THE DE'VERE POOL
Garrie Hall

	Many houses in Britain boast a ghost or even a 
	poltergeist, and a few harbour more exotic spirits 
	with manifestations that are as bizarre as 
	screaming skulls and pictures that bleed. However, 
	even these pictorial stigmata are put to shame by 
	the manifestation at the de'Vere house in the heart 
	of rural Leicestershire.
	
	The house itself does not command any significant 
	interest, being a classic example of a small but 
	luxurious family dwelling built in the years 
	preceding the Wars of the Roses. It sits in 
	extensive gardens, at the bottom of which is the 
	de'Vere pool. It is this pool which, on several 
	occasions, has changed from water to blood.
	
	The demise of the de'Vere family is as well 
	documented as many events of the period. During the 
	English Civil War, just before the restoration of 
	the monarchy a small band of common foot-soldiers in 
	the service of the Roundhead army deserted. They ran 
	amok, raping and pillaging throughout the countryside.
	
	Charles de'Vere had been left a cripple after the 
	Battle of Marston Moor and could do little to 
	protect his wife and daughter from the marauders. 
	The family were slaughtered and their bodies 
	thrown into the pool.
	
	It is said locally that on every 100th anniversary 
	the pond fills with blood in remembrance. However, 
	it has been recorded that the manifestation is 
	sporadic in nature, rather than a regular, 
	repetitive haunting.
	BRITAIN'S HAUNTED HERITAGE, A C Toone, 1899

Possibilities
1       The pool is haunted by the tormented soul of Charles de'Vere. 
A lesser known manifestation is that each time the water turns to 
blood, the portrait of Charles de'Vere hanging in the hall cries real 
tears.

2       The soil beneath the pool is on a clay base and occasional 
natural movement of the earth's crust brings the clay to the surface, 
staining the water red.

3       Deep below the de'Vere house a nest of the Cthonians festers 
and seethes. It is their burrowing and worming which disturbs the soil 
beneath the pool.

Copyright (c) 1990 Garrie Hall