Annesley Hall

Wishing to avoid a public scandal, the owners of the house in the 18th century, the Chatsworths, packed off a servant girl to stay with her aunt in Northumberland when their Squire got her pregnant. He gave her silver and arranged for regular payments to be sent to her which he increased when he was told she had given birth. Then a year or so later, the emaciated form of the servant girl was seen in the grounds of the hall which confused the Squire as he was receiving status updates on the girl and his son (the servant girl could not write). A steward determined that the girl had died at the same time that her form was seen at the hall; the aunt had sent the child to the workhouse and misappropriated the money for herself. The child was rescued and sent to live with relatives. The ghost of the servant is still seen to this day, in the grounds and surrounding areas. Another female phantom is that of a girl who brushes her long dark hair and who sits near a well in the grounds. The nearby ruined church has a figure in a black robe or cloak; he crosses the nearby road and then climbs the hillock towards the church. Some say he is a monk, others a vicar, but some think he is James Annesley who supposedly died at the age of nine due to injuries incurred in a fall. 32 years later a "James Annesley" reappeared claiming that he was the child. He said that he was rescued by his schoolmaster when his uncle ordered him killed so that he could inherit a fortune. Courts could not agree whether his claim was genuine but he was allowed to stay at Annesley with living expenses paid for him. A spectral servant girl has been seen in an upper corridor, standing on floorboards that no longer exist. It is also said that Lord Byron, who lived here, has been seen a spectre with his lover, Mary who had spurned him. A spectral monk has been seen, it is said, at the nearby old church. These are but a few of the many stories associated with this area!