The Phantom Mother

There seems to be more than one ghost wandering the halls of Littlecote House over the years. When we walked into the small chapel, we noticed a plaster statue of a small infant just setting on the window sill. Turns out it is the baby being referred to in the following:

The phantom mother
Another Littlecote House ghost seems to have appeared to Peter de Savary soon after he became owner of the property. He decided to hold an auction sale of unwanted furnature and other stuff from the house. As he was walking around the house on the morning of the sale, he encountered a mid-aged woman dressed in modern clothes in one of the corridors. Before de Savary could ask her how she came to be there, the woman spoke. She told him that he was wicked and evil for removing her baby's clothes from the chapel. She told him that if he returned the box to its proper place, he would prosper. However, she warned him, no good would come if he failed to do this. She then seemed to disappear before the startled man's eyes.
de Savary remembered the box. He had removed it from a window ledge in the chapel. He eventually found it amongst the other items for sale. When the box was opened, it did indeed contain baby clothes and some paper that dated them to 1861. Not surprisingly, he put the box back on the chapel window ledge where he had originally found it.

http://www.real-british-ghosts.com/littlecote-house-ghost.html

As our tour group exited the chapel, our guide encouraged us to NOT move the little chest of baby clothes and you can believe we walked way, way around it!

The Haunted Bedroom

 

Our guide, Evelin, telling the story of the haunted bedroom IN the actual haunted bedroom. Although the Allied forces did occupy this and other rooms of the house during the war, no one of them ever reported anything strange going on in the house. Personally, I'll stick to sunshine and modern buildings!

Meeting up with Jane Seymour at Littlecote House

Jane Seymour was courted by Henry VIII at Littlecote House in Hungarford, England. Obviously, Marc has taken it upon himself to offer her a little advice.

Littlecote House and Wild William Darrell - The Haunted Bedroom

The last of the Darrell owners is connected with several scandals and the house's resident ghost story. Wild William Darrell's father had left the house to his mistress Mary Danyell, but Darrell was able to recover it when he came of age in 156. He spent lavishly, left his debts unpaid, and went to law with most of his neighbours, acquiring enemies in the process.

He had an affair with the wife of Sir Walter Hungerford, his neighbour; when Sir Walter sued for divorce, she was acquitted, and Sir Walter sent to prison. Some years later, Mother Barnes, a midwife from Great Shefford, recalled being brought blindfold in 1575 to the childbed of a lady, with a gentleman standing by who commanded her to save the life of the mother, but who (as soon as the child was born) threw the baby into the fire. Barnes did not name or indicate either Darrell or Littlecote, but his enemies quickly ascribed this murder to him.

My son, Marc, seems to be a witness to the event but how he got into the picture, I do not know!

Meeting our first witnesses of World War II

The two witnesses at Littlecote House graciously let me take a picture of them with my son at the end of their presentation. Rosemary, on the left, worked in her father's barbar shop during the war so met a lot of our military who came in for haircuts. She shared her private picture albums and memories of the time. Monica, on the right, grew up in the era and had some wonderful stories to share. Both of the ladies really brought the war to a reality that hit home with us. It took World War II from something read in a history book to something that really impacted people's lives.

Littlecote House in England

  The first official start of our World War II Battlefield tour began at Littlecote House, headquarters of the 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment in England during 1944. The most inspirational part of this visit was meeting two 'witnesses' of the era! At almost every stop on the tour, we got to meet people who actually lived in the area at the time and could tell us interesting bits of personal history. We met two delightful, English ladies who shared their memories, pictures, and thoughts during the war especially as it pertained to our military being there to support the war efforts. The picture shows the approach to Littlecote but hardly gives justice to the expanse of the property or the beauty. The inside of the house was open to any and everyone without an admission fee. Lots of history there. The most interesting part, at least to me, was the fact that anyone could come in and just sit in the beautiful rooms and read or sit and think.