Haunted Houses

Britain is renowned around the world for its ghosts, spooks and ghouls, whose eerie spirits can still be felt and seen around the country. Here, we present a list of the most haunted houses in Britain.

Athelhampton Hall, Dorset

Erected in the 15th Century the house was the family home of the Martyn’s, who counted amongst their family members, a pet monkey. The Martyn’s daughter tragically took her own life because the love of her life did not feel the same way about her. Unfortunately however, the daft mare committed suicide in a locked secret chamber. She also failed to notice the poor little pet chimp in the room and it subsequently starved to death. To this day you can hear the hungry mite scratching at the panelling desperate to be let out.

Bramshill House

A dwelling on this site can be traced back to the Saxon times, however, the building of this police training college dates back to 1612. This is the Legend of Mistletoe Bough and rather funny it is too.
A female relative of Sir John Cope, who owned the building from 1699, played a seemingly harmless game of hide and seek on the morning of her wedding day. On finding a heavy chest she hid inside and succeeded in becoming the all-time champion of the children’s pastime. Going unnoticed for some time, the bride-to-be decided to get out and reveal herself, unfortunately however, she found that she couldn’t lift the hefty lid. Her screams for help went unheard and she eventually suffocated. She now wanders through the house wailing in the hope somebody will release her.

Chingle Hall, PRESTON

Dating back to 1260 this moated manor house was the birthplace of Father John Wall, a Roman Catholic martyr who was beheaded for his religious beliefs. The headless monk is often heard causing a spine chilling commotion and frightening the residents of this ghostly hall.

Highlow Hall, Derbyshire

Highlow Hall was the seat of the Eyre family. Nicholas Eyre, the founder of the dynasty, married in 1340. The lucky lad had the pick of two sisters, both madly in love with him. Unfortunately his choice led to a spot of bother when the older sister, unable to cope with the pain, topped herself unable to deal with the pain this caused. A vision of a white lady continues to haunt the hall.

Levens Hall, cumria

Haunted by a malevolent Grey Lady who lurches around the place like a moaning Minnie, she is the ghost of a starving gypsy who was refused food and shelter by the inhabitants. With her dying breath she reportedly put a curse on the family who had sent her packing.

Moreton CorbeT, SHROPSHIRE

This stately home was the scene of a spectacular fall out between a Vincent Corbet and his one time friend, Paul Holmyard. Work on the home began in the early 17th century but has never been finished because a) the original owner, Vincent’s brother, died of the Plague and b) Paul was thrown out of the house and was left to rot, he cursed the house and it was never finished. Never one to let a grudge bother him, Paul’s spirit wanders around the grounds warning off anybody who’s thinking of getting in touch with the local planning department to finish it off.

Pythouse, wiltshire

The home of the Bennett Stanford family who lived on this estate for 700 years, the curse of a disgruntled maid continues to haunt the house. The maid was executed for accidentally killing her own child, but as part of the family, the maid’s skeleton was kept in the house. On the three occasions her skeleton has been moved the curse has struck. The first time one of the mansion’s wings caught fire, the second time the son and heir died and the third time the only daughter died, effectively bringing an axe down on the stump of the Bennett Stanford family tree.

Smithills Hall, lancashire

Whilst a house of the same name may have stood here as long ago as 597, in the 16th Century it was in the hands of the Barton family. George Marsh was a nonconformist minister who was bought here to be questioned over his beliefs. In the heat of a particularly tough interrogation session, George stamped his foot into the ground and claimed his footprint would remain to remind people of his suffering. This of course did him little good and he was promptly burned alive as a heretic. His footprint however, outlived poor George and is still there for all to see. On the one occasion it was removed it was the spark for a number of terrifying disturbances. Upon its return, the hall returned to its peaceful self.

Bosworth Hall, LEICESTERSHIRE

Used recently as a nursing home, hospital and conference centre, in 1758, it was the home of Sir Wolston Dixie and his daughter Ann. Ann was infatuated with the gardener’s son who would often pay her a night time visit for a bit of fruity fun. When old Wolston found out he was less than pleased and set traps around the grounds to prevent any further nocturnal liaisons. In a cruel twist of irony, the trap clapped its iron jaws around Ann as she attempted to reach her lover in his hut. She dragged herself from the garden and into her bedroom but died from the loss of blood. There is a permanent reminder on the downstairs ceiling where her blood soaked through from the floor of her room and she still walks the house looking for love.

Burton Agnes Hall, Humberside

Built by Sir Henry Griffith in 1598, his daughter, Anne fell in love with the place as soon as she clapped her spoilt little eyes on it. Murdered by beggars, Anne’s dying wish was that her skull should be left in the house. Unsurprisingly perturbed by such a macabre request, her family unheeded her wish. Anne’s lost her head and created all sorts of consternation with her banging and crashing. Her body was exhumed and her skull placed in the house. The commotion subsided. A subsequent attempt to remove the skull has resulted in similar disturbances. It is reported the skull is kept in the house in a secret location.

Clandon House, surrey

The house’s architect was a Venetian fella called Giacomo Leoni whose wife immediately fell in love with posh pad when she saw the plans. The perfect home for the happy couple. Unfortunately, she died before it was finished and a lady in a cream satin dress is now an occasional visitor enjoying its regency in death that she was unable to in life.

Heskin Hall, Lancashire

Now a modern conference centre it is still haunted by a White Lady who was executed during the Civil War. As a Catholic she hid at the hall and was given up by a priest who was found by an army of Roundheads. The cowardly man of the cloth offered to hang the woman to prove he was a staunch ally of Cromwell, which subsequently did. However, he got what he deserved and was strung up anyway. The White Lady is a frequent visitor to the hall in which she was hung.

 

Ightham Mote, kent

This innocent looking moated manor house built in 1340 is inextricably linked to the Gun Powder Plot of 1605. One Dorothy Selby sent a letter to a nobleman warning him not to attend the House of Commons on the very day Guy Fawkes intended to light the blue touch paper to smash Parliament to smithereens. The letter was intercepted and Mr Fawkes’ nefarious scheme was rumbled. Supporters of firework Fawkes blamed Ms Selby for the lack of fireworks, locked her in a secret room and left her to rot. Her bones lay undiscovered for three hundred years and if you ever visit the tower, there remains an eerie chill in the air even in the heat of summer.

Lyme Hall, cheshire

The hall was the home of the Legh family from 1346 until 1946 when it became a National Trust property. A Legh descendant, Sir Piers Legh, was a war hero who fought alongside Henry V in his various scrapes with the French. Sir Piers also had a secret. He had been having an affair with a lady called Blanche. As Blanche was not of the same social class, the affair was conducted convertly. Sir Piers was killed in battle in 1422 and the first Blanche knew of this was when his dead body was brought home for burial. Unable to attend the funeral at the time, Blanche stages her own supernatural funeral cortege around the house and her forlorn ghostly appearance can still be detected.

Penfound Manor, Cornwall

The English Civil War haemorrhaged family loyalties, creating huge rifts between family loyalties which took decades to heal. The ghostly apparitions which appear at the manor are very much wrapped up in the disorder of that era. During the Civil War the house belonged to the Penfound family. The patriarch was staunch Royalist his daughter’s lover, John Trebarfoot a staunch Parliamentary. One evening, when daughter, Kate and John were in the process of eloping they were caught by Kate’s father. A bitter fight ensued killing John and badly injuring the warring Penfound father and daughter. Both later died of their injuries. Whilst Kate returns on a frequent basis pinning for her lost love, on the 26th April, the anniversary of this tragic event, the ghosts of all three have been known to make a spine tingling reappearance.

Samlesbury Hall, Lancashire

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the hall was Sir John Southworth's home, who was the Sheriff of Lancashire and a staunch Catholic, which was unfortunate for his daughter, Dorothy, as she fell in love with a Protestant, a definite no-no in the eyes of her strict dad. Caught red handed as they set off to elope by Dorothy’s brother an unholy brawl followed and Dorothy’s Protestant lover was brutally killed, along with two his mates. Dorothy was sent to a convent and kept under constant observation. Imprisoned and desperately sad, Dorothy slowly went insane and went to her grave a raving lunatic. It’s been said that dotty Dorothy and her forbidden lover meet in the grounds of the hall to share a few precious moments together.