‘Ghost’ video shows figure on grounds of Longleat House Safari Park said to be haunted by ‘grey lady’

As Halloween approaches, a ghostly figure has been filmed moving through the grounds of a renowned stately home. The shadowy shape was captured on camera by Dr Tom Lewis, conservation and research manager at Longleat House Safari Park in Wiltshire.

Longleat House was built between 1567 and 1580 on the site of an Augustinian priory. In 1529, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the property ceased to be a priory and in 1541, Sir John Thynne purchased the estate.

It has remained in the Thynne family ever since and in 1574 was even visited by Queen Elizabeth I herself. Part of its storied history is a myth surrounding Thomas Thynne, the 2nd Viscount Weymouth, and wife Lady Louisa Carteret.

Some say Lady Louisa took a footman as a lover who was discovered and killed by her husband. Following her death during childbirth in 1736, she was buried in the traditional Thynne family resting-place of Longbridge Deverill in Wiltshire, and it is said Longleat is now haunted by her ghost, known as the Grey Lady, walking the corridors in search of her paramour.

In 1949, due to the costs of maintaining the estate, Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath, opened the house to the public. The Longleat Safari Park was established in 1965 and is currently owned by the 8th Marquess of Bath, Ceawlin Thynn, and his wife, Emma Thynn, the Marchioness of Bath.

With a history as rich as this one, it’s little wonder some of its former occupants may be finding it difficult to rest in peace. Speaking about his eerie video, Dr Tom said he spotted the “shape straightaway.”

He added: “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."

Emma Challinor, Longleat archivist, said: "While there are old tales of the 2nd 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 2nd Viscount kept a menagerie of animals in the 1730s.”

If you would like to try your hand at spotting some of the dearly departed still wandering the grounds, Ghost Tours are taking place at Longleat House during its Great British Autumn half term event. They can be booked from October 25 and November 2.