Ghost Spotted at Longleat

Could this shadow captured on camera be a previous owner of Longleat House roaming the Wiltshire grounds?

The spooky shape was spotted by Dr Tom Lewis, conservation and research manager, as he reviewed camera traps in the Safari Park.

Hundreds of years ago Wolf Wood contained a menagerie created by the 2^nd Viscount Weymouth, who coincidentally was married to Lady Louisa Carteret, whose story is a key feature of the Ghost Tours taking place at Longleat House during its Great British Autumn half term event.

Louisa, known as the Grey Lady, is said to still walk the corridors searching for her lover, a footman, believed to have been killed by her husband, the 2^nd Viscount.

Emma Challinor, Longleat archivist, said: “While there are old tales of the 2^nd Marquess of Bath on moonlit nights visiting his plantation of mixed woodland where the Longleat Railway now runs, I haven’t heard reports of ghosts in the Safari area. The site seen in this mysterious footage was, in the early 1700s, a geometrically-planted wooded grove where guests could take secluded strolls, and where the 2^nd Viscount kept a menagerie of animals in the 1730s.”

Dr Tom said: “I spotted the shape straightaway; it seems too tall to be a wolf! Obviously, because the area is now the Safari Park, catching glimpses of possible apparitions is quite rare, unlike the House, where voices have been heard and spirits seen.”

Ghost tours can be booked with a day ticket at longleat.co.uk. There is limited availability from 25 October to 2 November.