Welcome to the Gates of Hell: Maudslay State Park
Living on the north shore of Massachusetts gives you access to a ton of alleged paranormal sites and one of my all-time favorites would have to be Maudslay State Park in Newburyport. This place for some reason has drawn me back year after year and it continues to fascinate me. It’s one of those places that’s completely beautiful but at the same time creepy as hell.
One of the things that I’ve always found really interesting is the lack of information on the history of the place. Maybe I haven’t dug enough but it seems as though I can never get the real story which is why it’s probably intrigued me this long. Even Newburyport locals have a tough time filling you in on the details. But what you will find is, the park is the site of what use to be the estate of Frederick Strong Moseley which spans over 400 acres and runs along the Merrimack River. The estate was called “Maudesleigh” and had been built over a 19th century farm.
In 1985 the property was acquired by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management where it became Maudslay State Park. Today the park is full of ruins, bridges, maze-like gardens, a pet cemetery, and endless woods. You can spend hours in this place and still not see everything.
But what brought me here originally years ago was the story of “The Gates of Hell”. The original entrance into the estate is an old rod iron gate that leads back to the foundation of one of the homes on the estate. Why it got this name? Who knows? But this is where all the stories begin. Just some of the stories are goblin sightings under the bridges, satan worshippers conducting black celebrations, hell hounds, an old guy called Mr. Jingles, a murdered police officer, a ballroom full of guests dying in a fire, and the list goes on.
Now I know a lot of this sounds like urban legend and you know what, it probably is, but Maudslay can still deliver a chill right when you least expect it. For instance I’ve been there at night, which really isn’t recommended or allowed, so don’t get caught, but it’s freakin’ scary. You just always have a very strange feeling of being watched. Again this could’ve been my imagination but when you’re standing in a moon-lit maze at midnight you’re brain starts to spin some loopy thoughts. Can you say “Shining?” Yeah, you know exactly what I mean. I’ve also had a very strange experience in the rhododendrons which is on one of the main walking paths. It was late afternoon, very sunny and warm, birds chirping away and as soon as I walked into this section of rhododendrons everything went completely silent and the temperature felt like it dropped 10 degrees. I stood there waiting for the birds to start again figuring I had just startled them but nothing. There wasn’t even a sound of wind or the trees moving. It was almost like someone flipped a switch and just turned everything off. Again, weird.
Recently I had the urge again to go visit the strangeness of Maudslay. But what made this trip extra interesting was the unexpected snow storm. So I shot some quick photos of the different locations. I think I captured some interesting stuff but see what you think. I’m interested if anyone finds anything in them. And if you’re ever in the Newburyport area make sure you swing through Maudslay State Park, you won’t be disappointed. Oh and say hi to Mr. Jingles.
11 Responses to “Welcome to the Gates of Hell: Maudslay State Park”
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loopy on March 24th, 2009
I’s love to interview the person who made this video and wrote the article.
Thank you kindly,
Shadows Of doubt Paranormal Talk
deb on June 4th, 2009
I first visited the Moseley Estate back in 1975 – 76. At that time I gained permission from Helen’s nephew to do a four seasons photo essay and subsequently a short video of the estate. I still have many of the photos, but sadly the old B&W, reel to reel video has long since disappeared.
After living out of state for many years, I’m now semi local and have been bringing my daughter to the Moseley’s. What we have not been able to locate is the grave of “Araby”, one of the Moseley’s horses. It should be in about the same area as the dog’s graves, but we have been unable to find it.
I’m curious as to where you have read/heard the “ghost” stories.
@ecobject on June 6th, 2009
Great article and movie (slideshow)
andy weston on November 27th, 2009
the dogs graves would that be all the jack russels the moselys owned. I remember as a boy hanging out at the farm as a matter of fact mr mosely gave me my first dog, a black lab named satan. when we fished the river we always got a strange feeling and rode our bikes as fast as we could past the estate gates.
runner on January 3rd, 2010
1:37 minutes in is evidence you let your dog run unleashed in Maudsley, at the Gardens. You're a jerk.
Brody Maddox on January 21st, 2010
Runner, Actually thats's not my dog. I'm guessing it was some sort of hellhound.
owell on February 4th, 2010
I dont know why they named it Maudsley? They should have left it Moseley estate. The new name erks me…hate it..I used the place as my own personal playground through the early 70's and early 80's unit it went public. Yeah i wasnt supposed to be out there but what else was a young boy to do in the area back then and it was my back yard(literally). I never saw any ghosts day or night and i think most of the rumors or legends were started by the caretaker to keep us kids out of the estate. It didnt work and just made more people want to explore the grounds. It was a great place to grow up and in my opinion ruined by progress.
wow on May 23rd, 2010
Mary… regardless, there’s a man who lives off the river trail who will shoot any unleashed dog that comes on the property. he called him a jerk because he risked that
Amanda on June 2nd, 2010
Coincidentally, I've taken some nearly identical photos as the ones you have, such as the pole at 1:17. I've always been interested in the history of Maudslay and the mysterious, eerie vibe of the park, despite its daytime beauty. I've been researching it a lot lately and you're right, there isn't much information out there. If you'd like to chat about it sometime, email me at atrue2004@yahoo.com. I'd be happy to collaborate :)
lawrenda on October 12th, 2010
O MY WORDS. PEOPLE WOULD THINK ME CRAZY. LAST NIGHT MY SON AND FRIENDS ASKED ME IF I WANNA GO TO A HAUNTED PLACE. AT FIRST I LAUGHED AND I SAID NO. MY SON ASKED ME TO GOOGLE IT. I DID. O MY THE STUFF I READ. I WAS FEARFUL FOR MY SON. I CALLED HIM AND TOLD HIM WHAT I FOUND. I ASKED IF I COULD GO. THEY SAID SURE. I WROTE EVERYTHING DOWN. WE FOUND THE STATE PARK. WE FOUND BELLS GATES. WE ALL GOT OUT BUT THE DRIVER. SHE WAS READY TO LEAVE WHEN WE WERE. SHE WAS SCARED AS HELP AFTER I TOLD HER WHAT I READ. IT WAS ALL HER IDEA TO GATHER PEOPLE AND GO. ALL 4 OF US WENT UP TO THE HELPS BLACK GATES WEARING ALL BLACK WITH HOODS. BLACK GANGSTERS LOOKING FOR GHOST. HAHAHA. WELL WE ALL CLIMB UP ON THE WALL. I SWEAR SOMETHING WAS PULLING ME OFF THE WALL. I STRUGGLED TO GET ON IT. EVERYONE WATCHED. THEY HAD NO PROBLEM. I THEN FELT SOMETHING GRAB MY COAT ON THE LEFT SIDE AND WAS PULLING AND PUSHING ME BACK AND FORTH. I CAME CLOSE TO FALLING ON THE ESTATE SIDE. I PUSHED MY SELF HARD TO THE LEFT AND GRAB THE BRICK WALL. THE KIDS THAT I LOST ME BALANCE. I SWEAR I DID NOT LOSE MY BALANCE AT ALL. WE DECIDE WHICH ONE WOULD BE THE LOOK OUT. THEY CHOOSE ME. I BOY WAS I SCARE FOR THEM. ALL3 JUMPED INTO THE ESTATE YARD. MY SON SAID YELL MR JINGLES. IRIS. HE SAID LOUDER. I DID. HE SAID SCREAM THAT NAME. I SCREAMED ON THE TOP OF MY LUNGS…… MR. JINGLES. BY THEN I COULD BEARLY SEE THE KIDS. I WAS FREEZEN. MY BREATH WAS FOG. THE KIDS HAD FLASH LIGHTS. I COULD NEARLY SEE THE LIGHTS. I THEN SAW MY SONS FRIEND STOP. I THEN SAW THICK FOG SURROUND THE KIDS LIGHTS. MY SONS FRIEND RAN BACK AND FELL. HE WAS SCREAMING GET OFF ME. I WAS SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER FOR MY SON AND HIS LADY. I COULD FAINTLY SEE THERE LIGHT COMING TOWARD ME. THEY HAD THICK FOG CHASING THEM. MY SONS GIRL FELL AND WAS SCREAMING SO LOUD IT WOULD WAKE THE DEAD. I ENDED UP JUMPING OFF THE WALL TO HELP THEM. I RAN TO MY SONS FRIEND. HE HAD BLOOD ALL OVER HIM. I FELT SOMETHING GRAB ME. I WAS SCREAMING SO LOUD THAT THE GIRL IN THE CAR DROVE HET CAR RIGHT UP ON THE BELLS GATES AND FLASHED HER HIGH BEAMS AND O MY U WILL NEVER BELIVE WHAT WE ALL SAW…3 GHOST. THE DEID COP HAD MY SONS FRIEND. THE GIRL IN A WHITE DRESS HAD MY SONS GIRL FRIEND. AND MR JINGLES WAS HEADING TOWARDS MY SON. THE BRIGHT MAD THEM MORE PISSED OFF. WE ALL GATHERED TOGETHER SCARED AS HELP. WE BACKED AWAY SLOWLY AND JUMPED THE BRICK WALL. AS I WAS THE LAST TO GO OVER MR JINGLES GRAB MY COAT AGAIN. I FOUGHT TO GET OVER AND I DID. WE ALL GOT IN THE CAR AND DROVE OFF MADLY. I ENERGY UP HOME STILL SCATED AS HELP. I CLEANED MY WOUNDS AS THE OTHERS DID. I TOOK EVERTHING OUT MY POCKETS. O NOW SOMETHING IS MISSING AND SOMETHING WAS ADDED. MY KNIFE IS GONE, BUT I HAVE A BELL INSTEAD. I HAVE NOT BEEN RIGHT SINCE. I HEAR THINGS AND C THINGS. WHAT HAPPENED? SOMEONE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME. SIGNED LAWRENDA
Richard Janvrin on April 24th, 2011
I've visited Maudsley 100's of time, I use a provokation tactic. Nothing ever works, I've investigated other areas and this is nothing compared to those
- Resident of New Hampshire.