So the other day I read this story on the real life castle featured in downtown abbey, here it is from the Countess herself,
From the online publication of The Lady
The Earl and Countess of the real Downton Abbey talk to Matt Warren about spectres, survival – and their very colourful family
Late morning in Highclere Castle and over a cup of cappuccino and a croissant or two, Lady Carnarvon, the charismatic mistress of the house, is telling me about ghosts.
‘Our Labradors [Percy and his daughter, Bella] are very sensitive to them,’ she laughs. ‘A few years ago, I saw one particular ghost, a footman, while I was with my young son Edward. The older dog was on the other side of very heavy doors, and he went ballistic, barking crazily. He was as concerned and worried as I was.’
The countess – an auditor with accountancy firm Coopers & Lybrand before she married the 8th Earl, Geordie – talks openly and engagingly about the supernatural residents of Highclere. Intriguingly, she may even have identified this one.
‘There was a footman here during the Victorian period, who committed suicide not far from where I’d seen him. He’d been having an affair with a nursemaid, who became pregnant. Sadly, their baby died, probably of cot death, and he killed himself.
‘So there I was, a young countess with a newborn baby, and he came out. I was walking faster, and he was following, and then we decided to wish him all the best and send him on his way. Sometimes people get trapped – I just try to respect the people who’ve been here before.”
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So why was a footman from that long ago still hanging around? Also I thought it was interesting that dogs could perceive ghosts.
https://lady.co.uk/‘-ghoststhe-dog...ive-them…’