Mother Barnes

The Midwife’s Burden

Mother Barnes stands as one of history’s most tragic witnesses to unspeakable evil, her spirit forever bound to Littlecote House by the horror she was forced to witness on that cursed autumn night in 1575. A respected midwife from the village of Great Shefford, she had built her reputation through years of safely delivering babies throughout the Berkshire countryside, earning the trust of families both humble and noble.

The cottage where Mother Barnes lived still stands in Great Shefford, its thatched roof and ancient timbers bearing witness to a simpler life that would be forever shattered by her encounter with Wild Darrell. As a midwife in Tudor England, she occupied a unique position in society—trusted with the most intimate family secrets, skilled in herbs and healing, and considered essential to the continuation of noble bloodlines.

The Fateful Summons

On the night that would damn her soul to eternal unrest, Mother Barnes was roused from sleep by urgent pounding at her cottage door. A masked horseman waited outside, his fine clothes and confident bearing marking him as a servant of nobility. The offer he presented was extraordinary—a purse heavy with gold coins, more money than she could earn in several years, in exchange for her immediate assistance at a difficult birth.

The conditions, however, were deeply unsettling. She must come at once, ask no questions, speak to no one, and submit to being blindfolded for the entire journey. The money was so generous that it could secure her family’s future, yet something in the horseman’s manner sent chills through her bones. Perhaps sensing the dark forces at work, she hesitated before accepting—a hesitation that would haunt her for the rest of her mortal life.

The Journey to Damnation

Blindfolded and bundled into a carriage, Mother Barnes was carried through the darkness of the Berkshire countryside. The journey seemed endless, with the carriage wheels crunching over gravel drives and cobbled courtyards. When the carriage finally stopped, she could hear the sounds of a great house—servants’ footsteps, horses stamping in stables, and the distant murmur of voices that spoke of wealth and power.

Led carefully up broad stone steps, Mother Barnes felt the change in atmosphere as she entered Littlecote House. Even blindfolded, she could sense the grandeur surrounding her—the rustle of rich tapestries, the echo of high ceilings, and the scent of expensive candles and polished wood. The very air seemed heavy with secrets and centuries of accumulated sin.

The Chamber of Horrors

When her blindfold was finally removed, Mother Barnes found herself in a birthing chamber that surpassed anything in her experience. Lit by dozens of candles in silver sconces, the room was draped with silk hangings and furnished with carved oak that spoke of immense wealth. The bed, hung with the finest linens, dominated the chamber, and beside it waited the expectant mother, her face concealed behind an elaborate mask.

The masked man who had summoned her—clearly the master of the house—spoke in cultured tones that barely concealed an underlying menace. His instructions were simple but ominous: save the mother’s life at all costs, and ask no questions about what might follow. Something in his voice made Mother Barnes’s blood run cold, but she was already trapped within the web of secrecy that surrounded this clandestine birth.

Witnessing the Unthinkable

The birth proceeded normally, Mother Barnes’s skilled hands guiding the infant safely into the world. For a brief, joyous moment, the baby’s healthy cries filled the chamber, and the midwife felt the familiar satisfaction of a successful delivery. The child was perfect—a beautiful boy whose only crime was to be born at the wrong time to the wrong parents.

What happened next would scar Mother Barnes’s soul for eternity. Wild Darrell seized the innocent infant from her arms and strode to the great fireplace where logs blazed against the autumn chill. Without hesitation or mercy, he cast the newborn into the flames and held it there with his boot until its cries ceased forever.

The midwife watched in paralysed horror as this monstrous act unfolded. The dancing shadows cast by the firelight seemed to recoil from the scene, and the very air grew cold despite the roaring fire. In that moment, Mother Barnes witnessed not just murder, but an act so evil that it seemed to tear at the fabric of reality itself.

The Weight of Enforced Silence

Darrell’s threats of death if she ever spoke of what she had witnessed were delivered with such cold certainty that Mother Barnes never doubted he would carry them out. However, even in her terror, she retained enough presence of mind to tear a small piece of cloth from the bed curtains as evidence. As she was blindfolded once more and led from the house, she carefully counted each step and noted distinctive sounds that might later help identify the location.

The journey back to Great Shefford passed in a blur of shock and disbelief. When Mother Barnes finally reached the safety of her own cottage, she collapsed into prayers and tears, the horrific images burned forever into her memory. The heavy purse of gold felt like blood money, its weight a constant reminder of her enforced complicity in infanticide.

Years of Torment

For years, Mother Barnes carried the burden of her terrible secret. The guilt of her silence weighed upon her soul like a millstone, whilst nightmares of that awful night haunted her sleep. She continued her work as a midwife, but each birth she attended reminded her of the innocent child she had been powerless to save.

The piece of torn curtain became her most precious and most cursed possession—evidence of a crime she dared not report, yet could not forget. Local records suggest that Mother Barnes became increasingly withdrawn and troubled during these years, her once-cheerful demeanour replaced by a haunted sadness that neighbours attributed to the hardships of her profession.

Breaking the Silence

Eventually, the weight of her secret became unbearable. Years after the infanticide, Mother Barnes found the courage to break her silence, revealing the truth about Wild Darrell’s monstrous crime. Her testimony, given with the cloth fragment as evidence, contributed to the accusations that would eventually surround Darrell, though divine justice would claim him before earthly courts could act.

The revelation brought Mother Barnes little peace. Having finally spoken the truth, she seemed to waste away, as if the effort of carrying her secret for so long had drained her life force. She died shortly after giving her testimony, locals said, of a broken heart and a tormented soul.

The Eternal Haunting

Death, however, brought Mother Barnes no rest. Her spirit, traumatised by what she had witnessed and tormented by years of enforced silence, remains bound to Littlecote House. She appears most frequently as a shadowy figure walking across the lawns in the early morning hours, her form hunched with grief and her hands clasped as if holding something precious.

Guests staying in the historic bedrooms often report seeing her sitting in corners, rocking back and forth as if cradling an invisible infant. The motion is heartbreakingly gentle, and witnesses describe feeling overwhelmed by waves of maternal sorrow and desperate protectiveness. Some have reported hearing her humming lullabies in the dead of night, the melody drifting through empty corridors like an echo from beyond the grave.

Séances and Supernatural Contact

Paranormal investigators conducting séances in the most haunted bedroom have repeatedly made contact with Mother Barnes’s spirit. During these sessions, witnesses report seeing her materialise in the corner of the room, her form becoming clearer as she rocks an invisible child whilst dark shapes move around the chamber. The temperature drops dramatically during these manifestations, though strangely, electronic equipment often fails to register the extreme cold.

Through these supernatural communications, Mother Barnes’s spirit has conveyed her eternal anguish and her desperate desire to protect the innocent. Her presence seems particularly strong around children visiting the hotel, with staff reporting that she appears to watch over young guests with fierce protectiveness, as if determined to prevent any harm from befalling another child.

A Guardian Spirit Born of Trauma

Whilst the circumstances of her haunting are tragic, Mother Barnes has evolved into something of a guardian spirit at Littlecote House. Her presence, though born of trauma, now serves to protect rather than frighten. Staff members speak of feeling watched over during night shifts, and several have reported encounters with a motherly presence that seems to offer comfort during difficult times.

The transformation of Mother Barnes from traumatised witness to protective spirit speaks to the redemptive power of truth and the strength of the maternal instinct that transcends even death. At Littlecote House, her eternal vigil serves as a reminder that some crimes are so terrible they create ripples through time itself, whilst the love of a mother—even one who never bore children of her own—can endure beyond the grave to offer protection to the innocent.