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Old
Pamp and the Slippers of Papillon Hall.
Article and photo by David Allen
Papillon Hall stands to the west of Market Harborough, Leicestershire,
England between the villages of Lubenham & Theddingworth.
David Papillon of French Huguenot decent built the hall in
1622-24 on the site once occupied by a “Lazar-House” in connection
with Leicester Abbey. In the grounds was a holy well known
as St Mary’s Well or by others as The “Everlasting well”.
In 1629 David Papillon was appointed by King Charles 1st to
superintend the redemption and sale of the crown jewels that
had previously been pawned in Holland in order to satisfy
a debt incurred to support the Kings sister, the Queen of
Bohemia. In 1691 David Papillon 2nd Was born. This was the
great grandson of the Halls founder and where this story seems
to begin.
Little is documented about This David and it seems he lived
a very secluded life until his marriage to Mary Keyser. However
local stories at the time ran riot about the man known to
them as “Pamp” deeply feared by local people, he was said
to have strange hypnotic powers with an ability to “Fix” people,
in effect causing a form of temporary paralysis with a single
glance. There were also rumours of drunkenness and debauchery
and the presence of a Spanish mistress kept locked away at
the hall. The women often seen by locals walking around the
grounds vanished without trace in or around 1715.
David Papillon eventually left the hall sometime after 1717
following his marriage to his wife Mary and moved to Acrise
in Kent. However he left strict instructions that certain
objects should under no circumstances leave the hall. Following
David Papillons rather hurried departure from the hall in
1717 he left behind certain items which he forbid to leave
the hall or be sent on to him in Kent. One was the portrait
of him that had been painted in 1715 by an unknown artist
and other items including a pair of slippers. Although not
confirmed, it is thought they were the property of David’s
mistress who had previously disappeared in 1715. It was also
reported by one of Papillons staff that he had heard his master
speak of a curse on “these Dammed slippers”.
Over the years the hall was sold on to various people but
always with the condition these objects remain within the
house. In 1866 Lord Hopetoun acquired the hall. Which until
now had remained seemingly untroubled. However soon afterwards
family and staff heard strange knocking, bangs and voices.
On one occasion it became so violent that the halls entire
staff gathered in the lobby with family members as the sound
of wailing and furniture being thrown and slammed echoed from
the drawing room. When enough courage was finally raised the
door was opened but not a single item had been moved. After
enquiries were made to the Rector of Lubenham it followed
that the halls previous owner, the Bosworth family had bequeathed
the houses contents to their daughter, including the slippers
& portrait. After tracing the beneficiary to nearby Leicester
the items were returned to the hall and the disturbance stopped.
Again the house changed hands, this time to Thomas Halford.
Undaunted by stories of curses and haunting Halford loaned
the slippers to the Paris Exhibition. Again violent disturbances
flared almost immediately. Unable to redeem the shoes until
the end of the exhibition, a whole year, the entire Hall was
vacated for the duration of their absence. Unable to cope
with the constant occurrences, Halford sold the house in 1884
to CW Walker.
Aware of the stories concerning the Papillon articles Walker
commissioned a fireproof safe embedded within the wall for
the safe keeping of the slippers. Again all fell quiet. Walker
lived peacefully at the hall for 19 years until the house
was sold yet again to Captain Frank Bellville in 1903.
Almost immediately after moving to Papillon hall, Belville
commissioned alterations by the world-renowned architect Sir
Edward Lutyens. Work began that year with the slippers being
sent to the family solicitor for safekeeping. With work underway
a series of accidents began to occur with one builder being
killed by falling masonry. The company declined the rest of
the work and a new work force was found. Shortly afterwards
Belville was travelling to Market Harborough by horse and
trap. The horse for no apparent reason bolted throwing the
couple from the trap. His wife was unhurt but Belville sustained
a fractured skull. A few days later the hall's stables were
struck by lighting killing one of Belvilles polo ponies. Once
more the slippers returned. Belville apparently distraught
locked away the slippers and threw the key into the halls
ornamental pond. Belville also wrote of being disturbed by
Papillons portrait, also commented on by previous owners as
creating great unease and emitting an Evil and hypnotic stare.
(We recently uncovered a stone marker within the undergrowth
at the hall dedicated to “Jumbo” the pony. A small poem is
also inscribed.)
The hall remained in the Belville family for around 37 years
until being requisitioned by the government in around 1940
and subsequently occupied by members of the US Forces, in
particular the 82nd Airborne Div, who eventually stumbled
upon the slippers. Breaking open the safe the slippers once
again left the hall. This time as souvenirs. Although the
fate of the particular airmen is unknown, the slippers eventually
some how returned to the hall. Unable to find a new occupier
after the war, the main part of the hall was demolished in
1950.
This shows
3 of the many US service men of the 82nd Airborne Div who
were stationed at the hall during WW2. The picture shows them
standing outside the hall next to the ornamental pond. This
picture was taken just prior to there departure to operation
Market Garden. The one in the middle is a Captain Sartain
who survived the war and went on to become a judge in Baton
Rouge Louisiana.
The slippers,
however were claimed by none other than a Papillon descendent,
at the time living in Colchester. David Papillon retained
these things until his own death during the 1970s.
Growing up in the area, I was always fascinated by the stories
surrounding Papillon Hall but always assumed that’s all they
were, stories. That was until I came across some old newspaper
cuttings at our local library relating to the Hall and the
haunting. This was around 13 years ago (1988). It was at this
point I decided to take a closer look. Although I had lived
only 3 miles from the site of the hall since I was a child
I had never been onto the land. Like many youngsters we had
a tendency to steer clear, remembering the stories of Papillon
or old Pamp. I guess children the world over wind each other
up with ghost stories. Although the majority of the Hall had
been demolished in 1950, a substantial amount still remains.
I was surprised at what was still standing including……… the
complete stable block and part of the courtyard. A wall running
for the entire length of the rear garden including a rather
run down summer house, The ornamental pond where it was said
Captain Frank Belville had thrown the keys to the slippers
safe, the remains of St Mary’s well and in the middle of the
field where the main part of the house once stood a gaping
hole approx 5 feet in diameter. We cleared away some brambles
and were astonished to see the remains of wrought iron wine
racks still in their original place. The hall's wine cellar.
After this visit we were asked by BBC Radio if we would arrange
for an interview with the current owners and farmers of the
land. The Hughes family agreed. Although they had only moved
to the site after the hall was demolished they now occupy
a converted barn that was adjacent to the hall. From the early
days during the late 1950s the whole family admitted to the
feeling of a presence, both inside the property and out on
the land. One of Mrs Hughe's sons was quite serious when he
told of the feeling of unease and to being watched while out
working in the fields, even on hot sunny days. They also spoke
of loud noises and peculiar things occurring around the stable
block. At this point they mentioned they were seriously considering
demolishing what was remaining. However this has never happened.
After recording the interview inside the house, The BBC reporter
and myself went outside to examine the stables. At this point
we recorded further parts of the interview. However upon winding
back the tape the whole side of tape had somehow wiped itself
forcing us to re-record large sections. One week later when
this interview was finally broadcast several people including
myself could hear a child crying in the background. No explanation
for this has ever been forthcoming. Intrigued, we decided
to dig deeper.
Our next step was to see if we could track down any Papillon
family still living and find the slippers and portrait. After
weeks of work we managed to trace David Papillon, a direct
descendant to the town of Colchester. Sadly he had died a
few years earlier. However, all his property pertaining to
the hall had been left to The Leicestershire museum trust.
A week later we had contacted the archivist at the museum
and arranged a meeting to view the slippers. Yes they really
DO exist. The meeting was scheduled for 2:00pm. Almost an
hour late the keeper arrived in a rather shaken state. On
her way to meet us she had been followed and attacked by a
dog. Although bitten, it wasn’t a serious wound. None the
less it had severely shaken her up. Half an hour later I was
holding the slippers in my hand. An amazing moment if not
a little nervous. We also had reams of paper work to look
at relating to the hall, it’s contents and personal accounts
of those living and working there. One rather strange letter
concerned the movement of the slippers from their last home
in Colchester to the museum. A journey that should have taken
around 3 hours had taken double that time with the driver
arriving in a confused state unaware of the missing hours.
Through these documents I was also able to trace George Atherton
(Butler to Captain Belville 1935-38). Although very frail
and in poor health he vividly remembers bizarre and un-explained
phenomena at the hall. In particular the story of violent
poltergeist type activity on varying occasions. I have no
reason to disbelieve the testimony of this man who was adamant
that what he experienced was REAL and terrifying.
The Slippers of Papillon Hall
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