The Two Ladies

The Legend

The main staircase at Ettington Park Hotel carries more than the weight of centuries. A grey lady stops at its foot, frozen in the moment of her death. Elsewhere on the property, her spectral counterpart in white traces a path across the terrace, never acknowledging the living who cross her route. Staff at this Grade I listed Victorian Gothic mansion have learned to work around these silent residents.

The History

The Shirley family owned Ettington for over a thousand years, their lineage stretching back through generations of births, marriages, and deaths within these walls. The current building took shape between 1858 and 1862, though its foundations incorporate a mid-seventeenth century house with mid-eighteenth century additions. The grey lady’s identity remains undocumented in official records, but her association with the staircase points to a specific trauma: a fatal fall. Staff have long referred to the woman in white as ‘Lady Emma’, identifying her as a former governess, though historical verification proves elusive.

The child spirits linked to the grounds have a clearer provenance. Two Shirley boys drowned in the River Stour during the 1800s. Their cries still carry across the water on certain evenings.

The property passed through significant transformations in the twentieth century. It became a nursing home in 1935, then housed prisoners of war during World War II. Fire damaged the building in 1979. Restoration followed, and Ettington Park reopened as a luxury hotel in 1983 under the Isis Hotel Company. Hand Picked Hotels now manages the property.

The Hauntings

The grey lady appears at the foot of the main staircase, floating rather than standing. Witnesses describe her stopping abruptly, as though re-enacting the final moment of her fall. She manifests in grey clothing, her features indistinct. The sightings cluster around the same location with remarkable consistency.

The woman in white takes a different route entirely. She glides along corridors and through the Long Gallery area, passing directly through walls. The rustle of her dress precedes her appearance. Both figures vanish quickly when approached.

Beyond visual manifestations, guests report footsteps without source, disembodied voices in empty corridors, and objects moving independently. One documented incident involves a candle floating without visible support. Cold spots appear throughout the building, and visitors describe the sensation of being touched by unseen hands.

Witness Accounts

In March 2000, a male guest reported experiencing a concentrated mass of what he described as ‘baleful’ energy within his room. The phenomenon was not visual but tactile and emotional, a presence he found deeply unsettling.

In October 2014, a photograph taken inside the hotel captured an amorphous shape hovering above a guest’s head. The photographer had not noticed anything unusual at the time of the image.

Staff members have provided consistent accounts of Lady Emma across decades of employment. The conservatory entrance attracts sightings of an old woman in Victorian clothing. The library hosts appearances of a man accompanied by his dog, both vanishing when observed directly. Near the ruins of the medieval chapel, approximately 70 metres east of the main building, a monk in grey robes walks his eternal circuit.

Investigation and Evidence

The building’s atmospheric qualities attracted filmmakers long before paranormal investigators arrived. Director Robert Wise used Ettington Park as a location for the 1963 film ‘The Haunting’, recognising its visual impact. The hotel has since featured in paranormal tourism programmes and hosted investigations by groups documenting spectral activity in British heritage properties.

The October 2014 photograph represents the most tangible recent evidence. Combined with the March 2000 guest testimony and generations of staff accounts, the documentation creates a pattern difficult to dismiss as coincidence or suggestion.

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This ghost story is part of the haunted history of Ettington Park Hotel. Book a stay to experience the paranormal atmosphere for yourself.