Issue:
January
2012

Story and Photography by Manos Angelakis

 

Ettington Park,
Alderminster,
Stratford-upon-Avon,
Warwickshire CV37 8BU
Tel: 44-0845-072-7454
Fax: 44-0845-072-7455

One personality, William Shakespeare, dominates England’s Warwickshire region.

The city of Stratford-upon-Avon revolves around the Royal Shakespeare Theater, the Shakespeare Birthplace, the Ann Hathaway Cottage (wife of William Shakespeare), Hall’s Croft (the house that Shakespeare’s daughter and her husband occupied), and other Tudor-era properties connected to Shakespeare and his family.

Even our hotel, Ettington Park, a unique Victorian Neo-Gothic Country Manor hotel six miles from Stratford-upon-Avon has a Shakespearean connection; Shakespeare was a friend of the Underhill family that resided there, having leased the property for 100 years from the Shirley family, and socialized as well as hunting there with the Underhills.

Behind the impressive Victorian Gothic exterior lays a complex building with a very long history. Ettington Manor has gone through many alterations and extensions over the centuries with the addition of buildings, conversions of rooms to other functions, heightening of the roofline and addition of tall chimneys and turrets.

In 1935, it became a nursing home and during WWII was a prisoner of war camp. In 1983, the house and 40 acres of land were leased to the Isis Hotel Company and after a multimillion-pound restoration opened as a luxury hotel. Today it is managed and operated by Hand Picked Hotels, Ltd., as a four star property. It is considered by the British Automobile Association as the most haunted hotel in Britain. 

After the overnight flight to Heathrow and the more than two-hour trip to the hotel, I would not have sensed a ghost even if I wanted to. However, according to the now retired night manager Michael G. M. Kenny, the following is a brief list of paranormal phenomena at the hotel.

Reception Area: The night before Christmas Eve, a floating candle was seen on the neo-Elizabethan oak mantle piece; a shadowy presence is felt by the entrance and reception desk; the ghost of a man and his dog crosses the reception area and disappears into the Library.

Main Staircase: The ghost of Mary, a servant girl that died after a fall has been seen.

Conservatory: An elderly Victorian lady with a very strong presence has been seen and footsteps can be clearly heard of a woman walking back and forth.

Great Drawing Room: Many voices heard, particularly of women, in what appears to be a family musical gathering; a bare-footed Edwardian lady is seen in the bay window on the right-hand side; doors and curtains open and shut; the ghostly presence of a boy is felt.

Library: A flying book (poltergeist phenomenon); male voices and the sounds of billiard balls; a cold spot to the right-hand side of the fireplace; ghost of a priest with a sense of humor!

Tower Suite Corridor: The Grey Lady (believed to be a former governess).

And many others, in other parts of the hotel including priests and monks, a gamekeeper, an army officer and an elderly woman.

The rooms are large and comfortable and many have four-poster beds. The room windows offer superb views of the Victorian gardens and surrounding countryside.

After spending a day at a cricket match – Worcestershire vs. New Zealand - we spent the evening having drinks in the hotel and enjoyed a pleasant walk around the wonderful grounds before dinner. Dinner was at the Oak Room Restaurant, and was excellent considering it is only a 4-star property. There is an extensive wine list. The service, however, was a bit spotty in the breakfast room. Not enough to make it annoying, but just enough to be noticeable.

There are many public areas to be explored, brimming with antique furnishings, crests and mottoes. Fireplaces blaze throughout the winter. Consider it a gentlemanly home away from home.

 

 

 

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