The Ghost Barge of The River Severn

Folklorist and writer Amy Boucher investigates a ghost barge, complete with phantom bargeman and gruesome cargo, that has been seen regularly on the River Severn.

The River Severn winds through the whole of Shropshire like a snake, and I think that my veins follow the same course, or at least my mind does, as I often think about life upon its banks.

This is a landscape very familiar to me, as the Gorge was the backdrop to much of my childhood. The whole area is rich in history, from the Eponymous Iron Bridge which has dominated the landscape since 1778 to the lesser-known tales, of Devils and poachers and Coracle men.

This is a landscape of shadows. Where the scars of industry once lay, flowers now grow, so understandably, the whole of the gorge is awash with ghost tales. Even the Iron Bridge itself has its fair share of ghosts, from the loving couple that walk arm in arm across the bridge, to the playful children who are still heard singing and engaging in joyful games.

The focus of todays’ article however will be a very unique haunting associated with the area, a truly eerie tale that provides us with a unique insight into the deep societal scars left on the area after a time of disease and strife.

The ghost in question is known as The Ghost Barge of The River Severn. The phantom barge is supposedly a frequent apparition (Even my Grandfather saw it once, one evening whilst walking home from the foundry he worked at.) and almost all reports suggest a full apparition. It first appears near the Ironbridge and presents as a long dark ship, not largely different than the barges that used to make their way up and down the Severn transporting goods.

At the boats helm stands a tall figure, often described as wearing rather dated clothes, or a dark cloak. He guides the boat slowly down the river, and as it gets closer to the Ironbridge, its gruesome cargo is revealed. For on the ghost barge of the river Severn, is row upon row of corpses, piled up high.

This is obviously a very macabre and shocking sight, but almost as soon as the corpses are noticed, the barge shimmers, and disappears from view, leaving the witness shocked. People have reported feeling very sad after seeing this macabre vessel as well as a deep, dragging feeling.

However, this is not the end of our haunting, as though disappearing from Ironbridge, our ghost barge returns, as it has been seen 2 miles away in Jackfield. Here the boat appears tethered to the riverbed, where the bargeman stands, looking out towards the river.

At his feet, littering the riverbed is rows of corpses. I believe that these two hauntings are related, and we have simply re-joined the bargemen at the end of his journey. Indeed, history seems to back up this theory, thus, it is history that we now must turn to.

This haunting dates back to a time of great turmoil in Shropshire, of the pestilence which fell like a dark shadow over Shropshire. The plague of the 1660’s ripped through the county, with disastrous effects for the community. The symptoms were horrible, beginning with a fever or chill, and culminating with nausea, headaches, delirium, and painful, pus-filled buboes, which- if burst would give a 50/50 chance of survival.

Though records are incomplete, it is a fair estimate to suggest that Shropshire lost around 15% of its population in an 18-month period. That is a monumental amount of people lost in such a tragic way.

Thus, it is believed that the ghost barge of the river Severn is in fact a plague ship, transporting bodies on their final journey. Until the advent of rail, the Severn was the main source of transport through Shropshire, into the wider world. During the time of the plague, boats took to the river, full of the dead. These boats would transport plague victims to the vast plague pits, in an attempt to haunt the spread of the disease.

Interestingly, Jackfield was the location for several plague pits, so such vessels would have followed this route. Due to the nature of plague itself, unless immune the bargemen would often succumb to the plague. One can only imagine the psychological effects of such a job, especially in small communities.

Conceivably those who worked on these floating charnel houses would have been transporting friends, neighbours or even loved ones to their final resting place. You don’t forget that kind of experience, how could it ever really leave you? The surviving Bargemen would have carried the ghosts of the dead with them until the end of their own lives.

It would be easy to say that the ghost of the plague barge is still journeying down the river. That the Bargemen still stands at its helm, unaware that he too has succumbed to the terrible illness.

Perhaps this apparition does have basis in genuine paranormal events, I don’t believe it’s my place as a folklorist to say. However, I don’t think framing this event as ‘just a ghost’ limits the stories potential. This has been retold and remembered for a reason, and I believe if we turn to what the haunting represents, we can begin to understand the deep scars an event like the plague would have left on the communities in this area.

As I previously mentioned, Shropshire was believed to have lost around 15% of its population during this outbreak, and that would have been devastating. Though the passage of time often makes historical events seem intangible, It’s important to remember their humanity. I cannot help but think about the impact losing 15% of the people I know would have on me.

 In the small, rural communities that characterise shropshire even today, it would have been hard to find someone who hadn’t been affected by this tragedy. The people who lived through the plague would have been living in a time of profound emotional stress and trauma, and as a result would have felt their losses deeply.

It would have been very hard to know someone you loved had been robbed their lives, and a decent burial during an era of such fierce Christianity. Thus, I believe this collective experience, and collective grief could influence the prevalence of such hauntings.

Furthermore, due to the close proximity to the River Severn, the plague would have felt like an ever-present feature of life in Ironbridge, as they watched the boats fill up and follow the river to Jackfield. Their existence would have made it very hard to escape the events that were unfolding.

Even when those ghastly vessels left the river, and the community started to recover, the collective memory of those dark days would have been repeated and remembered far beyond the lives of those who’d experienced it.

It’s hard to forget the past, especially an even as lifechanging as a pandemic like plague, or indeed Covid 19 during our own lifetimes. Therefore, as each person told their story, the plague barge set sail again. Often in folklore there is a kernel of truth in a story, an event or a fact that has developed into a folklore, and I believe this is what’s happened here.

The ghost barge continues to haunt the river Severn, reaching out through the centuries because the story was repeated enough for it to become a reality. It is imploring us to remember those nameless people whose lives were cut short. So, I will continue to tell their story, I will remember them.