The ghost of Lady Helena Stanhope is said to haunt Woodrow High House. The ghost has been seen several times, one well documented sighting dates to January 1946. At the time the house was owned by the National Federation of Boys Clubs. Late on Friday afternoon Terry Lawson, the federation’s secretary, arrived at the house with some equipment that had to be installed. He was staying overnight and just before he retired he made one last tour of the house to make sure everything was secure. During the night something woke him up, as he lay there listening he could hear the sounds of footsteps in the passage outside his room and a swishing sound as if from some material. He lit a candle and went to investigate but there was nothing there.

He returned to bed and was just falling asleep when the grandfather clock downstairs struck three, which was odd as his watch said that it was just after midnight. A few seconds later he heard the same footsteps and the sound of something being dragged along the floor, like a long dress. The sounds came up the stairs then right up to his door where they paused and then they moved on to a room called the Cromwell Room.

The following morning other people arrived and they spent the entire day looking for secret panels and an underground passage that they felt must exist in the house. Come the night everyone retired to bed, after a hard day’s work, except one boy who thought he would have more success with the search when the building was quiet. He crept quietly down the corridor and had reached the head of the stairs when he heard footsteps coming from behind him. Turning round he saw a spectral figure gliding towards him. She was dressed all in green and had a look of urgency on her face. Ignoring the boy at the top of the stairs she hurried past and went quickly down the stairs. He decided to follow her and had just entered the dining room in time to see her pass through the centre window which is where the front door of the house used to be. He followed her across the grounds until she disappeared as though she had faded into the ground in an area where there was a small grotto in the middle of a spinney.

He returned to the house to be confronted by the cellar door opening by itself and there, once more, stood the green lady. Now she had a look of anguish on her face and she was crying. She staggered along the passage and as she did so the grandfather clock struck three. He followed her up the stairs until they reached the Cromwell Room. She entered the room then went over to a cupboard in the wall. She seemed to take a bottle from the cupboard then she drank deeply of its contents before falling to the floor with her face twisted in agony and vanishing.

Documentary evidence and local knowledge revealed that the woman, Lady Helena Stanhope, was betrothed to Sir Peter Bostock who was a supporter of the Duke on Monmouth. At the battle of Sedgemoor Monmouth’s troops were routed and Sir Peter fled to Woodrow to seek sanctuary. Lady Helena hid him in the grotto and would take food to him each day but one time she was seen. On her next visit to the grotto she found it empty. She searched the grounds and eventually found Sir Peter’s body. It is said that, broken hearted, she returned to the house where she drank poison and killed herself.

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