Ordsall Hall
Ordsall Lane
Salford, England
Tel: 44 (0) 161-872-0251
Website : www.salford.gov. uk/ ordsallhall
Ordsall Hall is home to one of England's many "White Ladies"—a misty, white female form that has been seen floating around the grounds. But the inside of the hall may even be more haunted. Strange occurrences with electrical equipment, knocks, footsteps, doors opening and closing, and even the witnessing of actual ghosts have all been reported inside.
The oldest part of the building was constructed sometime before 1177 c.e. because the name "Ordeshala" appears to have paid a feudal tax in the old public records of that year. Ordsall Hall is best-known for being the home of the Radclyffe family. Margaret Radclyffe, whose exact date of birth isn't known, but was either in 1573 or 1574, is the center of most of the ghostly speculation. Margaret had a twin brother named Alexander who went off to fight in Ireland in 1599. He died in battle and never returned home. Margaret died soon after of a broken heart. The official report called it "strings around the heart," which today we know of as angina brought on by stress. The legend says Margaret Radclyffe is forever waiting for her brother to return from Ireland, and she won't go until he does. Her spirit is blamed for most of the unexplained phenomena at Ordsall Hall.
Les Willis has lived in Salford his entire life and has been a guide at the hall since 1992. He recounted a story regarding the previous supervisor who was living at the hall with his wife when they received a call in the middle of the night from the elderly people's home across the street. Willis said, "It was three o'clock in the morning when this telephone call came asking, 'What's your wife doing outside walking around on the grounds?' And he said, 'She's actually sleeping next to me.' Somebody from the elderly people's home had actually spotted some white shape and thought it was the supervisor's wife."
Willis has also had his own unexplained experiences while working at Ordsall Hall. This happened during a break with one of his colleagues. He said, "We were off downstairs and I had just noticed through the corner of my eye something going up the stairs—and we could hear footsteps. We both heard the same thing."
Ordsall Hall's Website was home to one of the Internet's earliest and most popular "GhostCams." A camera is set up in the Great Hall, which broadcasts a picture of the inside of the building every 15 seconds—allowing online ghost hunters to try their luck at spotting the ghost of Margaret Radclyffe.