The Ghost of Felbrigg Hall Library

Felbrigg Hall, Norfolk is said to be one of the finest 17th-century country houses in East Anglia and as befits a 17th century house Felbrigg has a resident ghost.

The National Trust says that "the ghost stories associated with Felbrigg centre on the phantom bibliophile." who "will only appear when an exact combination of books is placed on the library chair." The library ghost is thought to be that of William Windham who actually lost his life as a result of rescuing another library from fire.

In 1809 William Windham noticed a house on fire that was threatening to spread to the home of his friend Robert North, knowing that his friend's home housed a valuable library of manuscripts he set about rescuing them. William's rescue attempt was successful but unfortunately he was injured in the process. William's injury resulted in a tumour which had to be operated on and he died as a result of the procedure.

Later owners of Felbrigg Hall, the Kitton family, told the writer Augustus Hare about the ghost of William Windham:

"Mr Windham comes every night to look after his favourite books in the library. He goes straight to the shelves where they are: we hear him moving the tables and chairs about. We never disturb him though, for we intend to be ghosts ourselves some day and to come about the place just as he does."

Image: © Copyright Philip Halling and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence