The Ghostly Black Abbot of York

Dear Ms Sant,
Whilst in your marvellous City on Saturday I took the attached photograph. 
I can only promise you is not a fake.  I took the picture because I thought the colours particularly good and deliberately waited for a ‘people free’ moment. I was sure I got it, so was puzzled by the dark image in the bottom right hand corner? ​

Ghost at St Mary's Abbey York Copyright: Helen Sant donated by anonymous photographer

 The words above are from an email and photo sent to me in December 2011, informing   me of a ghost sighting which the gentleman* believed he'd  had, while visiting York.

 *Please note: The photo is copyright to the gentleman who didn’t want
   any publicity so his name and details have been kept private. 
St Mary’s Abbey in the Museum Gardens 
in its heyday, was the richest abbey in
the North of England.  Tales abounded of
the monks’ indulgences.  They drank,
feasted and lived an affluent lifestyle. 
Needless to say their way of life changed
when they had to flee, according to
rumours, through a tunnel under Stonegate.  Henry VIII was busy overthrowing
 the Catholic faith, seizing monasteries and abbeys including St Mary’s.  He took
the Abbot’s house for himself and renamed it  ​King’s Manor.

Back to the present where tales float about of sightings of a phantom monk dressed
in black, wandering through the Museum Gardens after dark.  Of course few of us
can corroborate such a story since the gates are locked at dusk, though there have
been daytime sightings too apparently.

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Roman grave in Museum Gardens Photo: copyright Helen Sant

The gentleman who contacted me and sent me the photo at the top of this page,  went on to say:

​"At first I thought somebody had wandered into
the shot without me noticing and was going to ‘
remove’ him/her. It’s not though, is it?? Thinking
I might find another picture that revealed the
reason for the shadow, I looked on the internet.  I couldn’t find anything as such,
but was taken aback to see there have been many sightings of the ‘Black Abbot’
at St Mary’s. 

​Any thoughts at all please? Both the preceding and subsequent shots do not
have similar marks and this one was taken at 160th [of a second], which means
that the bright comet type thing is moving pretty fast. Although deceptive, I
reckon the ‘figure’ stands about the height of a tall person. Also, the image
mostly remains dark when you increase the exposure, which suggests that,
​whatever it is, has mass. "

---

​Curioser and curioser...! Well I didnt have an answer for him except that
if he felt he had captured a ghost, to contact the Fortean Times and send it
​to them. I seem to think he declined as he didnt want any publicity.

Continuing the monk theme, I once worked at York Library
(now Explore York).  I was told one of the librarians had seen, in the
bright morning sunlight, a hooded figure.  The librarian was not afraid as
it felt a very natural experiene to her. She watched as the figure hovered
​by the window, which overlooked Mary’s Abbey, before melting away….!