ghosts of ham

MYSTERIOUS ghostly footprints were discovered at Ham House in south west London on Saturday.

The unidentified prints materialised on the wooden floor of the inner hall at the 17th century stately home, which has witnessed strange phenomena in the past.

Victoria Bradley, house steward at the National Trust property, noticed the two prints of what appears to be a left and a right foot. They can be seen clearly marked on the polished surface in the middle of the room.

Sightings of what appear to be unexplainable footprints have been reported before at Ham House. In November 2003 a pair of barefoot prints appeared on the steps of the great staircase. Just before Christmas, three prints were noticed in the duchess's bedchamber.

Anne Partington-Omar, the property's manager who lives at the house, said: "Once again we are witnessing some very unusual phenomena at Ham House. Over the last few years I have experienced many occurrences in the house that defy all reason. Be it the appearance of mysterious footprints, the opening and closing of doors, ghostly sightings or unexplainable moved objects."

There is a ghost at Ham. The old butler there had a little girl, she was then six years old. In the small hours of the morning, when dawn was making things clear, the child, waking up, saw a little old woman scratching with her finger against the wall close to the fireplace. She was not at all frightened at first but sat up to look at her. The noise she made in doing this caused the old woman to look round, and she came to the foot of the bed and, grasping the rail, stared at the child long and fixedly. So horrible was her stare, that the child was terrified and screamed and hid her face. People ran in and the child told what she had seen. The wall was examined where she had seen the figure scratching, and concealed in it were papers, which proved that in that room, Elizabeth had murdered her first husband to marry the Duke of Lauderdale."

Other Occurrences of the Paranormal
House steward Victoria Bradley has seen footprints at the bedchamber of the Duchess. After turning on the light, she said she saw footprints by the bed, facing the fireplace. Bradley has worked at the steward for seven years and has lived in Ham House for the last three years.

There have also been footprints seen on the staircase. Others who work at the house have reported smelling pop tobacco in the dining room. Anne Partington-Omar, the manager of Ham House, who also lives there says there are things that happen there that just cannot be explained, such as the footprints.

It is said that the Duchess walked with a cane at night. Many people report hearing tapping in the corridors at night. Some have even reported seeing the ghost of a dog – King Charles’ cocker spaniel – on the grounds of Ham House.

Like many older homes, Ham House has a long history, with some of its inhabitants having questionable character. Each Halloween, the Ham House offers ghost tours in search of the evil Duchess and the playful ghost dog.