Haunted Ontario 3. Terry Boyle

it was the caretaker for the village. They had seen him nearby, walking alone, just prior to their entering the building.”

      This was not the case.

      “Much to the surprise of the couple, the caretaker walked in the front door of the manse while they were still standing in the kitchen — [he was] listening to the footsteps on the floor above. The couple asked the caretaker who was walking around upstairs since they had thought it was him. He said the second floor was closed to the public and was not in use that night and there should be no one upstairs. On further investigation he, in fact, found no one upstairs.”

      As if that wasn’t enough, later that night a tour guide had her own experience with the spirits of the Manse house. Catherine explained, “One of the tour guides had finished her speech to her tour group in the manse and after everyone had left the house, she shut the front door and started up the main road with the group. She happened to look back at the building and saw a curtain in the front parlour being pulled back by an unseen hand, as if someone were watching to make sure everyone had finally left the area.”

      Rhona Hastings has visited Black Creek Pioneer Village on several occasions over the past forty years. She states, “I have always been drawn to a few of the houses. I don’t call myself a psychic. I am just a little sensitive to things. I have a strong intuition.

      “The minister’s house I feel has energy. About sixteen years ago I went into this house and, as we all do when we visit the village, I looked around. It was a little unusual that there was no one in the house at the time telling the tale of the house or spinning the wheel as they do. I had a friend with me so I wasn’t alone. We were looking in one of the rooms and turned our heads to the left where there stood an old lady smiling at me. She was very close to me. She was dressed with a long coat and a scarf [babushka] on her head. She stared at me and had a very warm smile. She actually looked like what I might look like as an old woman. My friend and I looked at one another and then looked back to the old woman and she was gone!”

      Despite the apparent benevolence of the older woman who frequents the corridors of the manse, it would seem the reverend does not want you to overstay your welcome. So, as you enter the manse house I would suggest you take note of the time. The good reverend may, indeed, be watching over folks at the village — but it seems he is also keeping time and is happier once you’re gone.

      Roblin’s Mill

      ~ Black Creek Pioneer Village ~

      Canadian poet Al Purdy knew more than most people about the ghostly workers of Roblin’s Mill. This excerpt from his poem, entitled “Roblin’s Mill,” sets the mood of this site:

      The lighting alters...

       and you can see...

       a bald man standing

       sturdily indignant..

       ………

       ………

       In the building men are still working

       thru sunlight and starlight and moonlight

       despite the black holes plunging down

       on their way to the roots of the earth

      Built in 1842, the mill was originally located in Ameliasburg, near Belleville, Ontario.

      Ameliasburg was once named Roblin’s Mill, in honour of Owen Roblin, who had the mill built there.

      Catherine Crow said, “Owen died at ninety-seven years of age, after the turn of the century. Will Roblin, Owen’s grandson, took over ownership of the mill just prior to the First World War. He eventually lost interest in the mill and closed it down. Ameliasburg, without the mill, had a definite decline in commerce.”

      In 1964, the conservation authority acquired the mill and moved it to Black Creek Pioneer Village.

      This five-storey stone building is powered entirely by a large, wooden overshot waterwheel. The mill machinery includes two runs of stones to grind wheat, lotting reels for sifting flour, and elevator belts to move grain and flour.

      Roblin’s Mill, 1842

      Although there is not a sensational example of spirit activity in the building, Black Creek employees have believed for years that the mill is haunted by the “old ones.”

      Catherine alluded to one experience at the mill.

      “Employees at the site have seen the big wheel turning when it has been disconnected for the winter, as if unseen hands were still going about the business of making flour.” Other eerie phenomena and superstitions are also associated with the mill. For example, when pigeons [that roost in the mill’s rafters] are restless and coo incessantly, a change in weather is believed to be on the way.

      Poet Al Purdy may have gotten it right about the ghostly workers when he stated the following:

      Those old ones

       you can hear them

       lost in the fourth dimension

       what happened still happens

       a lump rises in your throat.

      Burwick House

      ~ Black Creek Pioneer Village ~

      All windows should be opened at the moment of death

       so that the soul can leave

      Come. Don’t be afraid. Open the door and enter. Now close the door. Turn around and embrace a world of unexplained occurrences that reach beyond your rational mind. In fact, just take one step beyond the veil of time and space and explore Burwick House at Black Creek Pioneer Village.

      According to Catherine Crow, “The most famous and publicized spirits at Black Creek Village reside here, in Burwick House.”

      The home was built in 1844 in Burwick, Ontario (now Woodbridge). This dwelling, suitable for a country gentleman, is complete with fine furnishings made in Upper Canada and a selection of imports from Britain and the United States. A substantial stable and a landscaped yard and garden, reflect an owner with comfortable circumstances.

      A number of staff members who have worked in the Burwick house have reported many cases of paranormal activity.

      The Burwick House, 1844

      Catherine stated, “Several members have reported unexplained activity, including knocking sounds, moving objects, hearing footsteps and feeling cold spots throughout the house.”

      “One young worker reported looking up from the kitchen table he was sitting at to see the dark shadow of a woman standing in the kitchen doorway. She [the shadow] disappeared shortly after that.”

      Another employee has claimed to have seen the same dark shadow of a woman on the central staircase.

      In June of 2005, authors Maria da Silva and Andrew Hind highlighted the haunting of Burwick House in an article they wrote for Fate Magazine :

      “It was late into the evening by the time Marlee and a co-worker began the short walk back to the administrative building after one of the park’s nighttime events. Marlee found her eyes drawn towards the second floor of the building, where a pale white light illuminated one of the windows.”

      A staff member described the light as flickering, like a candle sputtering on its own wax. That employee thought someone might have forgotten to extinguish an oil lamp and decided to investigate.

      “Pushing open the front door, Marlee and another employee felt an ominous presence that caused Marlee to pause in her steps. Regaining her composure, she began to climb the creaking stairs but her knees grew weaker with each step taken. She reached the landing, exhausted by the short ascent. There was no lamp burning, but Marlee suddenly caught sight of a black figure, a shadow that walked