Post by alicecoopersgirl on Dec 7, 2005 11:07:17 GMT
Blickling Hall was built in the early part of the 17th century for Sir Henry Hobart, although the ghosts that reputedly haunt it are those of the occupants of a previous hall on the site. It once belonged to Sir Thomas Boleyn, father of the ill-fated Anne Boleyn. It was she who having caught the eye of King Henry V111, became his mistress and ultimately his second Queen, before finding herself accused of treasonable adultery, sexual deviation (with among others her own brother, Lord Rochford) and, worst of all - witchcraft. Sentenced to death by her own uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, she was beheaded on 19th May 1536 by a skilled swordsman specially imported from France for the occasion - her husbands one merciful concession to his fallen Queen.
Her ghost is now one of the busiest in England, but it is here at Blickling on the anniversary of her death, that she makes her most dramatic appearance. Indeed the auspicious date is something of a ghostly family re - union in these parts.
Anne herself appears dressed all in white, seated in a ghostly carriage that is drawn by headless horses, spurred on by a headless coachman. She too is headless - her severed, dripping head sitting securely in her lap as the ghastly vision careers along the drive of Blickling Hall and upon arrival at the door the coach and driver vanish leaving the headless Queen to glide alone into the hall where she roams the corridors and rooms until daybreak.
Her brother, Lord Rochford, appears on the same night. He too is headless although he doesn’t enjoy the comfort of a carriage, for he is dragged across the surrounding countryside by four headless horses. Not be left out of this unearthly family get together, her father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, has been given a dreadful penance to perform on the anniversary of her death. Once a year for a thousand years from his death in 1539, he must attempt to drive his spectral coach and horses over twelve bridges that lie between Wroxham and Blickling, the impossibility of his task is made even more difficult by the fact that he carries his head under his arm, which make controlling the horses a difficult task indeed!
A final spirit to haunt Blickling Hall is thought to be that of Sir Henry Hobart, who died of his wounds in the house following a duel in 1698. It is reported that his dying groans still echo down the centuries from time to time, chilling the blood of all that hear them.
Her ghost is now one of the busiest in England, but it is here at Blickling on the anniversary of her death, that she makes her most dramatic appearance. Indeed the auspicious date is something of a ghostly family re - union in these parts.
Anne herself appears dressed all in white, seated in a ghostly carriage that is drawn by headless horses, spurred on by a headless coachman. She too is headless - her severed, dripping head sitting securely in her lap as the ghastly vision careers along the drive of Blickling Hall and upon arrival at the door the coach and driver vanish leaving the headless Queen to glide alone into the hall where she roams the corridors and rooms until daybreak.
Her brother, Lord Rochford, appears on the same night. He too is headless although he doesn’t enjoy the comfort of a carriage, for he is dragged across the surrounding countryside by four headless horses. Not be left out of this unearthly family get together, her father, Sir Thomas Boleyn, has been given a dreadful penance to perform on the anniversary of her death. Once a year for a thousand years from his death in 1539, he must attempt to drive his spectral coach and horses over twelve bridges that lie between Wroxham and Blickling, the impossibility of his task is made even more difficult by the fact that he carries his head under his arm, which make controlling the horses a difficult task indeed!
A final spirit to haunt Blickling Hall is thought to be that of Sir Henry Hobart, who died of his wounds in the house following a duel in 1698. It is reported that his dying groans still echo down the centuries from time to time, chilling the blood of all that hear them.