What happened
In 1953 the 18-year-old apprentice plumber Harry Martindale was installing new pipes in the cellar of the Treasurer's House – a historic house by York Minster owned by the National Trust. After several hours on his ladder he heard a trumpet-like sound that grew louder. A soldier in a plumed helmet came out of the wall, followed by a cart horse and then about ten pairs of Roman soldiers in green tunics, with round shields and weapons in scabbards at their right sides. They walked out of step, “scruffy” and weary, and were visible only from the knees up – as if wading through the floor. Only where a trench had been dug down to the level of the old road did Martindale see their strapped sandals. The terrified boy fell off the ladder and hid in a corner, and it was weeks before he returned to work.
Witnesses
Harry Martindale, apprentice plumber; the same or similar soldiers were later said to have been seen by other people working in the house.
Explanations and hypotheses
The Treasurer's House stands on the line of one of the main Roman roads leading north out of Eboracum, and the old road surface lies roughly knee-deep below the present floor. Supporters of the case stress that Martindale described details of equipment (round shields) that fit late Roman auxiliary troops rather than the popular image of a legionary. Skeptics note that the account was recorded years after the event and that the course of the Roman road in York was well publicized. Martindale told the story the same way all his life and never took money for it.
Unexplained There is no convincing explanation.
Sources
- National Trust – Ghosts of Treasurer's House
- Melvyn Willin, Psi Encyclopedia (Society for Psychical Research) – Haunted York
- John Mitchell, Ghosts of an Ancient City (1996)
More: Wikipedia (en)