot comb over the facts with him. And knowing Geoff he's probably with her now having a G&T.
After perhaps a minute or so we both looked at each other with a doubtful look on our faces then both set off in a run after her. Although we were running at full speed we could not catch her up even though she still appeared to be travelling at normal walking speed and all we remember is seeing the white figure entering the gate of St Marys church in the distance.
When we arrived at the church about 40 seconds later there was noone there and when we searched the churchyard which was pitch dark, there was only one posssible exit and that was either inside the church, which was locked, or over a 5 foot boundary wall at the back of the church (which would have been a strange thing for a girl in a raincoat to do, and would require nerves of steel as it was very dark. She could not have gone any other way without us seeing. We were baffled but by the next day I suppose we just forgot about it and moved on but all these years later I wonder if this was Charlotte?
I seem to remember been on a desk of my own, right at the back of the class, quite central, I believe the teachers name was Mrs Wright.
We were about 20 mins into the lesson and she started to sneeze and cough, she complained to the girls about perfume and insisted that someone had just sprayed some perfume or scent ,as the previous 20 mins where sneeze free. This had the girls puzzled, it also puzzled me as I was looking forward and did not see anyone reach into a bag or squirt anything. I thought to myself, typical fruit loop English Lit teacher and shrugged it off. I looked back down to the book that we were dissecting (Animal Farm), and then it hit me... I can't really describe it and the more I try to the harder it is to explain. Right then, approx 30 seconds after the Teacher had complained about strong scents I too experienced it. I won't say I smelt it because I am not sure I did, but it was musky, strong, dusty even with a undertone of floral, almost disinfectant like smell/sensation. I sneezed, more than once, and then it was gone, replace with a stale cold pocket of air. This didn't register at first and I put it down to the leaky windows, however it played on my mind more and more. I spoke to the teacher about this one time after about a year. She seemed pretty convinced that there was something in that room and on occasion when staying back to mark books, she had seen things out the corner of her eye.
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