Eveswell is a district of east Newport, between Maindee and Christchurch. The Great British Ghost Tour records a story that explains its name through a ghost chase that began several miles away.
Eva Roberts, the story says, haunted a house in Whitson, a village on the flat Levels south east of the town. The house later became the village post office. An exorcism was conducted, and her ghost appeared, only to be chased off by the villagers. She fled all the way to the outskirts of Newport and dived into a well there, and was never seen again. The well took her name.
It is a folk etymology, and like most of them it cannot be checked. Nothing is known of an Eva Roberts, and there is no date.
The same source records a gentler tale from the 1840s. Children walking home late between Christchurch and Eveswell were joined by two ghostly dogs that walked with them. The children felt safe in their company, and the dogs disappeared as the youngsters neared their destination. It is marked unconfirmed.
Comments