'Bizarre events in an old chapel'
Dating back to the 1200's this museum stands on the same site as the Blackfriars monastry ruins on Widemarsh Street. The Coningsby museum and chapel is an historic building that has a beautiful garden to the back of it, in the garden standing in front of the monastery ruins is a stone preaching cross; this rare cross is one of the last surviving examples in the country of such a cross and is all that is left of the Black Friars.
The haunted coningsby museum was originally commonly known as 'red coat hospital' and it is believed that Nell Gwyn knew Coningsby hospital and its inmates very well so she persuaded her lover Charles II to found a similar hospital in Chelsea with the same uniforms and to create the Chelsea pensioners. The founder of the building was Sir Thomas Coningsby of the great Hampton Court, Herefordshire. Sir Thomas took over the site in 1614, previously the site of Coningsby hospital was occupied by the house of Knights of St .John of Jerusalem and parts of the hall and the chapel date from this era which was the 13th century. Sir Thomas built many almshouses in Hereford, he built twelve cottages at Coningsby and in construction he used part of the old stone structure and he used part of the adjacent Blackfriars abbey. The building that Sir Thomas established was achieving, the hospital was intended as a refuge for eleven tired and worn out men that were soldiers or seamen and the twelfth cottage would have been the lodgings of the rank corporal, he was in charge of all the pensioners, however he did not always do his job properly and carry out his duties, the men were not receiving their pay on time and they were not receiving their food, after this was discovered the commander took the hospital into his own hands, he made sure that the hospital ran efficiently .
Thomas was a religious man and he done this kind gesture as he believed that it was for his own protection and all in the honour of god. The eleven men were known as the Coningsby Servitors and the men were greatly cared for and looked after well, they were fed and clothed and were even given a generous weekly allowance every Monday morning after prayers and hymns took place at the chaplain. The men had a strict code of conduct to abide by, the twelve rules were hung up in the chapel and consisted of various rules, one rule was that if any of the men were found drunk, rude or swearing then they would be ordered immediately to forfeit out there weekly pay, if they broke another rule then they would be expelled from Coningsby hospital. The men were also required to wear a uniform which consisted of hat with a red and white border, a ginger Aston suit, a military style jerkin, a Monaco or Spanish style cap and a sword, all of this uniform was followed by a red gown that reached the men’s ankles. In 1536 the Coningsby hospital was passed into the hands of Sir Thomas’s wife Philippa and then Coningsby was passed to Sir John, around this time the religious house was fallen into a bad state of repair following Henry VIII dissolution of the monasteries.
A few supernatural occurrences have happened at the Coningsby Musuem, one vicar of the chapel claimed that puddles of water would mysteriously appear on the floor of the chapel and on many times loud bangs would be heard on the walls, footsteps have also been heard. Coningsby is used as a museum today, the museum was the old dining hall, in the museum there are many artefacts and more about the history of the building, there is even a tomb in the museum which contains the body of one of the friars, his remains were discovered after the excavations. There is a skeleton to view under the floor and many mementos of the Order of St. John; there is armour on show that was from the Middle East. Today some pensioners still live at Coningsby and are allowed to wear their uniforms on special occasions. The chapel remains,it originally had a 13th century coffin lid on show and there is a 17th chair that was once used by the queen when she made a visit to Hereford Cathedral fot the Maundry Service in 1976.
The chapel is also still in use as a place of worsip. The monastery ruins are to the back of the museum and are truly in a good condition, the Coningsby Musuem and the Black Friars Monastery ruins are definitely a must see for anybody, the ruins of the monastery are also believed to be haunted as on a few occasions monks have been seen walking around this area and on the gardens, the monks have been seen with their heads down and hoods up by locals and tourists that have visited the ruins on various occasions.
Below is the ruins of Blackfriars Monastery ruins.
