Gawsworth Hall, sometimes referred to as Gawsworth Old Hall, is a Grade I listed country house built in 1480. It was home to Mary Fitton, the "beautiful Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets". She was maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth I. Before the existing Hall was built, there was a Norman house where the rookery is now located. Today it home to the Richards family, and is open to the public.
The house is reputedly haunted and the phenomena include: the apparitions of a girl, a playwright, and a bearded man with dark eyes; the smell of insense; audible effects including smashing glass, a female voice, bangs and footsteps. The ghost of Mary Fitton is said to walk in the garden on summer evenings.
Pictured left is Gawsworth Hall courtesy of Tom Pennington.
Church Lane,
Gawsworth,
Cheshire,
SK11 9RN.
For further information, please read Ghosts and Haunted Places by Peter Underwood and The Ghosts of Cheshire by Muriel Armand.