York - Treasurer's House

The Treasurer’s House is behind the YorkMinster and is part of the National Trust. It’s only open with guided tours which is great because the guide had lots of interesting things to say.

The location has a long, long history having been a main Roman road with the first house built on the site in 1091. The current house was originally built in 1547. In the early 17^th century the house was nearly rebuilt when the symmetrical front was added. The house ended up being passed through number of private owners and over time was subdivided into separate tenements.

Treasurer’s House was restored when the then three houses were bought by Frank Greene, a wealthy industrialist.

The work was mostly completed in 1900 when Prince Albert Edward, Princess Alexandra of Denmark and their daughter Princess Victoria came to visit, prior to his becoming king on the death of his mother, Queen Victoria in 1901.

Beds were specifically made for the royal visit. Each headboard had a differently shaped centerpoint. was designed differently. 

As a married woman, Princess Alexandra had a shield on her headboard.

As an unmarried woman, Princess Victoria slept under a diamond shape

And the Prince (soon to be King) an oval

Frank Greene retired and moved away from York in 1930 and gave the house and contents to the National Trust. It was the first time a private house and all its original furnishings was given to the Trust.

There were several things that really caught my eye during the tour of Treasurer’s House.

This ship was made by Napoleonic prisoners of war.

The ship is made of bone. The prisoners dried and carved bones from their food! The lines/ropes were originally made from their hair. The lines were all replaced later and it’s said it is one continuous string

 

The Witch Ball is a big shiny ball in the window. It's said to deter witches. Or to reflect her spell back to her, or to trap her in the ball.

Just in case the National Trust is very careful not to break the Witch Ball LOL

There are two large chandeliers – Fred Green bought a large box of glass pieces for £3 pounds (about £360 now) and two entire chandeliers were assembled from the pieces

This beautiful carved ivory vanity set was made long before there were any restrictions on the ivory trade. It is absolutely beautiful and could never be duplicated now.

There is a clock pendulum swinging on the wall in the Main Hall, but no clock. 

The clock is actually on the next floor up and the 13 foot pendulum goes right through the floor.

There was a special 'Ghosts in the Garden' happening. The wire figures looked great in the garden.

Treasurer’s House is Haunted!

A group of Roman soldiers have been witnessed in the cellar multiple times.

The most notable sighting happened during restoration works carried out by the National Trust. In 1953, local 18-year-old apprentice plumber Harry Martindale was repairing pipe work in the cellar.

After about four hours of work at the top of his ladder, Martindale became aware of a musical sound, resembling a series of repeated single trumpet-like notes. The sound grew in intensity until, just below his ladder, Martindale reported that he saw a soldier, wearing a plumed helmet, emerge from the wall, followed by a cart horse and about nine or ten pairs of other Roman soldiers. Martindale fell, terrified, from his ladder and stumbled into a corner to hide.

The soldiers appeared to be armed legionaries, visible only from the knees up, in a marching formation, but were "scruffy". They were distinctive in three ways: they carried round shields on their left arms, they carried some kind of daggers in scabbards on their right side and they wore green tunics. When they descended to the level of the Roman road, on which Martindale had stood his ladder, he was able to see that they wore open sandals with leather straps to the knees.

The experience so frightened Martindale that he told no one, but did write down all the details of what he saw that day.

Twenty years passed and Harry still maintained a stubborn silence over what he had seen that day. He then read an article in a local newspaper about two other people who had shared similar experiences at the very same spot in the cellar. He finally decided it was time to reveal what he had seen.

Harry spoke of the soldiers’ appearance, each wearing shabby green kilted skirts that appeared roughly dyed. He had also noted that all the soldiers carried long spears and short swords. They also held round shields, which was uncommon for the Roman army. However, the most curious feature was that all the soldiers appeared to have been chopped off at the knee, the lower half of their legs disappearing into the stone floor.

It was around this time that a group of archaeologists’ had been undertaking some excavation work in the cellar area. They eventually came upon an old Roman road some eighteen inches below the modern floor level. Thus, anyone walking on the old road would have appeared to have been cut off at the knee, which is exactly how the solders’ had appeared to Harry.

By this time Harry had become a police officer, and was seen as an honest upstanding person who would not embellish, in any way, what he had seen that day in the cellar. He was subsequently interviewed by experts in Roman history. He claimed to know little about Roman history, other what he had gleaned from Hollywood epics. Nor was he interested in ghosts or the paranormal. Nonetheless, he swore by his account over what he had seen. He said ‘I never believed in ghosts, but I know what I saw that day’

The experts deliberated on the details Harry had given them. Following a period of research they discovered that auxiliary forces to the Roman army had been based in York towards the end of the Roman occupation. Furthermore, they would have worn green kilted skirts and carried round shields rather than the common rectangular ones more commonly associated with Roman legions.