I’ve stayed in some pretty strange places over the years, but none quite as spooky as The Chapel in Finstall, a village near Bromsgrove in Worcestershire.
With arched windows, coffin-shaped ‘wall art’ and graveyard views, the 17th-century chapel and former funeral home is the perfect bolt hole for Dracula fans.
I cross myself as I step over tombstones and through the solid oak door, the ghostly chant of Gregorian monks echoing through the bare brick halls.
Too scared to stay there alone, I’ve dragged my friend Rhonda along to protect me from the spirits.
On a 12-acre historic country estate, The Chapel dates back to the ninth century and is mentioned in the Domesday Book.
Next door is The Well House, named after the 40ft-deep well – now in the lounge and with a glass top – where a young Frenchman fell to his death in the 1800s.
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Both properties, together with Crossbrook Farm, a house that sleeps four, set in its own four acres, are holiday lets.
Owners Stuart and Vicky Dudley say the estate is a magnet for the spiritually aware and many guests report walking through cold patches, or seeing shadowy shapes or orbs of light in the properties.
‘We’ve heard strange sounds from upstairs in The Chapel, but look and there’s nothing there,’ says Stuart. ‘You’ll be in here at night and see the shadows move. It’s pretty eerie.’
I was worried that staying in a former funeral home might be a bit naff, all coffins and crucifixes like a Disney House of Horrors, but it’s delightfully authentic.
Spread across three floors, the bedroom downstairs has a beautiful antique bed with a blood-red velvet headboard and those cemetery views, while the huge roll-top bathroom tub sits below an ‘Undertakers Parlour’ sign.
The upstairs lounge is lit by church candles, which illuminate the gargoyles and brass memorial plates for the dead adorning bare-brick walls.
The spookiest décor is in the kitchen, with its ‘family set’ of coffin-shaped 19th-century embalming tables.
While this is a romantic spot for a haunted honeymoon, it’s also a fun place for friends who want to scare themselves silly.
Rhonda and I spend the weekend happily drinking wine and watching horror films. One night we soak in the wood-fired hot tub made from an old sherry barrel and listen to hooting owls beneath the stars.
There’s a clutch of village bars and restaurants in Aston Fields a 20-minute walk away, while the historic Monarch’s Way country trail, and Tardebigge Flight, the UK’s longest flight of canal locks, are within a mile.
I was surprised by the chapel’s warm, comfortable peace and while I yearned for proof of an after-life, I wasn’t disappointed with my quiet, uneventful night’s sleep. But that could have been the wine…
Rural Retreats offers three-night breaks at The Chapel in Finstall from £592.
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