Although Annesley Hall itself is widely known as the ancestral home of the Chaworth-Musters family, its grand history would typically steer us away from lesser-known locations our series of Phenomenal Nottinghamshire has been aiming for. Its connection to Lord Byron makes it impossible to ignore. The poet’s unrequited love for Mary Chaworth inspired some of his earliest verses, including the evocative A Dream of Annesley Hall, captured in a painting now housed at the Manchester Art Gallery.
The painting portrays a young Byron, hidden in shadows, kneeling on a long bench outside the Hall. He leans toward an open window to glimpse a lively ballroom scene, couples swirling in dance under bright lights. At the centre of the room, Mary Chaworth turns her head toward the window, unaware of the poet’s gaze from the darkness outside.
But rather than dwell on Annesley Hall’s storied interiors, let’s turn our attention to its stable block next door—an overlooked structure with its own secrets and eerie presence.
Lets talk of an investigation held by PI East Midlands, present are Sion Marc Simpson, Mark Birch, Danni, Neve and myself – we all crammed into the small car, up the A60! Police were aware of our presence, and the 2 officers who dropped in had several stories to share about their experiences. We arrive at Annesley Hall, it’s well past dusk. The Grade II listed Hall is secured and rightfully so, in 1997 and 2015…trespassing ghost-hunting groups caused fires in the building, irreparably damaging the structure. Stories of cellar-dwelling entities and a portal to the underworld held behind its walls have rumbled in retellings.
Annesley Stable block
The ruin of Annesley Church is publically accessible and the stable block at the time is visible from the church grounds. As you can see the windows are now boarded up, as continued trespassing, urban explorers and ghost hunting continue to be an issue for the landowners. We conducted trigger object tests, EVP sessions.
The stable block before we arrive there, we collectively witness from this vantage point a single moving light, in the upstairs second windows from the left, move through the upstairs left to right, to above the gateway. We at the time put it down to, oh there’s someone in there maybe a guard. Possibly with a torch etc.
As we approached the stable block gatehouse, up the long path from the road we stood in the archway and casually looked through the missing windows—just having a bit of a nosy. It was then that we made an unexpected discovery: the entire structure no longer had an upper floor. Instead, we could see the exposed ceilings and beams above. Who and what was the light?
All but one of our party saw the white-blue moving light passing the windows as the glow illuminated outwards as it went across! We looked behind all that is on the other side is an open path and woodland. The main road is perspective-wise, to that picture is to the far left about 120 degrees and at some distance. Whilst our recordings yielded little evidence as it were, our encounter, the experience of a team member and the police stories more than made up for it.
Want to continue your handshake with the mysteries of Nottinghamshire? We have a 12 part series of articles ready to roll out and a supplementary audio series.
Phenomenal Nottinghamshire #5 Spring Heeled Jack strides in a Nottinghamshire village
Coming up! PN#7
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PN#6 Annesley Hall: Ghost Lights in the stable
