Strange things happen in 17th Century Nunnington Hall situated on the banks of the River Rye in North Yorkshire. Now owned and managed by The National Trust a member of staff has assured me that Nunnington Hall is indeed haunted although not in a scary fashion. She found upon entering the building in the morning that lights, which she personally switched off, had been turned on and locked doors open.
Lilette de Foucauld, a young French woman staying at Nunnington during the 1930's would probably not have agreed with my source. She found her sleep disturbed in the Panelled Room by something coming out of the wall over her bed. Moving to another bedroom restored her sleep!
Visiting members of the public have commented on the feeling of something brushing against their legs at the top of the staircase. This is believed to be the ghost of a pet dog who plunged to it's death through the staircase railings.
Visitors have also reported a smell of pipe smoke, glimpses of a hurrying figure and the distant sound of a party.
Even the garden is haunted by a lady taking a walk along the pathways.
But perhaps Nunnington Hall's most famous ghost is that of The Proud Lady of Nunnington whose ghost is seen, and the rustling of her gown heard, walking throughout the house.
The Proud Lady of Nunnington was the second wife of the owner of Nunnington Hall, one could call her a wicked stepmother as she disliked her stepson so much that, upon the demise of her husband, she had him locked in the attic. But her own son was very fond of his step brother and often visited the attic to play with his older brother.
One night the older boy managed to escape from Nunnington, probably with the aid of one of the servants. This left the younger lad distraught at the loss of his playmate, he moped around the house watching from the upstairs windows in hope of his brother's return. Sadly, he must have glimpsed what he believed to be his brother in the distance because he leaned too far out of one of the windows and fell to his death.
There after, until her death, The Proud Lady of Nunnington, mad with grief, wandered the house for hours at a time. Her ghost still does.
Image: © Copyright Carol Walker and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
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