Hermeston Hall

Nottinghamshire

History

This stone hall is believed to have been built out of material stolen from Roche Abbey. The current hall was built in 1848 by C. Challoner, a wine and timber merchant from Liverpool, while the back portion of the house which is owned by the Riddell family dates back to the 16th Century. According to legend there was a battle near the area that the hall now stands on and the grounds were used as a hospital and a place to keep the dead. A Roman road runs through the property and apparently a Roman villa was situated just metres from the house. There has been a building on the site since as early as 1100 AD when the Cressy family lived there until 1408. The Cressy's had strong connections with the Knight's Templar It is said that the hall was built on the foundations of a far greater property that was never finished. The person responsible for this earlier building is said to be Bess of Hardwick and potholers have found foundations of a different house under the floor. After the Civil War the area went into decline and from 1765 the Mellish family became connected with the area as they held 20,000 acres of local land. It is thought that in the early part of the 19th Century Edward Challoner killed someone in an illegal duel here and fled north where he married into the Riddell family. In order to further distance himself from the crime he allegedly had himself canonized as a Catholic Bishop.

Paranormal Activity

Roman soldiers have been spotted marching along the driveway and in the cellars. A woman with red hair and black Elizabethan clothes is seen in the grounds. Is she perhaps Bess of Hardwick? The ghostly figures of a man and a boy have been seen in one of the 16th Century cottages, located within the grounds. A previous gardener, long since dead, likes to watch the current gardener as he works around here. Victorian servants are often seen in the corridors and a man in a top hat likes to hand around in the toilet near the entrance. The back corridors and stairs play host to phantom children, a ghostly cat and the spirit of a toddler playing a piano. The ghost of a little girl dressed in Victorian clothing has been seen playing in the dining room. An officer in uniform has been seen in the Boudoir, as has the ghost of a white lady. The current owners believe that The Bishop's Room is haunted by the ghost of a particularly unfriendly Bishop. Could this be the spirit of Edward Challoner? The menacing spirit of a woman haunts the attic. An old housekeeper has been seen walking from the office and down the stairs in the old servants' quarters.

Red mists and orbs in the cellars have been captured on camera. Many have felt the weird sensation that they are being watched. Low voices are regularly heard coming from the Dining Room, and the smell of tobacco is often detected. Cold spots are common throughout the hall, as is a feeling of uneasiness. People have often had their hair felt or pulled in the Billiard Room. EMF readings have been off the scale! A child's handprint has been found on the window of the Chinese Room even though there are no children living in the house. Chillingly, the sound of screaming has been heard in the Patchwork Room. Something in Bishop's Room seems to induce feelings of oppression, headaches and queasiness. In the old servants' quarters strange mists have been seen and the servants' bells have been known to chime on their own. In the attic, orbs have been caught on camera and individuals, particularly men have felt as though they are being strangled.

Annesley Hall

Nottinghamshire

Annesley Hall is situated 8 miles north west of Nottingham.

History

Originally a hunting lodge, it was built in 1156, then added to over the years and eventually evolving into a Hall. The hall is grade II listed and set in a 17th century landscape park of around 250 acres. William the conqueror granted the Manor of Annesley to a Norman lord named Ralph Fitz-Hubert. However, their family connection with Annesley ended in 1154 when Robert Fitz-Hubert was besieged and captured at Devises castle. The first lord of Annesley manor to take the name was Ralph Britto de Annesley who died sometime between 1156 and 1161. He founded Felly Priory in 1156 and was buried by the altar of Felly Priory church. The Annesleys of Annesley were lords of the manor until the 15th Century. The Chaworth family owned the estate since the reign of Henry VI when George Chaworth (3rd son of Sir Thomas Chaworth, Knight of Wiverton) married Alice de Annesley in 1442. The hall has associations with the poet Lord Byron, it was the home of his childhood sweet-heart, Mary Ann Chaworth (1785-1832) (however this love was unrequited and she was already engaged to John Musters). Lord Byron had a bedroom at the hall. Mary Chaworth was the subject of at least five of Byrons early poems including Hills of Annesley and there are allusions to his love story in The Dream (1816). Mary Chaworth was the heiress of the Annesley estate, she married John Musters in 1805. The Chaworth-Musters owned the property until 1973 when they sold the property to live at Felly Priory. The property was devastated by fire on Sept 4th 1997 and has been owned by a local builder since the 1980s.

Paranormal Activity

A black figure with the appearance of an old man has been spotted by the propertys caretaker. In the old laundry room, the apparition of a young girl has been. In the adjoining property of the All Saints Church and Cemetary, the ghostly figure of a man (possibly a monk) has been seen a number of times, moving across the gravestones. In the Breakfast Room, a man with a tri-corn hat has been spotted. Apparently, these may be related to the story of a young girl who fell pregnant to one of the landed gentry and who hung herself at the top of the stairs in the laundry room. And in the 1600s a maid went missing. The rumour is that the Viscount got her pregnant and killed her. When they were fitting the hall with electricity they found bones underneath the staircase, they were sent off for analysis and were found to be the bones of a pregnant woman.

Witnesses have seen firewood and stones being thrown at people in here. In Byrons Bedroom members of a paranormal group witnessed one guest being pushed out of the room by unseen hands. Inside the church in EVP voices have been recorded while investigating the monk holes. Huge orbs and numerous other light anomalies have also been reported. One man was severely burnt and scratched on the side of his neck. Snoring and whispers were heard in numerous rooms. The figure of a young woman was seen at the window of the servants quarters. In the upstairs Ladys bedroom, visitors report a strange lavender-like smell that comes and goes of its own accord.

Note that the hall and grounds are not open to the public, but you can view them from the A611 and by foot from Dog and Bear lane.