While researching my upcoming ‘Tudor Pilgrimage’ tour of the UK, I came across an interesting hotel in Oundle, Northhamptonshire that is said to be haunted by the ghost of Mary Queen of Scots. The Elizabethan Talbot Hotel is home to the oak staircase that Mary Queen of Scots descended on the way to her execution on the 8th February, 1587! I was amazed to find out that the staircase, and other parts of the building, were brought from the ruins of Fotheringhay Castle; where Mary Queen of Scots was tried and eventually executed.
The joy it brings me to discover more and more places with such a unique historical connection- like the Talbot- is indescribable! I am planning to visit the Talbot hotel for a relaxing ale after visiting Burghley House in October. Lets hope that I’m fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of Mary Queen of Scots!
if what I have read is true, a lot of the town was built using stone from the ruined castle and whatever they could lay their hands on, sooo maybe Mary’s ghost floats through many of the buildings around there, spooky.
A Sir Richard Cotton, from the 18th century, incorporated the whole of the Great Hall of Fotheringhay Castle, into the house he was building, but sadly that no longer exists either.