The Hinton Ampner Haunting

The haunting of Hinton Ampner manor house in Hampshire is one of the best-documented cases from the eighteenth century. Between 1765 and 1771, the Ricketts family experienced phenomena so intense that they abandoned the house. The detailed account left by Mary Ricketts provides remarkable insight into how educated people of the Georgian era experienced and interpreted supernatural events.

The Estate

Hinton Ampner was a substantial manor house in Hampshire, rebuilt in the 1720s by Edward Stawell. The house and estate had been in various hands when the Ricketts family took up residence in 1765.

The house had an uneasy reputation. Rumors persisted about events during Lord Stawell’s time, including whispers about his relationship with his wife’s sister Honoria and the mysterious death of an infant. These stories would later seem relevant to the phenomena experienced.

The Ricketts Family

William Henry Ricketts and his wife Mary moved into Hinton Ampner in April 1765. They were an educated, respectable couple with no particular interest in the supernatural. William was often away on business, leaving Mary to manage the household.

Mary Ricketts was an intelligent, practical woman. Her account of the haunting, written years later, is remarkable for its detail and attempts at rationality. She clearly struggled to understand what she was experiencing.

The Disturbances

The phenomena began shortly after the family moved in. Servants heard footsteps in empty rooms. Doors opened and closed on their own. Heavy sounds, like bodies falling or furniture being moved, came from vacant areas.

Mary initially dismissed the reports. She was not superstitious and sought natural explanations. But the phenomena persisted and intensified. She began experiencing them herself: footsteps approaching her bedroom door, sounds of someone walking in the rooms above, unexplained noises throughout the night.

Escalation

Over the following years, the haunting grew more intense. Multiple servants heard the same sounds simultaneously. Figures were seen: a woman in dark clothing, a man in drab attire. The temperature dropped inexplicably. The atmosphere of the house became oppressive.

Mary’s detailed diary records the phenomena night by night. She catalogued sounds, noted who witnessed them, and attempted to find explanations. Her systematic approach makes her account unusually valuable as evidence.

Investigation

William Ricketts investigated thoroughly. He searched for hidden passages or rooms where sounds might originate. He examined the structure for explanations. He found nothing to account for the phenomena.

The couple brought in outside observers. Local gentlemen stayed overnight to witness the sounds for themselves. They did, and they had no explanation. The servants, many of whom left rather than endure the haunting, provided consistent testimony.

The Connection to Stawell

As the haunting continued, Mary began connecting it to the house’s history. The rumors about Lord Stawell, his sister-in-law Honoria, and a dead child seemed relevant. Perhaps guilty spirits were haunting the scene of their transgressions.

When a nearby tenant plowed a field that had once been part of the garden, a small skull was reportedly found. This seemed to confirm the stories about an infant’s death. The haunting appeared to have historical roots.

Departure

In 1771, the Ricketts family left Hinton Ampner. The phenomena had made the house unbearable. Mary’s health had suffered from years of disturbed nights and constant anxiety.

After the Ricketts departed, subsequent tenants reported similar experiences. The house’s reputation as haunted became established. Eventually, the building was demolished, though when exactly is uncertain.

The Account

Mary Ricketts wrote her account of the haunting years later, possibly in the 1770s or 1780s. The manuscript survived and was eventually published in 1870. It remains one of the most detailed first-person accounts of a haunting from the eighteenth century.

Her writing is notable for its restraint. She does not sensationalize. She records what she experienced and acknowledges her uncertainty about its meaning. She comes across as a reluctant witness to impossible events.

Modern Assessment

The Hinton Ampner case is significant for its documentation and the credibility of its primary witness. Mary Ricketts was not a believer seeking ghosts. She was a practical woman recording experiences she could not explain.

Skeptics might propose natural explanations: settling sounds in an old house, wind effects, imagination stimulated by rumor. But Mary Ricketts was not credulous; she actively sought such explanations and found them inadequate.

The case demonstrates that detailed, thoughtful accounts of hauntings are not purely modern phenomena. Whatever happened at Hinton Ampner, it was experienced as genuine and remains unexplained.