Those in the house
- Mary Ricketts Tenant from 1765. Kept the record.
- John Jervis Her brother, a naval captain. Later Earl St Vincent.
- Edward, Lord Stawell The previous owner. Died in the house, 1755.
- The servants Who saw things before anyone believed them.
When Mary Ricketts took the manor at Hinton Ampner in 1765, the house had stood empty since its owner, Lord Stawell, died there a decade before. Her husband was abroad on business. She had the children, the servants and a great deal of quiet.
The quiet did not last. Servants spoke of a man in a drab coat in the passages. Doors that had been locked were heard to slam. At night there was walking overhead, then a rustling like silk, then voices: low, indistinct, as if a conversation had been going on in the walls for years.
What makes Hinton Ampner unusual is not the noises but the witness. Mary Ricketts was level-headed, well connected and almost forensic about it. She wrote down dates, rooms and who else was present, and set it all down plainly, as evidence rather than as a ghost story.
In 1771 her brother, John Jervis, came home from sea and sat up with her. Whatever he heard that night, he did not argue. He told her to leave, and she did.
Village talk had its own explanation, involving Lord Stawell, his late wife’s sister and a child nobody spoke of. The house was pulled down in 1793 and a new one built nearby. During the demolition, it is said, a small skull was found under the floorboards.
The house, year by year
- 1755 Lord Stawell dies at the manor. The house stands empty.
- 1765 Mary Ricketts moves in with her children and servants.
- 1771 John Jervis keeps watch with his sister. The family leaves.
- 1772 Mary sets down her account in full.
- 1793 The old manor is pulled down and a new house raised nearby.
History or hearsay?
Every chapter separates what the records support from what the telling has added. Both are part of the story.
On the record
- Mary Ricketts lived at the old manor from 1765 and left with her family in 1771.
- She wrote a detailed account of the disturbances, naming dates, rooms and witnesses.
- Her brother John Jervis, later Admiral and Earl St Vincent, stayed in the house and urged her to leave.
- The old house was demolished in 1793 and a new one built nearby.
In the telling
- That the figure in the drab coat was Lord Stawell himself.
- That Stawell had an affair with his late wife’s sister, and that a child was born and hidden.
- That a small skull was found beneath the floor when the house came down.
- That the voices are still heard in the grounds today.
From the archive
Drag the papers about · arrow keys work too
Go and listen
The present house and gardens at Hinton Ampner belong to the National Trust. The old manor stood close by.
- Where Near Bramdean, east of Winchester
- Open [OPENING TIMES]
- Best time A grey afternoon, late in the year