At the time of Henry VIII there was a Friar who lived near to the Dark Entry in the Cathedral Precincts. The Friar who, in rank was supposedly a Canon, had a servant by the name of Ellen Bean. For some reason, and probably to amuse himself, he always called her Nell, or Nelly, Cook. I too shall call her Nell as that's the way the story's told.Nell was quite a pretty girl although her real claim to fame was that she was a genius in the kitchen. So much so, that there was a great deal of dissension among the other clerics of the Priory of St. Saviour in that it was considered that the Canon lived too well. None of this bothered Nell who was, of course, gainfully employed at a place of work that she enjoyed. However, this peace was to be disrupted when one day a rather attractive and brash young lady came to stay with the Canon.
The Canon stated that this was his niece and that as her Father had been called away on business overseas, it was his Christian duty to take care of the young lady. However, from the time the 'niece' walked into the house, things changed. There were sumptuous meals required every night with lots of wine followed by the couple singing and dancing to music not fit for a cleric. If this was not enough to arouse the suspicions of young Nell, the fact that the young lady's bed did not appear to have been slept in since her arrival, did. It seemed that Nell, unbeknown to him, had 'a bit of a thing' for the Canon.
Carefully, one evening, Nell place a poker and a pair of tongs in the young lady's bed. When she next checked the bed they had not moved from where she left them. As a result, the next night, Nell crept up to have a peep through the keyhole of the Canon's private chamber. What she saw did not amuse her. She decided upon her only course of action and went out the next day to purchase the ingredients for a "Warden Pie" for the couple that night. The Pie was a particular favourite with the Canon but this time Nell added an additional item to the Pie.
The morning after, the Canon did not arrive at the Priory and eventually the monks came to his house to find both the Canon and his young lady poisoned as a result of eating the Pie. What a scandal there would be if this was found out! A midnight service was held in the Cathedral by the monks and the Canon and his 'niece' were laid to rest under a flag stone in the nave.
What happened to Nell? .........Nell disappeared.
Nothing was heard of Nell again until one day, three Masons were called to repair a flagstone that had become loose in the Dark Entry. When they lifted the stone, what should they find but a skeleton huddled in the corner of a pit dug under the stone. Beside the wretched find was a small piece of the crust of a "Warden Pie"!
Within a year of making this grisly discovery, all three of the Masons were dead. Two of them were hung for the murder of the third. It was the death of these three unfortunate men that started the legend of Nell Cook. However, there have been others since that have supposedly seen the ghost and suffered the same fate.
Consequently, no local person is likely to tempt fate by walking through the Dark Entry late on a Friday night. For whoever sees the ghost of Nell Cook will die within the year!
Don't believe me? You try it then, because I won't!
(As a footnote, you would actually have difficulty trying to find Nell's ghost as the curfew bell still rings at the Cathedral at nine o'clock every evening and the doors to the Cathedral Precincts are shut to the outside World. Only the residents of the Precincts are allowed in after that time but the legend has grown as the result of a few poor individuals having business in the Cathedral having seen the apparition).
....and I think we'll leave the last word to Nell herself.
Cathedral Index Page | Plan of the Cathedral.
Full site directory | Text directory
Front page