In 1957, three schoolboys from Dorchester, aged 13 and 14, got into an unoccupied three-storey property in Coker’s Frome, Dorchester, which they believed was haunted.
Their mischief, fuelled by burning paper torches and a homemade ghost, led to a fire that seriously damaged the building and landed them in front of a juvenile court.
The story, reported by the Dorset Daily Echo on March 8, 1957, remains a striking example of childhood curiosity gone dangerously wrong.
One of the 14-year-old boys told the court: “We made a ghost with pieces of cloth and set it up in the window as we were going to frighten some other kids.”
The youngsters called the property “haunted”.
Two of the boys explored the empty house on January 26, lighting paper torches to see in the darkness.
On a later visit, one of the boys found a mop, tied paper around it, and set it alight.
“There was a lot of smoke in the house,” the court heard.
Owned by George Algernon Mayo of Frome Whitfield, the property was extensively damaged in the fire, with repair costs estimated between £4,000 and £5,000—a significant sum at the time.
A police sergeant searching for two of the boys, who had been reported missing, discovered the fire late on January 28.
He was accompanied by the father of one of the boys.
They took a footpath from the London Road bridge, passing the old swimming baths, on their way to the house.
At about 11.50pm, the officer noticed a glow in the sky and arrived at the farmhouse to find its roof well ablaze.
Divisional fire officer Sidney Arthur Bickers of Dorset Fire Brigade described the full extent of the blaze.
He said the building was burning on all floors of its north side.
Two staircases were destroyed, and the roof collapsed onto the second floor, which then gave way.
Mr Bickers believed the fire started on the second floor but said there was no evidence to confirm the exact cause.
The court also heard about the boys’ activities in the days surrounding the incident.
One said he and another had skipped school to visit Weymouth and spent the afternoon at the cinema before returning to Dorchester.
They went to the cinema again and spent the night in a shed at Poundbury.
The following day, they returned to the “haunted” house but stayed away after seeing people clearing the property.
They then travelled to Weymouth once more and spent another night at Poundbury.
All three boys denied deliberately setting the fire.
They pleaded not guilty to charges of maliciously setting fire to the house with intent to injure or defraud the owner, as well as the alternative charge of maliciously and voluntarily burning the house.
The court was told the boys believed the fire had been extinguished when they left the house and that they had tried to put out any smouldering material.
Ultimately, the court found them not guilty of the arson charges.
Two of the boys were also accused of stealing items from the property, and one later pleaded guilty.
Both were placed on probation for two years.
Walter Lancashire, chairman of the juvenile panel, said: “We are very dissatisfied with your conduct and we hope you will respond to the leniency of the punishment.”
To the 14-year-old, he said: “You have some good qualities according to these reports we have seen. Let us see some of them.”
