If you have ever caught yourself staring at your own reflection in the historical town of Windsor, you may find someone else staring back.
Windsor is a hot-spot for paranormal activities, which isn’t surprising considering its the thirdoldest place of British settlement in Australia. Janice Hart, Wilberforce local, is the tour guide for ‘Windsor Ghost Tours’ where history enthusiasts can enjoy a guided walk around Windsor’s most haunted spots including Howe House and the Macquarie Arms Hotel. Janice also volunteers at the Australian Pioneer Village, where she saw her first ever ghost:
“The site was closed for the day and I remember somebody walked past me. I turned to look and say hello before I realised that everybody who was in the village that day – was in the building already. The medium behind me asked if I saw him and I said that I had. It was a man in a top-hat, but there’ve been a lot of experiences like that in Windsor too!”
At the start of the tour, Janice passed around flash photographs that were taken with spirit-orbs hovering in the photos. The most densely concentrated appeared to be in the Green Hall cemetery, which were attached to certain individuals. In the cold evening chill, we began our walk with lanterns at the historic Howe House, built by John Howe in the 1820s. As an overseer of the early convicts of Australia, he resided in Thomspon’s Square from 1835- 1839 with his daughter Mary.
Mary has reportedly been spotted by one volunteer, walking upstairs in Howe House and presumably to her old bedroom. Howe House became part of the Hawkesbury Museum in 2008. However, during its early days under the operation of the Historical Society, a black cat was frequently seen curling up next to the fireplace, even though it was devoid of embers.
As we continued down the cobblestone lane of Thompson’s Square, we came upon The Doctor’s House, built in 1819 and shrouded in darkness. Originally an inn called The Lord Nelson, this sandstone terrace served as a doctor’s practice from 1858 until 1992.
The most notable figure from this period was Dr. Thomas Fiaschi of Tizzana, whose patients travelled from as far as Adelaide to receive his care. It has since been transformed into a private residence and previously functioned as an Airbnb. Janice shared stories of ghosts following guests to the markets, a sailor seen staring down guests at night, and a TV mysteriously turning on and off on its own.
Walking upwards into the light of Macquarie Street, we ventured into the Macquarie Arms Hotel, built in 1815 by Richard Fitzgerald.
As the oldest pub in mainland Australia, it’s also considered as the most intact major commercial building from pre-1820 Australian colonial history. The crowd shuddered when we learnt that on the balcony overlooking Thompson Square, floggings were often displayed as a form of entertainment.
A door to the left of the circular staircase once led to an upstairs bedroom. Though sealed on the exterior now, figures have been reported hanging in its doorway, hidden in the darkness.
Some workers have even refused to enter into the Macquarie Arms cellar, feeling a cold and uneasy presence down there. Perhaps it could be a pair of convicts who allegedly blew themselves up in the cellar? Or perhaps it’s the draft from the ‘Smugglers Tunnels,’ where a collapsed hole in the wall is the only remnant of the highly debated rum smuggling tunnel said to have existed in the early colony.
The rest of the walk took the group down George Street, past the former Maternity Ward from 1861 and also the Windsor motel, which was used to be a Government Storehouse. We heard the harrowing tale of convict Phillip Cunningham, hanged in 1804 where the School of Arts now stands.
At the corner of George Street, our group imagined the Government House from 1799 to 1919 (now a private residence) where Lachlan Macquarie famously established the five Macquarie Towns on the 6th of December, 1810. At the final leg of the 1.5hr tour, we visited one of only two Toll Houses remaining in Australia.
For Janice, who is also a member of the Hawkesbury Historical Society, preserving history through these historical ghost tours is becoming a lost art: “I just like the history and what we still have here – we are so lucky that we have what we have now.
I know a lot has been knocked down in the last couple of years and it’s pretty sad. Keeping it is important because that’s where we came from and we need to understand what people lived like. We should be able to showcase our historical buildings to the public.”
If you would like to learn more about the history of Windsor (and get spooked in the process), you can contact Janice Hart on 0408 751 422 or book online via ‘Windsor Ghost Tours’. Tours run most Saturday evenings at 7 pm.
