Windhouse

Shetlopedia - The Shetland Encyclopaedia that anyone can edit

Shetland's most famous 'haunted house', Windhouse is a Category C listed building located on a hillside in Mid Yell. It was first built in the 1600's on a site higher up the hill, then it was moved in 1707 to the current site which is believed to be on an ancient burial ground. It was rebuilt in 1880. The house has been derelict since the 1920's.

The Windhouse in Mid Yell

In 2003, Windhouse was purchased by a Cheshire couple. Andrew Taylor and Caron Reeves planned to restore the castellated property and make it their home.

There are many stories about Windhouse, including:

The 'Lady in Silk': This is the ghost of a housekeeper, who is said to have broken her neck when falling down the stairs of the lodge. She is seen walking three times round in a circle at the top of the stairs, she sighs and then disappears. The rustling from her dress and petticoats gave her the name 'Lady in silk'. A woman's skeleton was discovered under the floorboards of the main stairs during renovations in 1880. The skeleton is believed to belong to the Lady in Silk.

Every Christmas Eve, the residents of Windhouse would vacate the house and not return until after sunrise the following day. They believed that anyone spending Christmas Eve in the house would be dead before morning. One year a sailor was shipwrecked on Christmas Eve and he made his way to Windhouse for shelter. He arrived to find the residents packing to leave for the night. Despite the owners pleading with the sailor to leave with them, he decided to spend the night and confront the terrors instead. After midnight a loud noise was heard and a creature arrived at the Windhouse door. The sailor opened the door and attacked it with his sword and axe. The sailor then chased the creature towards the sea, felling it with his axe. He returned to Windhouse and survived through the night.

A man in a top hat and a long black coat is seen to wander the house. In 1887 the skeleton of a large man was discovered in the building walls. No evidence of a coffin was found, so it's believed to be the result of a murder. It is thought that the ghost in the top hat, could be the ghost of this skeleton.

Microfilm from 1887 shows the following report. Human Remains Found.-- While some workmen, who are engaged repairing the manor house of Windhouse, were removing some debris from the back of the house, they came upon the skeleton of a human being. It had apparently been that of a man of large stature, as the bones measured fully six feet long. It was lying in the position it had been put down, the arms folded over the breast. It was only a small distance under the ground and there was no evidence of their ever being a coffin, which gave rise to an opinion that it had been a murder; but if it has it is not in the memory of any of the inhabitants nor does any remember any person ever being missed. (Source: [Ghostweather.com]