In the first weekend of March this year I had the amazing opportunity to invite a group of ghost hunters to explore the magnificent BURNIMA HOMSTEAD at Bombala, a small township in south eastern NSW, about 80 kms from Cooma.
It hard to imagine what this township could have been when, at one time, it was considered for the capital of Australia (now at Canberra) as it sits, distance wise, almost perfectly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne.
Bombala was proposed in 1903 by King O'Malley as the site of the parliamentary seat of Australia. It was considered as a location because it was half way between the two cities of Sydney and Melbourne. The proposal was ultimately rejected in favour of Canberra. The town lies on the banks of the Bombala River. (wikipedia)
About 5 minutes before you reach the township is Burnima Homestead which was our destination for an overnight stay and ghost hunt.
I had heard about the homestead from an article I read last year regarding its history and some of the stories about paranormal activities at the homestead,
Burnima was built by Fredrick Young of Queanbeyan following the completion of the Governer-General’s house Yarralumla, for Henry Tollemache Edwards, or HT as Mr Steve Rickett ( the homestead's owner, custodian and tour guide) calls him.
HT’s eldest daughter Miss Edith Edwards, was the last of the family to reside there, and did so in Victorian grandeur up until 1952.
There are 10 bedrooms, formal sitting rooms, dining room, drawing room, smoking and billiard room and servants’ quarters. Around the grounds are examples of early farm machinery, engines, carriages, black smith shop and various out buildings, orchard and fishpond.
With a small army of hired help, Burnima was once a self sufficient mini metropolis on the Monaro. The floor plan reflects the Victorian era, servants used separate doors to tend the family and guests and slept on different levels of the house according to their stature. At least five servants were needed just to keep the house running and it was a full time job to tend the 14 fireplaces, especially when it snowed.
One of the many projects Steve Ricketts, the new owner, has undertaken since he bought Burnima in 2002 is to track down furniture and items sold after Burnima left the family in the 1950s. These precious pieces are intermingled with his own heirloom collection and each room has been completely restored with period pieces, books, clothing, photographs and paintings. One of the most stunning pieces is the gold filigree ceiling at the top of the grand old staircase. (see below)
The gardens surrounding the homestead were once massive but now only a portion remains but is filled with some of the original trees that were planted by the family that original built this Gothic masterpiece.
Steve met us in the gardens and took us for a long and fascinating journey through the house and its history.
We heard about the years that the occupants ran the house in a high Victorian style.
From some of the quirky family members and their exploits to the obvious distinctions between masters and servants we walked through the house peeking into rooms and being astounded by the sheer mass of work that Steve has done in the short time he has been the owner to bring back the grand old dame back to her former glory.
But we were interested in looking at any paranormal activity that may be happening at the house.
As far as that was concerned the whole atmosphere of the house, its decor and some of the stories lent themselves, and our imaginations, to create apparitions in every room! certainly osme of the rooms felt as though their inhabitants were still lingering about.
Steve told us about the servant girl who fell pregnant and then mysteriously disappeared one night with all fingers pointing to a member of the family having had a liaison that would have led to a very unwanted scandal.
Was this poor young girl really pushed down the property well?
We tried to contact her using a very Victorian style of communication with spirit - table tilting.
This proved more than difficult with little or no connection to begin with - yet eventually leading to a few of very loud and distinct knocks or raps as it used to be called emanating from was sounded like the bottom of the table.
Here you see a few of the ladies trying to connect with some of the spiritual inhabitants of the house.
We also tried some EVP work using voice recorders and a piece of kit called an SB11.
Many of the crew staked out spots where ghosts had been seen or felt as we did our initial walk through.
Steve talked about one particular room where he had his own sighting one night waking to see a young girl standing over him - she looked frightened and anguished. We considered if it may have been the young servant girl appearing there that one time, making herself known to him.
Steve told us that he never slept in that room again.
We spent a few hours with some of the participants seeing dark shadows, feeling chills in some of the areas passing through and also a general feeling that we were all being watched quite carefully.
Certainly upon arrival as we all stood looking at the house from out in the garden I felt as though I spied a lady in a long light coloured dress silently glide across the top verandah - just for a moment. She stood and looked down at us, checking us all out just for a second and then she disappeared. Later I found out that I was not the only one to see her up there - she was seen by another person as well.
I was lucky to take one of the room for the night with two other friends - whilst the rest of our ghost hunters either took the long ride home or stayed in accommodation in town in the two pubs in the main street.
I slept well, but one of the other ladies occupying the room swears to me that she head the wire coat hangers jangling a number of times in the huge wooden wardrobe that stood in the walk in dressing room that was next to where we were sleeping.
We knew that there was no one else in the house - except for us.
Or was there?
Maybe the ladies of the house were wandering about?
Maybe they were just waiting for us to leave and all of our poking about was all rather rude to them.
After a morning walk around the house, listening to the birds in the garden and dreaming about what it would be like to own such a home it was time for us to leave.
Some of us are still reviewing recordings and checking out our photos - maybe someone has captured something?
We are still to hear.
It hard to imagine what this township could have been when, at one time, it was considered for the capital of Australia (now at Canberra) as it sits, distance wise, almost perfectly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne.
Bombala was proposed in 1903 by King O'Malley as the site of the parliamentary seat of Australia. It was considered as a location because it was half way between the two cities of Sydney and Melbourne. The proposal was ultimately rejected in favour of Canberra. The town lies on the banks of the Bombala River. (wikipedia)
About 5 minutes before you reach the township is Burnima Homestead which was our destination for an overnight stay and ghost hunt.
I had heard about the homestead from an article I read last year regarding its history and some of the stories about paranormal activities at the homestead,
Burnima was built by Fredrick Young of Queanbeyan following the completion of the Governer-General’s house Yarralumla, for Henry Tollemache Edwards, or HT as Mr Steve Rickett ( the homestead's owner, custodian and tour guide) calls him.
HT’s eldest daughter Miss Edith Edwards, was the last of the family to reside there, and did so in Victorian grandeur up until 1952.
There are 10 bedrooms, formal sitting rooms, dining room, drawing room, smoking and billiard room and servants’ quarters. Around the grounds are examples of early farm machinery, engines, carriages, black smith shop and various out buildings, orchard and fishpond.
With a small army of hired help, Burnima was once a self sufficient mini metropolis on the Monaro. The floor plan reflects the Victorian era, servants used separate doors to tend the family and guests and slept on different levels of the house according to their stature. At least five servants were needed just to keep the house running and it was a full time job to tend the 14 fireplaces, especially when it snowed.
One of the many projects Steve Ricketts, the new owner, has undertaken since he bought Burnima in 2002 is to track down furniture and items sold after Burnima left the family in the 1950s. These precious pieces are intermingled with his own heirloom collection and each room has been completely restored with period pieces, books, clothing, photographs and paintings. One of the most stunning pieces is the gold filigree ceiling at the top of the grand old staircase. (see below)
The gardens surrounding the homestead were once massive but now only a portion remains but is filled with some of the original trees that were planted by the family that original built this Gothic masterpiece.
Steve met us in the gardens and took us for a long and fascinating journey through the house and its history.
We heard about the years that the occupants ran the house in a high Victorian style.
From some of the quirky family members and their exploits to the obvious distinctions between masters and servants we walked through the house peeking into rooms and being astounded by the sheer mass of work that Steve has done in the short time he has been the owner to bring back the grand old dame back to her former glory.
But we were interested in looking at any paranormal activity that may be happening at the house.
As far as that was concerned the whole atmosphere of the house, its decor and some of the stories lent themselves, and our imaginations, to create apparitions in every room! certainly osme of the rooms felt as though their inhabitants were still lingering about.
Steve told us about the servant girl who fell pregnant and then mysteriously disappeared one night with all fingers pointing to a member of the family having had a liaison that would have led to a very unwanted scandal.
Was this poor young girl really pushed down the property well?
We tried to contact her using a very Victorian style of communication with spirit - table tilting.
This proved more than difficult with little or no connection to begin with - yet eventually leading to a few of very loud and distinct knocks or raps as it used to be called emanating from was sounded like the bottom of the table.
Here you see a few of the ladies trying to connect with some of the spiritual inhabitants of the house.
We also tried some EVP work using voice recorders and a piece of kit called an SB11.
Many of the crew staked out spots where ghosts had been seen or felt as we did our initial walk through.
Steve talked about one particular room where he had his own sighting one night waking to see a young girl standing over him - she looked frightened and anguished. We considered if it may have been the young servant girl appearing there that one time, making herself known to him.
Steve told us that he never slept in that room again.
We spent a few hours with some of the participants seeing dark shadows, feeling chills in some of the areas passing through and also a general feeling that we were all being watched quite carefully.
Certainly upon arrival as we all stood looking at the house from out in the garden I felt as though I spied a lady in a long light coloured dress silently glide across the top verandah - just for a moment. She stood and looked down at us, checking us all out just for a second and then she disappeared. Later I found out that I was not the only one to see her up there - she was seen by another person as well.
I was lucky to take one of the room for the night with two other friends - whilst the rest of our ghost hunters either took the long ride home or stayed in accommodation in town in the two pubs in the main street.
I slept well, but one of the other ladies occupying the room swears to me that she head the wire coat hangers jangling a number of times in the huge wooden wardrobe that stood in the walk in dressing room that was next to where we were sleeping.
We knew that there was no one else in the house - except for us.
Or was there?
Maybe the ladies of the house were wandering about?
Maybe they were just waiting for us to leave and all of our poking about was all rather rude to them.
After a morning walk around the house, listening to the birds in the garden and dreaming about what it would be like to own such a home it was time for us to leave.
Some of us are still reviewing recordings and checking out our photos - maybe someone has captured something?
We are still to hear.
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