The Staring Woman.

A farmhouse which dates back to the fourteenth century is said to be haunted by the ghost of a woman who has been seen staring out of one of the upper floor windows. Graham Gibbons of 49 Merebrook road, Weston Estate, Macclesfield had a terryfing experience when he was working on the Calder Development site which is opposite Bollington Hall farm when he says he saw a woman’s face peering out at him from one of the tiny bedroom windows, yet the farmhouse is totally deserted and securely locked up. ” I was absolutely terrified. It was a really frightening experience and the hair literally stood up on the back of my neck,” he confessed. “Of course I ran and told the foreman and he went round with three of the lads, but they couldn’t find one window or door open. The place was and still is well locked up. As far as I can see no one could have got in or out.”

X marks the window where the face was seen.

Mr Frank Higginbotham the foreman on the site said,”Graham came into me and his face was chalk white, he looked terrible. He told us what had happened so we had a look around but we found nothing.”

Graham said,” the woman looked thinnish and around middle-aged, possibly in her fifties I’d say, as I glanced up at the window, she seemed to draw back and disappear into the darkness.” Graham’s nephew, John Gibbons, of 55 Ovenhouse lane, Bollington, is sure his Uncle was telling the truth. He also works on the site and says Graham was really scared, “He just came in and told us all he had just seen a ghost in the bedroom window, nearest the toilet. “We told the people in the grocers, over the road and they just laughed. They thought we were pulling their leg.”

Mrs Joan Hough, manageress of the Spar grocery shop in Wellington road, said she thought it was just a joke. “This fellow  came in from the site and said one of his mates had seen something and that all his hair was stood up on the back of his neck.” “Mind you it is supposed to be the oldest building in Bollington.”

The farmhouse  stands back from the road and looks bleak, desolate and very spooky and this 14th century house is up for sale. Whether or not it does contain some dark and mysterious secret and whether Graham Gibbons did see something staring down at him from that empty bedroom window, no one will ever no for sure. But one thing is certain Bollington hall farm and the Staring Woman have become one of the many ghostly legends which can be found in the county Cheshire.