The Ghosts of the Roman Legionnaires

The Treasurer’s House located in York, North Yorkshire, England is considered to be a very haunted structure. Today, England’s National Trust owns this stately home. 

In medieval times it was the home of the treasurers of York Minster. The home’s cellars show an even more ancient history than this for what was once the main Roman road in the area runs right under it. 

One eyewitness account that states the ghosts of Roman Legionnaire soldiers were seen has made this house a curiosity.

In the ancient city of York, 2000 years ago there stood a Roman Fort. Twenty-five thousand Roman troops occupied the area for over 400 years. The Treasurer’s house sits on the land that once was the center of where this fort was located. 

In the 1990s a plumber by the name of Harry Martindale was called in by the National Trust to run a new set of water pipes. In the area of the cellar that he worked was a part of the main Roman cobbled road had been unearthed.

Martindale was on a ladder making a deep hole into the cellar ceiling when to his surprise he saw a man in a Roman uniform on a horse come right through the wall and then at least 20 soldiers on foot marching two by two followed. 

This procession filed right past him and then disappeared through the opposite wall. Frozen with fear Martindale was still able to give an in-depth description of what these men wore and carried.

His account is compelling because like many witnesses to ghostly sightings he was not familiar with the history or even that these men were Roman legionnaires. But he was able to give very specific details about their uniforms and armaments even though he had no prior knowledge of these items. 

Experts later confirmed that the details he recounted were very accurate.