Ghosts of the Barossa: The Ghost of Travus Klinkwort

The Ghost of Travus Klinkwort

 Just 6kms from the western Barossa Valley town of Greenock sits an old ruined homestead in a field. The house was lived in by the Klinkworts who had come to Australia from Hanover Germany and settled in the region, establishing their farm. The couple had two daughters, Josia and Esther.

  Travus was a hardworking man, who was known locally as a hard worker but with a mean streak, and often, people would state he was a cold and heartless man. Sadly, Travus’ wife passed away, and he was left to run the farm and raise his daughters.

Travus was a harsh man. He worked his daughters hard and allowed them no pleasures in life. Their only social interactions away from the farm occurred at church. They came to resent and fear their father.

 The girls soon reached maturity, and curiosity about the other sex soon overcame their raging hormones. One night, Josia invited a young local boy named Randall out to the farm. The girls had lied to their father and said they were going for a walk around their farm. Instead, Esther stood watch between the house and the field, while Josia and Randall explored each other in the field.

 Travus sat in the house. He grew suspicious of the girl's claims and grabbed a double-barrelled shotgun. He left the house, and under the moonlight, spotted Esther. He headed toward her quietly, then rushed forward as he drew clearer. Esther cried out to her sister. Josia and Randall jumped up and tried to get their clothes back on. Two almighty booms rang out across the field as Travus fired both shots from his gun.

 Josia and Randall were never seen in town again.

 The following season, Travus had the biggest and best potato crop in the region. Rumours began to spread throughout the town, but nothing could be proven.

 Esther, forced by her father to keep the family secret, became a deranged and crazy old spinster, who eventually lived, and died by herself at the farm.

 In recent years, many people have been to the old homestead to take photographs. Most don’t know the history of the house, but many have reported the image of a man appearing in their photographs of the home.

 One witness, a real estate agent, reported that he had visited the property when he been driving past. He saw it as a potential saleable property and decided to go have a look inside the building. He casually walked through, and all was quiet. He suddenly heard a low growl sound, much like a dog ready to attacks make, and became scared.

 He was relieved though, to turn and see a man standing in the room too, with the sound coming from him. He looked at the man, an older gentleman wearing a torn greatcoat, baggy trousers and a battered old hat. The man continued to growl. The growl suddenly filled the room, as if it was coming from everywhere, and with it, a smell of rotting potatoes assaulted the agent’s nostrils. Then, suddenly, the man raised an ancient shotgun at the real estate agents head, and with a small click, and a mighty bang fired it at him.
 As the flash of the blast filled the room with light, the estate agent thought he was done for, but in another instant, the room was empty and silent. The estate agent ran back to his car never to return.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2019

This story first surfaced in Valerie Laughtons'True Barossa Ghost's book, in which she stated that she changed the names of the people involved.

References:
Davis, Richard & Davis, Richard Michael, (editor.) 2014, Great Australian ghost stories, ABC books, HarperCollins Publishers, Sydney, N.S.W

Laughton, Valerie Joy & Falkenberg, Darren, (photographer.) 1991, Valerie J. Laughton's true Barossa ghosts (gathered together with good spirits), Laughton, Nurioopta, S. Aust

Ghosts of the Barossa: The Ghost Dogs of Moculta

The Ghost Dogs of Moculta

  In the late 1800s, a young man working in the Barossa Valley as a delivery boy experienced a terrifying event.

While travelling from the Commercial Hotel in Angaston (known as “The Brauhaus” since 1979.) towards Moculta, the young man crossed a small bridge over the North Para River. He slowed down and looked towards an old copper mine shaft on the property of Mr J.B. Bartsch.

  From the mine shaft, a drive had been cut to the bottom of the valley, which passed under the bridge he had just travelled over. The young man sat silently on his carriage, staring toward the mine shaft.

Suddenly his horse's ears pricked up and the horses began to snort. They began to rear in fear as loud thumping sounds, grunting, snarling and the sound of metal upon rock filled the gully air.

  Out of nowhere, in broad daylight, two large dogs appeared. Both dogs had blazing red eyes and attached to their collars, large chains that whipped from side to side as they jumped up towards the cart. The dogs barked ferociously, snarling and gnashing their frothing mouths at the horses.

The young man, caught in a daze of disbelief, suddenly sprang into action and whipped at his horses to move forward. As they did, the dogs jumped on to the almost empty delivery cart, which suddenly slowed down to a crawl as the horses struggled with the extra, supernatural weight of the dogs.
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The dogs, still making maddening noises, the chains still clinking as they whipped about, suddenly leapt off the cart, which took off with a jolt, as the extra weight lifted from it.

The young man whipped the horses to travel as far as he could from the bridge back to his home in Moculta. Panicking, adrenaline coursing through his veins, fear-filled his entire being. 

He had no explanation for his experience and remained unsure if the dogs were indeed ghosts, or mighty beasts that had broken their chains and become feral – either way, he found another route for his deliveries after his experience.

Have you experienced the ghost dogs of Moculta in the Barossa Valley? Let us know via the forums on Facebook.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2015
The Haunts of Adelaide

Chateau Tanunda

Chateau Tanunda

In 1870 the wine world was hit by the spread of phylloxera through Europe causing a shortage of available affordable wine. In South Australia’s Barossa Valley, many little wineries had been established up to 20 years earlier and were now beginning to find their way.

A consortium of 4 men in Adelaide, saw the potential for South Australian wines on the world market and founded a business called The Adelaide Wine Company, which a short time later changed its operating name to Chateau Tanunda.

The Building of the Chateau, which at the time was the largest building in South Australia and the largest winery in the Southern Hemisphere, took two years to complete and was finished in 1890.

It was inspired by a French Bavarian style of buildings. The building is 86 metres in length and 48 meters wide and boasts a 21-metre tower. It has a large cellar with almost metre thick walls, its south cellars were cut into the side of a hill for better temperature control.

It could store 5 million litres of wine.

Ownership of the winery changed in 1916 when the Seppelt family became owners of the winery, the Seppelts family remained owners until 1998 when the building was bought by current owners John Geber & family.

The Geber family has done extensive work to the building's and surrounding grounds, even installing their very own cricket pitch.

In an interview with John Geber in 2009, he states how he discovered the Chateau, which had a sign on the door stating “Do not enter”.

The building had been stripped of its inner workings and all records within its walls dumped.

John slept in the building, which was never designed for overnight stays and discovered that the building was haunted “I had some interesting nights!” he said in reference to the ghosts making themselves known, but he elaborates no further...

Have you seen or felt a spirit at Chateau Tanunda? If so please feel free to comment below and tell us your story!

© 2013 Allen Tiller

www.eidolonparanormal.com.au

Photos by Karen Tiller