West Horsley Place

At West Horsley Place, history lingers in the walls, the attic, and perhaps even under the stairs. This sprawling manor in Surrey, England dates back to the 15th century and has played host to Tudor courtiers, Georgian architects, ghosts (specters), Ghosts (BBC), and… a severed head or two. Yes, you read that right.

After the execution of Sir Walter Raleigh, the manor’s owner, in 1618, his devoted wife, Elizabeth ‘Bess’ Raleigh, reportedly kept his embalmed head close by. And by “close,” we mean in a cupboard under the stairs at West Horsley Place. When Bess passed away, the head was supposedly interred alongside their children in St. Mary’s Church, but in 2018, a red velvet bag—possibly used to carry Raleigh’s head—was discovered in the attic. Really gives a new meaning to the phrase “don’t lose your head.”

As if a deadhead (and we don’t mean that Raleigh was a groupie of The Grateful Dead) wasn’t spooky enough, there is a legend of a ghost that is associated with the manor. Given its history, it’s not too hard to imagine a spirit or two pacing (floating?) along the grand halls. Fittiningly, West Horsley Place is also the filming location for the BBC sitcom, Ghosts. It also made an appearance in Enola Holmes (2020). 

If the manor’s walls could talk, between stories of an embalmed head, rumors of spirits, and gossip about Hollywood actors… it would be worth sitting down for a pint with West Horsley.