E-mail sent to us Sept 4, 2004 by a previous guest:
“Last spring I was staying at the Churchill Mansion Country Inn. One morning I decided to drink my coffee up in the Widow’s Walk to take in the view on a very lovely day. While I was up there I felt like I was not alone, but did not see anything. After coffee I decided to take a walk to see the neighbourhood. The entire trip I kept feeling like I was being followed or watched. I thought this was because of the houses I was walking past. Most likely the locals watching this stranger wandering around. I came to a small cemetery, and since I like looking at the old stones and carvings I went in. Almost all the stones there were Churchill family grave markers. While I was walking among the stones I kept thinking I saw an elderly man with white hair, following me along the rows. Later when I returned to the Inn I mentioned what happened to me to the innkeeper Bob Benson, he told me an interesting story about the original owners of the old mansion.
The mansion was built by Aaron Churchill back at the turn of the 20th century as a summer home for his family. When he lived there he would take his morning coffee on the Widows Walk, then walk to the cemetery to visit his mothers grave. He too is buried there. There have been many sightings of Aaron and his family around the old mansion. Many ghost stories abound about the hauntings there. I’m not sure if they are true but I know my story is true.”
E-mail sent to us October 10, 2005 by a previous guest:
“A few days ago (October 8, 2005) I had my sweet sixteen birthday party at the Churchill Mansion. I had always been interested in ghosts and the paranormal so going to the Churchill Mansion was the best idea for a party. I had invited 11 friends, plus my parents were there and my best friends parents also attended. It was raining cats and dogs when we arrived, and did all night. Mom went in first and then we began unloading the truck of our car with pizza, karaoke etc.. My friends began arriving shortly around 6:30-7:00.. We had supper in the sun room and when we were eating we happened to see the cat playing with a real dead mouse! yuck! Kinda funny, but fitted the atmosphere of the house, so we laughed, told stories and sang a lot of karaoke. I opened my gifts and so far nothing out of the ordinary had happened yet.
Around 9pm Bob (the owner) told us the history of the mansion and gave us a tour. We went into room 1 first and boy oh boy, as soon as I walked in there I was struck with coldness..I knew there was something wrong about this room, only to find out later it belonged to Lottie.
Bob brought us around as my friend Ashley followed with everything on video camera. After the tour we decided to see if we could contact the dead from the front living room. We shut off the lights and only put a candle on as we also had the video camera on as well (camera’s setting was set on night vision). We tried talking to Aaron but we weren’t getting any signs. My friends went out in the hallway and tried calling him, as they did that 3 of my other friends had to leave. So now in the room there was Kandis, Martine, Ashley (with the video camera), Courtney, Anne, Ryan and myself. We had the candle on the table and the camera on the table too, Anne, Ryan and Myself were on the couch..as we sat there in the dark Courtney watched the camera. Martine got a weird feeling and ran out of the room. Anne and Ryan started hearing voices at the same time and Courtney as she watched the camera seen a white circle (orb?) appear on top of Anne’s head! Ashley grabbed the camera and questioned if it could have been the door knob, but it couldn’t have because Anne was leaning on Ryan and the doorknob was quite a ways away. We kept on taping and shortly after seen another orb? around Anne’s foot through the tape. Martine did not dare to step back into the room and Anne was scared to death, after a while we stopped taping.
I began watching our two full cassettes of footage yesterday and today. Today I watched the second tape (the dark part) as Ashley goes around the room in the dark with the camera you can see the reflection through the window..but one time as she goes by the window we see three spots (orbs) which had not been there before. As I continued to watch the video tape I seen white spots flying around the room. Then as I’m watching the part where we seen an orb on top of Anne’s head, Ashley grabbed the camera (in the movie) and starts screaming and BOOM…thats it. The tape is done? I was confused and checked an extra tape I had brought but nothing was on it. We had recorded more but the tape didn’t have it, our footage was lost and we really don’t know why. Very spooky, but we all had a great time.”
Report sent to us by Lois on Feb 21, 2015:
“I have spent a lot of time in Churchill Mansion in Darlings Lake, Nova Scotia. I was the Inn keeper when the owner needed a break. There have been many things that happened in the house and around the yard outside and the basement.. One night when me and my daughter (who was 3 at the time) were at the mansion we were getting ready for bed and I kept hearing noises coming from the front of the house. There is a door upstairs which closes off part of the house. It seems to open and close itself slamming shut. Many times I had opened the door to come back and it was closed… Down stairs in the parlor I have felt cold spots. Sometimes I could smell coffee coming from the kitchen when no one was in there. Things would go missing and then turn up where they were suppose to be… In the basement there were times when I felt like I was stuck down there. When Aaron Churchill was there, there were tunnels that he hid slaves in. I could go on and on.. I have felt someone grab my leg. One night I was in room 7 (which I said we should never had put a number on) the mansion was full and I had to sleep in that room. I never slept a minute. It felt like someone was watching me all night and that I had levitated off the bed.. It was a room where the son would go in and listen to the people talking. In the copula I felt something grab at my leg and my pants. Got out of there fast. One night a small window fell out in the copula when there was no wind or anyone up there…. Many stories….Love the place.”
Report sent to us by Brandi on April 29, 2015:
“Widows peak at Churchill mansion 17 yrs ago, felt a intense presence up there, felt the crazy need to run down the stairs before something got you! Also strong presence in which was called then the Red Room and the Blue Room well before renovations took place. Very spooky.”
Report sent to us by Alice on April 30, 2015:
“I believe it was in 2004. I had made reservations to stay at Churchill Mansion with my husband, my daughter and her boyfriend. We arrived and after looking around a lady asked if we would like to go to the bedrooms. Upon entering one of the bedrooms a strange feeling came over me. I could feel the presence of a bad Spirit. Something Evil had happened in there. I turned to my family members and told them we would not be staying here. I explained to the lady I did not feel comfortable in there. I was informed there had been a lady killed in that room by a Sea Caption many years prior. I have had feelings both good and bad like that in different houses throughout my life and premonitions that have came true also. Just unexplained feelings and dreams. I just haven’t channelled them enough.”
Report sent to us by Alycia on April 30, 2015:
“After prom night we decided to stay at Churchill Mansion over night. A friend and I got the blue room for the night.. It was the smallest one there.. two of our other friends got the pink room. It had two beds in it and a bench by the window.. it was across the hall to the right of the blue room. While we and a few other friends were in the room and no one around it, the antique light pink dresser with vanity mirror was moving across the room. We were like omg wowwww. Myself and a friend got up and tried to stop it from moving but the force was way too powerful. It kept moving across the room. It eventually stopped.
Earlier that night, the door that is close to the stained windows going up the stairs had such an eerie feeling.. So because we felt so heavy and weird we tried to open it.. two of us. We couldn’t. It felt like someone was being a counter-force preventing us from opening it all the way.. and it was like it let go and it finally opened. It was pitch black but felt like there was at least one person sitting here in the darkness ready to jump out at you.. but if felt like the presence was in your face.. it was a good night. But interesting.
They say the honeymoon sweet is the worst room to be in. But I didn’t stay in there. That’s the big room upstairs with the hot tub.”
Report sent to us by Nora on April 30, 2015:
“I worked there for one summer, I lived there. Every time I would go to clean the widows walk the door was always open, it would never stay closed. One night I was in my room which was off the kitchen, there was a dog that stayed there with me. I woke one night and there was a man peaking at me from the door. Now, I know I wasn’t sleep because the dog also looked at him. He was a a white haired man. I looked back at him in shock and then he closed the door. After that I had a weapon close at hand.”
Report sent to us by Ang on April 18, 2017. It entails a report of activity at the mansion during the late 1960’s:
“I was a young 10-11 year old busy, inquisitive, adventurous red headed gal, born in 1957. I lived a few houses from Churchill Mansion then. There had been nobody living there for years. I decided to see what was in there so I opened a window and went in to look.
It was like I’d been in there before. It was cold, although summertime, I was shivering. I went all around the lower level, into the parlour, past the big wooden sliding doors, flew up the stairs to look, but was more interested in the parlour. I heard music, although nobody was in there, I felt dancing, happy people. Then it all stopped and the center crystal from the old light fixture dropped to the floor behind me. That’s when I left via the window I had gone in! The heavy cold feeling left when I got back outside.
I had not heard of anything like this ever happening, didn’t know what it was about or anything. It frightened me a bit, but I put it away never telling anyone until many years later when I met Bob and Gert Benson.
I never broke in after that but would hide around the many hedges that were there then. I played with a little girl wearing a cotton skirt, white blouse, and a necklace of some kind. She always had on the same clothes, so I thought she was poor and couldn’t afford anything else. We just played with sticks and rocks, we spelled things with sticks on the ground and watched cars go by on the road below.
I wish I had paid more attention to what she was spelling, but I thought she was a real person! It was a younger Lottie I believe now.
Then many years later, I became great friends of the owners and spent many hours there having fun, visiting with guests, and helping in the kitchen. I always knew I was at the mansion every time I went through the door. Pictures were moved in front of me, many little anomalies over the years.
My final encounter before the mansion was sold, was a dark rainy night. Some friends had gathered at the mansion for some fun and food. I blatantly decided to go see if I could find a ghost in the widow’s walk. I got halfway up the steep stairs when something pushed me from the front and told me to run. I decided that would be the best idea, so I turned and ran down the stairs and slammed the door!
Apparently I looked rattled when I went back to the guests. I knew I had gone where I didn’t belong and never went back up there alone or in the dark ever again.
I’ve not ever shared this story publicly and I have no idea why I’m compelled to put it here. But that’s my story.”
(cont’d) See page 4 for the history of this 1890 mansion
WARNING: Do not trespass! Permission from the location owner must be granted to investigate this location!
If you have experienced any activity at Churchill Mansion, or at any other location anywhere else in the world, please tell us about it here
Michelle McKay Paranormal 