HAUNTED HAM HOUSE
Did you know that Ham House is one of the most haunted buildings in the country with sightings of mysterious characters and strange smells all reported in the building.
At the centre of it all seems to be the restless spirit of Elizabeth Murray, Duchess of Lauderdale. She inherited Ham House from her father in 1655.
The Duchess had red hair. It was a common superstition of the time that red hair signified a witch.
The Duchess was ambitious politically – making friends with both Charles I and Oliver Cromwell. She was married twice. When her first husband died suddenly she quickly married the recently-widowed John Maitland, 1st Earl of Lauderdale.
Some speculated about how the suspiciously close deaths of both her husband – and the Earl’s wife – facilitated Elizabeth’s rise further up the social ladder.
After the death of her first husband she ran into financial problems and was confined to a room on the ground floor. It is here that most of the ghostly events seem to be concentrated.
Many visitors report a strange oppressive atmosphere in the room. Pets seem reluctant to enter. There is also a large looking glass dating from Elizabeth’s time that some people say they are too scared to glance into, inexplicably afraid of what – or whom – they might see staring back.
You can discover more of the spooky goings on at Ham House and Garden on their Terrible Terror Tours. Tickets are available to book through the website.
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