Situated in the English county of Kent is the ancient city of Canterbury, its Cathedral is one of the country’s oldest and most famous Christian buildings; within the precincts of this giant gothic structure resides King’s School, from its center there leads a long narrow vaulted passageway paved with flagstones that connects with the cloisters, crypt, and the inner sanctum of the Cathedral. Known as the Dark Entry it has become a place of dread after an occurrence that happened during the reign of King Henry VIII.
At that time there lived a priest with the rank of Canon; responsible for the administration of the Cathedral. Canon John was a portly man who employed a young woman by the name of Nell, known for her good looks she turned many a head when passing through the Cathedral precincts, drawing comments that no man of the cloth was in need of such a pretty housekeeper. Nell’s fame was gained in the kitchen, from where she provided the Canon with consistently delicious meals which were praised by all who were fortunate enough to be a guest at the Canon’s table. Nell; gainfully employed in work that she enjoyed, had over the course of time developed considerable affection towards Canon John.
One Sunday eve Nell’s peace and tranquility was disrupted when a horse-drawn coach arrived outside the house, from which alighted an attractive but brash young lady; greeted enthusiastically by the Canon, exclaiming it was his niece, who in turn addressed him as her loving uncle, explaining that her father, away on business in foreign lands, requested that he provide her with shelter until his return. Canon John, with a grin from ear to ear, kissed the Lady full upon her ruby lips and welcomed her, declaring that it was his Christian duty to look after his niece during her father’s absence. Nell had watched this show of affection with more than a jaundiced view, and it came into her mind that their relationship was more of another kind, and a lot less to do with kin!
From the time the Lady arrived, sumptuous meals and copious amounts of wine were consumed each night followed by much singing and dancing, the Lady was an accomplished player of both the harpsichord and the lute, and sang with a dulcet tone, but the songs were those heard in a tavern, containing crude and lewd lyrics, the singing of which Nell strongly disapproved of as behavior not befitting a man of God. The Canon’s affection towards his “Niece” aroused a jealousy in Nell who had already grown to suspect that the Lady was not whom she pretended to be. Her distrust was heightened further as the Lady’s bed did not appear to have been slept in since her arrival. One night Nell crept to the door of the Canon’s bed chamber, and looking through the keyhole, she beheld the Lady and Canon John within; her suspicions were confirmed and what she saw did not amuse her. Nell did not handle the discovery well, and in a jealous rage plotted her revenge. The next day she prepared one of the Canon’s favorite dishes; pears poached in wine, flavored with cinnamon, brown sugar; ginger and cloves, covered in a pastry made from flour mixed with saffron and baked in an oven, but this time Nell added another ingredient of her own making.
At the break of dawn the matins bell chimed calling the faithful to Morning Prayer, the Canon was noted by his absence, arousing concern among some members of the clergy they went in search, eventually arriving at the Canon’s house to find Nell busy in the kitchen, whom when asked about the Canon denied all knowledge of his whereabouts. They forced open the Canon’s locked bedroom door, whereupon their eyes fell in horror upon the lifeless bodies of Canon John and the Lady laying together; both as cold as ice, the meal had worked its deadly deed. Terrified at the prospect of the scandal that would erupt if their discovery became known they moved quickly to erase the evidence. At the midnight hour a death knell was rung and a requiem sung for a sinful soul, stones were lifted in the Cathedral and a grave was dug within the nave, and there the Canon and his Lady were laid to rest side by side.
Some 20-minute walk from the Canon’s house is St. Martin’s, the oldest existing church in the entire English-speaking world; it has remained in use until this day since its founding in the year 580. As is common with Anglican churches throughout Britain, ancient yew trees grow within its graveyard; a tradition that goes back to pagan times, broken parts of the yew that fall to the ground take root and sprout again; thus becoming a symbol of death, rebirth, and therefore immortality. Known for its longevity, this conifer is also highly poisonous, containing a lethal toxin known as taxine; ingestion of its seeds causes death within a few hours; a fact well known to Nell, given her knowledge of plants and their properties, and gifted in the use of herbs and spices, Nell would have been capable of masking their bitter taste.
The day the Canon was found Nell disappeared, never to be seen or heard of again; when people asked the clergy about her, they denied all knowledge as to what had become of her.After more than a century passed, then in 1642, the Cathedral’s Dean summoned three workers to repair a loose flagstone deep within the Dark Entry passageway where neither sunshine nor moonlight reached. Upon lifting the heavy stone, the stonemasons beheld a gruesome sight, a female skeleton huddled in the corner of a deep pit beneath the stone, beside which was an empty plate and a water pitcher; Nell had been buried alive as punishment for her crime, left with some of the lethal meal to hasten her inevitable end.
Upon making their grisly find, within one year all three stonemasons were dead, two being convicted of the murder of the third and they were subsequently hanged; the Dean who was also present at the time died the following year. After these deaths in 1643, the legend of Nell began; her ghost haunts the passageway and appears after the sun sets on a Friday; the same day the deadly punishment had been carried out upon her, when the cathedral precincts had settled into darkness. Many others who upon having seen Nell’s ghost have perished within a year; the tale has endured; local superstition prevails, people remain extremely hesitant about walking through the Dark Entry late on a Friday night in order not to tempt fate.
“Since those masons three who unwittingly set Nell’s unquiet spirit free,
Some have died upon a hangman’s tree,
While others no matter who, whatever condition, age, or sex,
Some get shot and some are drowned, and some get broken necks.
But one thing's clear, that all the year on every Friday night,
Throughout that Entry Dark doth roam Nell’s sprite.
Nell’s breath is deadly cold,
Delivering quivering, shivering shocks upon both young and old,
Whosoever in that Entry Dark, who sees and feels that fatal breath,
Shall ever die within the year of some dire untimely death!”