Peak Experience

Picture of Wheston Hall  Picture of White Lady

 

You can find this three-storeyed mansion on the southwest side of Wheston village (SK133764).  It is haunted by at least four ghosts!

One former hall occupant told of how he was visited the first three nights he slept there in 1918, by a ghostly woman.  She came every night at the same time in the same room.  The elderly female ghost, dressed in poke bonnet and crinoline dress, would half enter the bedroom, with part of her body hidden by the door.  After the third night the new resident met an old steward, who looked at his face and knew immediately that the young man had seen the Old Woman of Wheston Hall.

 

She was a regular sighting.  One snowy Saturday night some men were playing cards at the hall.  An angry old lady burst in through the door.  Chaos ensued as furniture fell over and cards shot off the table, and the men made a hasty exit.  When they looked outside there was no sign of her or her footprints in the newly fallen snow.

 

The young man’s father heard three distinct knocks in his bedroom – often an indication of impending death – the night his other son was killed in the Great War.  He also heard his dead son’s footsteps approaching the washhouse, and heard the door open in the night.

 

Soldier Dick too haunted the hall – a life-size military-clad figure standing in the entrance hall.  If nobody tried to move him, there were no problems.  If he was moved from his place, bad luck struck the resident.  Eventually Soldier Dick was buried in the cellar!

 

A lady’s ghost passes three times round the house, barefoot in her nightgown and tearing her golden hair.  The Tideswell woman was forced to marry a man she did not love.  Her true love moved to the hall.  Eventually the lovers murdered her husband and buried his body in the orchard.  Her ghost now leaves her grave in Tideswell to visit the scene of the murder.

 

Wheston is close to Tideswell, which is served by buses from across the Peak District and beyond, including Manchester and Sheffield.  To plan your journey, visit Traveline or call Traveline on 0871 200 2233.