What have the Holy Grail, sea serpents, witchcraft, and Tutankhamun got to do with Portsmouth?

The year is 1848 and HMS St Vincent, a 120-gun Royal Navy warship, is anchored at Spithead. The sailors on board are hardy sorts, not the type to be easily spooked by tales of mermaids and creatures of the deep.
Mysteries of Portsmouth by Matt WingettMysteries of Portsmouth by Matt Wingett
Mysteries of Portsmouth by Matt Wingett

But what the watchman spots passing between the ship and the Isle of Wight on that quiet summer night sendings him racing to the wardroom to report to his superiors the ‘large monster, with a head and shaggy tail, about 100ft long’.

Was it the mythical Solent sea serpent, or just Victorian fake news?

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Southsea author Matt Wingett uncovers the truth behind the salty tale and many more, in his latest book, Mysteries of Portsmouth.

An engraving of Egyptian artefacts taking from King Tut's tomb. Image courtesy of Matt WingettAn engraving of Egyptian artefacts taking from King Tut's tomb. Image courtesy of Matt Wingett
An engraving of Egyptian artefacts taking from King Tut's tomb. Image courtesy of Matt Wingett

Matt says: ‘The book tracks how some stories in the Victorian era start off as sober reports and end up weeks later in other papers completely changed by regional editors looking for a sensation for their paper.‘It's fun to see how stories change on the retelling.

‘The same thing happens today on social media, but thousands of times faster.’

The truth of the Solent sea serpent turned out to be rather mundane.

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As officers raced to the sea monster in scrambled boats, guns poised, it turned out to be a long line of soot from the flue of a steamer from, of all places, Southampton.

Medium Helen DuncanMedium Helen Duncan
Medium Helen Duncan

Drawing on newspaper reports, historical accounts and local myths and legends, the book shines a light on historical unexplained phenomena from Portsmouth that made it into the national news – and asks the reader to decide if they could be true.

As well as baffling tales of hauntings and unexplained figures there is also an account of the first MoD-recognised UFO sighting, which happened over Portsmouth.

Equally strange is the story of the sole survivor of the famous Tutankhamun expedition in Egypt. Richard Adamson spent his retirement at Drayton, but as a young police officer in Egypt it was his job to patrol the streets of Luxor.

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But they were not any old dusty Egyptian streets. In 1922 he was working the beat in the Valley of the Kings when he noticed some notorious tomb raiders attempting to cover up something.

Author Matt Wingett with his book, Mysteries of PortsmouthAuthor Matt Wingett with his book, Mysteries of Portsmouth
Author Matt Wingett with his book, Mysteries of Portsmouth

He investigated and uncovered a set of steps leading below ground.

Matt says: ‘So it was that Adamson found the location of the most famous Egyptian burial chamber the world has ever seen.’

The Curse of Tutankhamun is known far and wide. From chief archaeologist Howard Carter, to financial backer Lord Carnarvon, to surveyors and others in between – all those who disturbed the sleep of the Pharaoh came to tragic ends.

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Yet Adamson, the sole survivor, refused to believe in the curse and in his retirement in Portsmouth he sought to dispel the myth.

‘In a 1970 TV interview’ says Matt, ‘he told viewers “I don’t believe in the myth for one moment.”

‘Moments after leaving the studio his taxi was involved in a dramatic crash. The Liverpool Echo reveals that it collided with a tractor and that the impact threw Adamson on to the road into the path of a passing lorry. It missed his head by inches.’

Adamson had spoken out publicly to refute the curse three times. The first time his wife died within 48 hours. The second time his son broke his back in a plane crash. And the third time he himself only just escaped almost certain death.

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Only then did he concede he was having second thoughts about whether the curse was real. ‘This could easily have been one more coincidence in a line of tragic coincidences’, says Matt.

‘But when you join the dots in a certain way a pattern seems to be revealed.

‘Who knew that the man who discovered the site of the tomb of Tutankhamun lived in Portsmouth – and that he finally came to accept that there might be something in the curse he denied for years?’ asks Matt. ‘It's crazy stuff, but well documented.’

Some of the true stories draw on gruesome events to explain hauntings, such as the beheading of Lady Margaret Pole, one-time resident of Warblington Castle, Havant, until she fell out of favour with the tyrant King Henry VIII and was executed.

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The book also includes accounts of ghostly contacts described by Southsea resident Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Charles Dickens even makes an appearance in a séance long after his death.

The story behind the notorious medium Helen Duncan is also examined.

Matt explains: ‘When you tell people who haven’t heard the story of the last woman to be imprisoned under the 1735 Witchcraft Act in the UK, the thing you hear is the shock as they gasp in disbelief that it happened in 1944.’

Duncan was arrested following a séance in Copnor Road, in December 1941, accused of pretending to conjure spirits.

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She claimed to have received a message from a dead sailor who wanted to let a relative know he had passed on safely to the afterlife after he had died during the sinking of the Royal Navy battleship, HMS Barham.

Although HMS Barham had sunk on November 26, 1941, the government had suppressed news of the disaster for propaganda purposes.

‘Thus,’ says Matt, ‘it was impossible for Duncan to have known about it through conventional means. Which left the question – how did she know Barham had sunk?’

Duncan was tried, convicted and jailed for nine months.

‘It remains a mystery for believers and non-believers to argue over for many years to come.’

Decide for yourself by reading Mysteries of Portsmouth.

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To buy a signed copy direct from Matt visit the follow venues: Gunwharf Quays, Saturday, December 7 from 11am-5pm.The Square Tower, Old Portsmouth, Sunday, December 8 from 11am-3pm. Lakeside North Harbour, December 13 and 20, 11am-3pm. Love Southsea Market, Palmerston Road, December 14, 10am-3pm and December 15, 10am-4pm. It is available to buy from New To You, Cosham, Portsmouth Museum, and Southsea Library.It costs £10 and is also available from Matt’s website, lifeisamazing.co.uk.

Matt regularly runs creative writing workshops and gives talks on literary subjects.

Go to his website for more information.