Burton Agnes Hall was built by Sir Henry Griffith back in around 1598 to plans said to have
been originally drawn up by Robert Smithson, Master Mason to Queen Elizabeth I. Smithson
was also responsible for Hardwick and Longleat which, incidentally, are also credited with
many ghosts of their very own. Of its many claims to fame, Burton Agnes is home today of
many fine old and contemporary paintings. This eclectic collection of art is said to be mainly
due to Sir William Boynton(1904-1989) a former owner of the Hall. I dare say, however, that
despite this and its many other charms Burton Agnes is equally famous throughout England for
its resident screaming skull, or rather the ghost of 'Owd Nance'.
'Owd Nance' is the name given to the ghost of one poor Anne Griffith, youngest daughter of
Sir Henry Griffith who, as we mentioned earlier, had this fine Elizabethan mansion built. '
Owd Nance' is reputed to have haunted the Hall for many years, right up until she was finally
laid to rest in the way that she wished.
The story behind this particular haunting is that Anne was brutally attacked by villainous
foot-pads one day while out walking in the park. After this attack it's said that Anne took to
her bed and, furthermore, developed a fever from which she was cruelly destined never to
fully recover consciousness.
While she lay on her deathbed, however, it's said that Anne extracted a morbid promise from
her family that after her death her head be severed from her body and kept in the Hall she so
dearly loved. Perhaps not surprisingly this deathbed promise was not kept and consequently so
began a series of poltergeist-like hauntings of the hall which included, by all accounts, the
slamming of doors, the rattling of windows, and, more chillingly perhaps, blood curdling moans
and groans been heard at all hours of the day and night.
Finally, it seems, the family and servants were driven to acute distraction by these ghoulish
occurrences and, acting on clergy's advice, exhumed Anne's body, severed her grinning and
fleshless head, and brought it into the hall where it was apparently kept for many a year
uncovered upon an occasional table. Aside from one unfortunate event wherein a sceptical
maid is said to have thrown the skull out- the screams and moans immediately started up again
- it's said peace reigns at the Hall to this day, with Anne's screaming skull apparently now
bricked up in some long forgotten niche specially created for it.