It’s hard to believe looking at the green-shuttered house that Preston Manor is just a stone’s throw from a busy main road and that the rather plain-looking exterior hides a fascinating glimpse of latter-day luxury.
And more than a hint of mystery.
Preston Manor, on the outskirts of Brighton, is not high on most tourists’ must-see list, being overshadowed by the grandeur of the Royal Pavilion. But, steeped in family history and allegedly the most haunted house in Sussex, it’s well worth a visit.
Victorian life at Preston Manor
If you live locally and have school age children, you’ll know it well.
Preston Manor hosts educational days for youngsters where they get real hands-on experience of life below stairs in a well-to-do Victorian home.
Dressed in caps, waistcoats and pinafores, the children are put through their paces, learning the harsh rigour of a servant’s life.
Accompany your offspring, and you’ll find yourself in the firing line!
Pork Belly was scolded for not doffing his cap quickly enough, and my attempt at sweeping a fireplace got a basilisk stare and a severe “tsk tsk” from the housekeeper.
But go as an independent visitor, and you’ll have much more time to explore.
The beautifully laid out dining room, the elegant drawing room, the extraordinary leather wallpaper in the historic Cleves room and the luxurious (if slightly chilly) bedrooms.
Another big plus is that the rooms are not roped off. Photographers are welcome, and the guides are unobtrusive but informative.
Ghost-hunting at Preston Manor
So what about those ghost stories?
Holding séances was a popular form of after-dinner entertainment in Victorian times, and attempts to capture the spirits of the past at Preston Manor are well documented.
One of the most celebrated was the séance on 11 November 1896 when the medium, Ada Goodrich Freer, claimed she could receive messages from a nun called Sister Agnes, who had been murdered as a result of jealousy between another nun and a monk.
A year later, a woman’s body, believed to be over 400 years old, was discovered under the terrace of the house.
Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.
Over the years, various members of the resident Stanford family said they were troubled by sightings of a lady in white, while a lady in grey apparently went up and down the main staircase.
Guests staying in the south-west bedroom often reported seeing disembodied hands on the bedposts, and another recounted hearing ‘weird and uncanny noises issuing from the big dress cupboard’.
Ghostly figures have also been seen in the nearby churchyard and in the delightful secret garden beside the house.
And the strange sightings continue.
Recent visitors say they’ve seen a child playing in the nursery and lights turn off for no reason.
One visiting student claimed he was shouted at by a man in uniform when he went into one of the bedrooms – but it wasn’t a guide.
Others are convinced they’ve seen a woman dressed all in black tidying the lady’s maid’s room.
Do you believe in ghosts?
Of course, old houses do creak and groan as the walls and floors settle and chimney breasts carry sound from outside into unexpected quarters.
Strange nighttime noises heard in the past could have been insects like the death-watch beetle making their presence felt once the hustle and bustle of the day was done.
Maybe one day science will find a way to read the conversations old walls have soaked up.
Or if time is not a long straight line but a folded sandwich or Möbius ring then perhaps, just perhaps, there’s some truth in the reports of ghostly goings-on.
And so ghost hunters still come from far and wide, trying again and again to catch some conclusive evidence of a life beyond. Preston Manor could be the place to find it.
Visiting Preston Manor
The house is closed for public visits during the winter, but is open for guided tours and special educational events. For full details see the Preston Manor website
Where next?
• Best UK Ghost Walks
• Ghost towns of Britain
• Haunted hotels of Brighton