'The lost ghost of the grey lady'
Originally known as Holme Lacy house this beautiful and breathe taking luxury hotel is situated in the quiet village of Holme Lacy which is four miles south east of Hereford and sits in the middle of the Herefordshire countryside. Holme Lacy became part of the estates of the Scudamore family, around this time was the dissolution of the monasteries and a lady called Joan Scudamore was prioress of the convent which was at Aconbury which is a village close by to Holme Lacy, ex monks and nuns were all given pensions.
Joan who was aged 60 in 1554 was living at Holme Lacy and as an ex prioress she was the poor amount of £9 per annum. John Scudamore was born in 1600 and he succeeded his grandfather to the estates of Holme Lacy, John was a successful MP for the county of Hereford in 1621 and he was a good friend of George Villiers who was the Duke of Buckingham. Scudamore who was soon known as Viscount Scudamore went to France for four years, he returned to Holme Lacy in 1639, but he only had a short time to enjoy his estates as the outbreak of the Civil War was just around the corner, Scudamore was one of the country’s leading royalists. Another Duke to live at the grand house was the Duke of Norfolk. The house was built by builder Anthony Deane and the house is known to be one of the largest houses in the county today.
The house as still maintained it's impressive decorations, the plaster ceilings are in nine of the rooms and are stated to be some of the best in the whole of England. The house inside has a wonderful appearance, the fine paintings, wood carvings, beautiful drawing rooms and grand sweeping stairs really takes you back in time, and the outside gardens are beautiful with a refreshing lake and views of the Hereford landscape all around. Alterations were made to the house in 1910 when Sir Robert Lucas - Tooth bought the house, a ballroom and a new staircase were just some of the features he added. The Holme Lacy house was passed through many family members over the years and the house was always used as a family home, however in 1929 the house was then used as a hospital, pictures of the hospital can be found hung on the wall on the gallery floor. In 1981 the hospital was shut down and the house was later made in to a hotel by Warner Bros Ltd who again made alterations and added on extra buildings to the house, Warner are still the owners of the house today.
There is a story of a mystery tunnel that leads to the house, the tunnel is apparently at Holme Lacy’s local church and it can still be seen today, although it as been blocked off it is still visible, this tunnel leads to the hotel and it is believed that there is a book in the church that speaks of this tunnel and its previous uses. For a house that is so warm, relaxing and welcoming its hard to believe that there is a ghost present in the hotel, there is only one known ghost that haunts the house and that is the ghost of the grey lady who is always sighted in the oldest part of the building, her ghost as been sighted on the gallery floor which was previously the hospital ward on numerous occasions, many guests have packed up and left in fear after sighting the apparition and one couple woke up to find her at the end of their bed and again immediately packed up their belongings and fled in terror.
There is also another story attached to the grey lady and that is by a nurse who worked at the Holme Lacy house whilst it was a hospital, the nurse was on the ward one evening doing her regular duty checks when she thought she saw a patient get out of bed, when she went to investigate she soon learnt that the figure passed through a locked door. Cold spots are often felt in certain parts of the house, footsteps have also been heard late at night when the house is quiet and on one occasion a member of staff was pushed up the grand staircase by unseen hands, this experience was witnessed by another member of staff. There is so much on offer at this haunted hotel, it’s elegant, historical, beautifully decorated and most importantly it has quite a few scary ghost tales.