"The Hermitage Ruins, Ancaster, ON ~ A Haunted Hamilton Evening with Spirits"

I had the privilege of spending the majority of my evening last night with the wonderful folks at Haunted Hamilton on one of their very popular walking ghost tours (and apparently one of the most active paranormal hot spots!) in the small town of Ancaster, Ontario at the reportedly very haunted Hermitage Ruins. {The town of Ancaster is is in fact the third oldest community in Ontario next to the City of Kingston and the beautiful yet quaint Town of Niagara-On-The-Lake}

Our tour guide for the evening was the lovely "Lady Elizabeth" who with her black shawl and dimly-lit oil lantern guided our small group of roughly ten people along the dark, wet trails through the forest and eventually to the site of the Hermitage Ruins, all the while telling us chilling tales and ghostly stories associated with the ruins and the surrounding area of Ancaster.

The rain was quite heavy and constant at the onset of the tour, though it did eventually let up at points throughout the evening. Needless to say, the foul, damp weather certainly added to the ambiance and the atmosphere for all who were present, ever so slightly increasing the creep-factor of our ghostly tour.

As the tour got under way, our guide Lady Elizabeth would have us stop at points along the dark, eerie trails to tell us ghostly tales and stories, and accounts of the supernatural which I must say she did very well! Once we arrived at the entrance to the Hermitage Ruins we proceeded together as a group onto the site which was, at first-glance, a marvelous looking structure even as it is today (what is left of it anyway) and there certainly is an "aura" about it; I could definitely feel "something" in the air around me, and surrounding the ruins, that's for sure. At this point I decided to take out my digital camera and began snapping pictures at will, ultimately hoping to at least catch something strange or paranormal.

{Be careful what you wish for, it may come true!}

Now there were several experiences that happened to certain individuals with in my group over the course of the tour; one person actually complained of feeling "suddenly ill" while myself and another gentleman thought that at one point we could smell the faint aroma of a cigarette or cigar even though nobody around us was smoking; a few others thought they could hear what sounded like someone walking around in the dense forest around the perimeter of the grounds, nowhere near us or any of the other tour groups for that matter. Hmmmm, makes you wonder.

Our tour lasted for approximately 90 minutes or so, perhaps even a little bit longer after which we were led back towards the trail to the parking lot by our ever-so-lovely guide Lady Elizabeth (I keep wanting to say Lady Evelyn for some reason.......). I have to say one thing, she certainly did a wonderful job and helped to make the experience a truly eerie yet enjoyable one!

Now I come to today ~ after a good night's sleep I decided to upload the pictures I had taken at the Hermitage Ruins to the computer in order to get a good look at them, hopefully catching something paranormal. Well let me tell you, I certainly got more than I bargained for!!!
After close analysis of all the pictures, I noticed that I had captured some images that are truly creepy and somewhat disturbing to say the least!

I won't go into too much detail on the pictures, but I will be posting a few of them on this site for anyone to look at for themselves. I captured many "Spirit Orbs" in several photographs, but the 2 most disturbing photos are what appears to be a sinister looking apparition of a male figure peering out the window of the Icehouse (hard to see but when zoomed in you can actually make out the eyes, nose, chin, body etc.) as well what appears to be two clearly distinct ghostly faces in one of the group shots ~ creepy as hell!!

All in all, it was well worth the trip out to the Hamilton area for this ghost tour and if you haven't experienced anything like this I would strongly recommend it! I would also like to thank Dan & Stephanie of Haunted Hamilton and the lovely Lady Elizabeth for providing a wonderful evening of entertainment.

For more information, you can follow the Haunted Hamilton link that I have posted in my Links section on this site. Remember, we are never alone ~ if you do end up taking this or any of the other tours I strongly suggest a raincoat, good walking shoes, a flashlight, and an open-mind.

Sleep well.