The Folklore Map
← Back to the map

Ghost · East Raynham · Famous

The Brown Lady

A Country Life photographer pointed a camera up the stairs. The picture is still argued about today.

Open on the map: directions, what's there today and read-aloud →

GhostFamous

The Brown Lady

Caught on camera coming down the stairs in 1936.

Private, don't visit

What's there
Private 17th-century country house
Legend from
Family and house tradition; 1936 Country Life photograph
Best time
NOT FOUND
Tone
Eerie
GhostsMysteries

Before you go

Private family home; occasional openings only. Check before you go.

  • Raynham Hall
  • Near A1065
  • The pin marks the spot.

In 1936 a camera on Raynham's staircase caught something coming down the stairs. They called her the Brown Lady.

The Brown Lady is said to be Dorothy Walpole, sister of the first Prime Minister and wife of Charles 'Turnip' Townshend. Rumour said that after an affair her husband locked her away in the house until she died in 1726. Her ghost, wearing a brown brocade dress, has been reported on the staircase for centuries. In 1936 two photographers from Country Life magazine captured a hazy hooded figure gliding down the main stairs. It became one of the most famous ghost photographs ever taken. Dutt says she also appeared at nearby Houghton.

Sources

  1. Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, Wikipedia —
  2. Highways and Byways in East Anglia, W.A. Dutt (1901) —

Legends nearby