The Ghostly Drummer of Tedworth

By Crusader1307

 A local Legend of Tedworth (renamed Tidworth), located in West England The ''Drummer of Tedworth'' is a classic Poltergeist ''Ghost Story''. It started around the year 1661. In those days Drummers (when not employed by The Military) needed to maintain a License to perform. An unlicensed Drummer wandered into Town and performed. Soon, He was arrested and charged not with illegally playing His Drum, but for being blamed for a rash of local thefts. When these charges could not be proven, The Drummer was charged with Witchcraft and being a Servant of The Devil.

The ''Satanic'' charges were leveled due to a ''rash'' of supposed possessions in Town. It was common for ''strangers'' to be charged with such superstitious ideology in this Era. The charges were championed by a local Magistrate. Our Drummer was duly convicted and hung. His corpse was buried outside The Church (in unhallowed ground). However, The Magistrate and His Family from this time forward experienced strange paranormal 'attacks''. Moving and crashing furniture and Household goods, unexplained ''scratches'' all over their bodies and, of course, the unmistakable sound of ''drumming'' sounding throughout the house. Many have thought (through the years), that the entire affair was made up by The Magistrates young children as a lark. Despite many investigations, The ''Drummer'' would not make His presence known unless He was alone with The Family.

After the death of The Magistrate and the eventual leaving of The Family, The House remain vacant as a result of The Activity. In fact, it was a local ''spot'' visited by some, wishing to ''see'' a ''real'' Haunted House. Drumming and crashes were well heard outside (although many feel that local Residents were the real culprits, wishing to maintain their ''infamy''. In the 1840s, The House burned down, a total loss. Nothing was ever re-built on the grounds, and even today no one is quite sure just exactly where The House was located.