{"id":1162380,"date":"2026-08-22T03:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T03:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1162380\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T03:36:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T03:36:26","slug":"a-couple-bought-a-490000-renovated-19th-century-church-near-bristol-despite-a-haunted-crypt-hearing-whistling-and-footsteps-and-finding-tombstones-but-still-call-it-a-dream-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1162380\/","title":{"rendered":"A couple bought a \u00a3490,000 renovated 19th-century church near Bristol despite a ‘haunted’ crypt, hearing whistling and footsteps and finding tombstones, but still call it a dream home"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AA \u00a3490,000 church home near Bristol has an eerie secret – Mary says she hears whistling and footsteps around its former crypt basement. (Photo: SWNS) A couple who paid \u00a3490,000 for a 19th-century church say they have found their \u201cdream home\u201d, despite believing the property’s former crypt basement may be haunted. Joe and Mary Smith, aged 37 and 32, bought the church, located south of Bristol, in January 2026 after falling in love with its historic character.The previous owners had renovated the property around a decade ago while retaining many of its original features. Among the details that attracted the couple were the church’s stained-glass windows and hardwood floors. However, since moving in, Mary has experienced what she describes as some unsettling activity around the former crypt, including hearing whistling and footsteps.Mary, who works in commercial events in finance and is from Bristol, said the property immediately stood out to them. \u201cIt feels like a dream come true every morning we wake up,\u201d Mary was quoted as saying by SWNS, adding that \u201cloads of the original elements have been kept throughout the renovations\u201d.\u201cAs soon as we saw it, we knew we had to have it. Living here now makes all the trouble worth it, even though I\u2019m pretty sure our crypt basement is haunted,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

Couple made an offer within 30 minutes<\/p>\n

The couple had previously been living in a two-bedroom rental in Bath, Somerset, after an offer on another property fell through following 10 months of waiting.They felt they were back at square one when they spotted the former church on Rightmove. Mary and Joe were the first people to view it and put in an offer just half an hour after leaving.\u201cI knew it was amazing just off the website,\u201d Mary said. \u201cIt was like the arch window we\u2019d seen in the other place but times 1,000!\u201dTheir offer was accepted in January, and they moved into the property in mid-April. The couple then spent around three months settling into their new home and getting used to its more unusual features.Mary said they were delighted to have secured such a rare property. \u201cIt\u2019s such a rare opportunity to be able to live somewhere so unique and beautiful,\u201d she said.However, moving into the former church also presented a practical challenge: their existing furniture was not enough to fill the space. They spent months searching local flea markets and Facebook Marketplace for pieces that would complement the building.\u201cIt took us a while to move in, especially after we realised our current furniture didn\u2019t come close to filling the space,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n

Former crypt leaves Mary feeling uneasy<\/p>\n

\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary says living in the couple\u2019s 19th-century church home has left her questioning her disbelief in ghosts after hearing whistling and footsteps near the old crypt. (Photo: SWNS)<\/p>\n

While the couple love the history of their new home, Mary admits that the basement can be unsettling.The basement was once a crypt and, although much of it has been boarded up, she says she has heard whistling at the top of the stairs leading down to it, as well as footsteps at night.\u201cOur basement actually used to be a crypt and, even though a lot of it has been boarded up, it still sometimes gives me the creeps,\u201d Mary said.\u201cI will hear whistling on top of the stairs leading down and footsteps in the night.\u201dThe experiences have even made Mary question her previous disbelief in ghosts. \u201cJoe is a total non-believer, and I was as well, but living in a place with such history definitely makes me doubt,\u201d she said.The property also retains some unusual reminders of its past. \u201cI mean we have tombstones over our stove top, so maybe there are stray spirits lurking about!\u201d Mary joked.<\/p>\n

Hymn board adds to eerie atmosphere<\/p>\n

\"Tombstones<\/p>\n

Tombstones over the stove, a former crypt, mysterious whistling and footsteps \u2014 yet Mary and Joe still call their \u00a3490,000 church their dream home. (Photo: SWNS)<\/p>\n

The strange experiences have not been limited to sounds.Mary says an antique wall hymn board has fallen from its hanging twice in the past couple of months, while a vintage clock that no longer works hangs in the living space.\u201cThese items do sometimes give me the creeps,\u201d she said, particularly describing the hymn board as unsettling because \u201cthe fact it keeps moving freaks me out!\u201dDespite the unexplained incidents, Mary says neither she nor Joe regrets buying the unusual property.\u201cNevertheless, we love this home and the life we\u2019ve started here, complete with a new puppy,\u201d she said.\u201cThe history of this property is what makes it such a magical home – we wouldn\u2019t change a thing!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A \u00a3490,000 church home near Bristol has an eerie secret – Mary says she hears whistling and footsteps…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1162381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8818],"tags":[315583,381,748,315584,315582,393,4884,315581,315586,315585,315588,315587,315590,16,15,315589],"class_list":["post-1162380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bristol","tag-19th-century-church","tag-bristol","tag-britain","tag-church-home","tag-crypt-basement-haunted","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-haunted-church-home","tag-haunted-crypt","tag-haunted-house","tag-joe-smith","tag-mary-smith","tag-spooky-home-experiences","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unusual-historic-properties"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117137075061298660","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1162380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1162381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1162380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1162380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1162380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}