HARDWICK HALL ;- Nr Chesterfield, Derbyshire

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HARDWICK HALL
Nr Chesterfield
Derbyshire
Famed for its association with the Countess of Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick), its builder in 1591, this magnificent house contains huge chimney pieces and a rambling staircase, both of which may well house genuine priests' holes or secret rooms. Remembering the traumatic period in which she lived, her fourth husband was custodian of Mary Queen of Scots during her imprisonment, it is surely not unlikely that an occasional visit from a member of Holy Orders was carried out. Although there have been no reports of the house itself being haunted, there have been several genuine claims of seeing a phantom in the extensive gardens of the property.
One such case involved Mark Gresswell, at the time an 18 year old trainee manager of Clipstone, Mansfield. He is now with the RAF. On 4 January 1976 he and his fiancee, Carol Rawlings, `set off from home at about 8 p.m.` intending to visit Hardwick Park they noticed that a number of trees had been blown down by the strong gales suffered the previous day. `As we neared the Hall, we realised that one of the fallen trees had partially blocked the road, but another car coming towards us near ran us off the road. `Later it was established that the driver of this vehicle had been suffering from what the young couple were to see a few yards further on.
`We continued through the grounds and started to drive down the hill but just as we reached the sharp right-hand turn, Carol caught hold of my arm and started to stammer. `She had been alarmed at seeing the figure of someone, `With a black habit -type attire and a brilliant white face`.
Mark, unconvinced, turned the car round and returned to the spot, thinking that the girl had mistaken a tree stump, lit by the headlights, for the ghost. However, just as they reached a sign reading 'No Parking on the Grass' both saw the figure. 'He was a big, tall and broad chappy', says Mark, 'that's if it was a 'he'or a 'What', I don't know. Anyway it was dressed in a monk's habit for want of a better description, but we didn't see either his hands or feet. At the centre of it all was an almost illuminous brilliant white face` The phantom walked towards them, lit by the headlights of their by now stationary car, but as it drew closer, `It veered off to its right and disappeared`.
Mark swung the car round hoping to see where it had vanished and illuminated a disused stone quarry. Realising that there was nothing they could do they drove off and on reaching their destination, the Hardwick Inn, told the landlady of their experiences. They learnt with considerable interest that between 31 December and that day, 4 January, the ghostly monk had been seen twice. Whilst in the pub, the driver of the other vehicle that they had nearly crashed into arrived with his wife and both confirmed that they too had seen the apparition. Some time later, Mark learnt that two young ladies in the area had also seen the figure of the monk near their home on the outskirts of Sutton in Ashfield, about three miles away. This is a fascinating case for no less that four witnesses saw the same phantom at different times, thought within a few minutes of each other, on the same day. An others, including two policemen, had also observed the ghost days earlier