Garden Curses – the Mummy

The last thing you’d expect to find in the garden of a miner’s retirement centre is an Egyptian mummy, but it’s a fact. The mummy was brought back to Britain in 1904 by the explorer John Wilhelm Rowntree, of the chocolate empire. It’s claimed that he was then struck by the curse that is said to blight the lives of those who disturb Egyptian remains, and he died within a year, at the age of 37.

His grieving relatives, including four children who had been terrified by the mummy's display in the family library, hastily buried it in the grounds of Low Hall at Scalby in North Yorkshire. It lay undiscovered until Peter Aldridge, superintendent of the home, began his investigation into the history of the Hall which now used by the National Union of Mineworkers.

Jean Rowntree, daughter of John, told him the story of the mummy’s tomb, which has been pinpointed as being in part of the kitchen garden where Mr Aldridge claims he has seen a mysterious blue, diamond-shaped light in the garden several times over the years.

Mr Aldridge, 64, is now keen to mark the mummy's resting place - but is not keen on digging it up as he is terrified that if he does, he will be struck by the curse. Lord Carnarvon, who sponsored Howard Carter's excavations in 1922 of the tomb of Tutankhamun, died shortly afterwards. While Mr Aldridge may be a little superstitious, he’s determined not to go ahead with any excavation unless he has a written order with somebody else’s signature on it, in which case the curse will follow them. What the residents of the home think. is anybody’s guess – miners get to see a lot of strange things underground, so perhaps an Egyptian mummy is all part of the day’s business?

Mummy photograph by merfam, used under a creative commons attribution licence

© blueworldgardener.co.uk