Hampton Court Palace - History and Ghosts
Hampton Court Palace, situated about 15 miles south west of Central London, has seen many dramatic events in its 500 years of history and there are many reports of ghosts.

In 1514, Thomas Wolsey bought the site on the River Thames and planned to build his home there. The plans rapidly assumed the proportions of a magnificent palace with 280 rooms and spacious grounds surrounding it. In 1514 Wolsey became a cardinal and also Henry VIII's Lord Chancellor. Some years later he fell out of favour and made a gift of Hampton Court to the king in a vain attempt to soften the king's attitude to him but in 1529 Henry declared all of Wolsey's lands and possessions forfeit and they became the property of the Crown.

Henry immediately began to extend the Palace adding rooms and buildings including more kitchens, library, towers and Water Gallery. Five of the king's six wives lived in the Palace and Anne Boleyn's initials can still be seen in the Great Hall. Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour, died here and his fifth, Catherine Howard, was condemn and kept under house arrest for adultery.

After Henry's death, Princess Elizabeth, as she was then, lived in and was held under guard in the Water Gallery as her sister, Queen Mary, suspected her of being involved in a threat to usurp the throne. When Elizabeth became Queen, it is said that she enjoyed gardening in the beautiful grounds. This was also a place where Queen Elizabeth entertained and held councils including the one that decided on the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.

Over the centuries, staff, visitors, workmen and residents have experienced strange phenomena for which there is often no practical explanation. Many of these experiences have been recorded and are presented below.

The Haunted Gallery - Catherine Howard
One of the best known hauntings at Hampton Court Palace is that of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of King Henry VIII. In November 1541, Catherine was charged with adultery and placed under house arrest. It is claimed that she broke free from her guards and ran down the gallery to reach her husband and plead for her life. The guards dragged her back and Catherine was later executed at the Tower of London. It is said that a female form, dressed in white, has been seen floating down the Haunted Gallery: 'towards the door of the Royal Pew, and just as she reaches it, has been observed to hurry back with disordered garments and a ghastly look of despair, uttering at the same time the most unearthly shrieks, till she passes through the door at the end of the gallery'. ( A Short History of Hampton Court by Ernest Law, 1897)

During totally separate evening tours of the palace one evening in 1999, two female visitors fainted on exactly the same spot in the Haunted Gallery approximately one hour apart. Both of them felt frightened and uncomfortable and one lady declined to re-join the tour.

Clock Court - Jane Seymour
Henry VIII's third, and allegedly favourite, wife is said to walk through the cobbled courtyard carrying a lighted taper. She died following complications after the birth of Henry's only son, Edward, in 1537.

Sibell Penn - 'The Lady in Grey'
Sibell Penn was nurse to Prince Edward, Henry VIII's only son. She died in 1562 and was buried in Hampton Church. When the old church was pulled down in 1829, Mrs Penn's remains were disturbed and it is said that she returned to the rooms she inhabited during her time at Hampton Court Palace. The sound of a spinning wheel could be heard from behind a wall in the south-west wing of the palace shortly afterwards. When the wall was demolished, a small forgotten room was found, containing an old spinning wheel.

Sibell Penn is the most persistent ghost at Hampton Court Palace. There have been sightings as recently as 1986 when a 'lady in grey' was reportedly seen in various Tudor courtyards and cloisters.

The Wolsey Closet
This room has long been commented on by visitors, warders and other staff as having a "strange atmosphere". A caterer at an evening function refused to enter the little alcove in the room because he felt it was "evil".

A dog has been seen and heard in the room on more than one occasion, and the presence of a dog felt by somebody "sensitive" to such things.

Page 2> Hampton Court Palace's Tudor Kitchens

Return to Home Page

Copyright © 2005 Carol Fisher