Ghostly Happenings

The Haunting of John William Nevison

The Newgate Coffee bar has occupied this building since 2010. When the owner came to view the property he found the cupboard door at the top of the stairs ajar, the cupboard was empty apart from a few old boxes and a small wooden stool. Thinking nothing of this the owner turned his back on the cupboard whereupon it slammed shut sealing itself at the top. Since then, no attempt has been made to open this cupboard. Several of our staff have sworn when walking up the flight of stairs behind you they could see movement from the gap at the bottom of the cupboard door. Customers & staff have commented on feeling dizzy and uneasy when passing this door.

 

The research below was carried out by the owner in an attempt to find an explanation to this and other unexplained happenings.

 

John Nevison (1639 – 4 May 1684), also known as William Nevison, was one of Britain's most notorious highwaymen, a gentleman-rogue supposedly nicknamed Swift Nick by King Charles II after a renowned 200-mile (320 km) dash from Kent to York to escape from a robbery he had committed earlier that day. The famous ride from Kent to York took place early one summer's morning in 1684, after Nevison had robbed a sailor at Gad's Hill, near Rochester, Kent who recognised him. Nevison escaped, using a ferry to cross the Thames at Tilbury, and then galloping via Chelmsford, Cambridge and Huntingdon to York (some 200 miles (300 km) from the scene of the crime), where he arrived at sunset at this buildingocupied by his long standing friend and confidante, where he was given shelter and a place to hide fromthe constabulary. This cupboard was to be his hide out out until his eventual arrest early the next morning. Nevison was tried for robbery & the murder of Darcy Fletcher, a constable who had tried to arrest him earlier that year. Nevison was hanged at York Castle in May 1684 and buried in an unmarked grave in St Mary's church, Castlegate.

 

The photograph on the left shows a vague figure looking out from the window on the first floor, this picture was taken at approx 7pm we had been closed for over an hour no staff was in the building.