Join us for a night of investigation at Hinchingbrooke House.
£30pp
Founded as a Benedictine nunnery (St James‑extra‑Huntingdon), dissolved under Henry VIII in 1536. The church remnants were later integrated into the house .
In 1538, Sir Richard Williams (alias Cromwell, nephew of Thomas Cromwell) acquired the estate for about £19 and began converting it into a Tudor country house. His son Henry (Oliver Cromwell’s grandfather) continued modifications, adding distinctive bow windows bearing family arms .
17th century: Earls of Sandwich
Sold in 1627 to Sir Sidney Montagu, later the first Earl of Sandwich in 1660. Nine generations of the Montagu family resided there.
Notably visited by royalty: Queen Elizabeth I (1564), James I (1603, 1610), Prince Henry (1612), and Charles I, who was even imprisoned there in 1647 en route to Hampton Court .
19th–20th centuries: Restoration & Reuse
An 1830 fire devastated the mansion's main staircase. Architect Edward Blore was commissioned for structural restoration, including a relocated bow window and interior redesign in a Jacobean style .
Further alterations occurred in 1894 and the 1960s, notably reinstating a carved late-17th-century staircase from Rolls Park .
In 1970, it was incorporated into Hinchingbrooke School, now housing the Sixth Form and serving as a venue for public summer tours, weddings, conferences, and seasonal Halloween scare events .
Architectural Highlights
Gatehouse and perimeter walls date circa 1500, relocated from Ramsey Abbey by the Cromwells—complete with battlements and traceried arches .
The building combines 2–3 storey stone and Tudor brickwork, featuring castellated parapets, multiple tall chimneys, timber-framed kitchen wings, and the 1602 bow‑window library .
Interiors include 17th-century panelling (c. 1663), a 1580 library chimney-piece, and Blore’s grand restoration work .
Hauntings & Curiosities
Two medieval stone coffins found during 1834 restoration revealed skeletons (one male, one female) dating between the 10th–11th centuries. Remnants of the priory survive in the house fabric .
Numerous ghost sightings have been reported over centuries:
The White Lady, believed possibly to be Martha Ray (mistress of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, murdered in 1779), seen glowing in white and weeping near the house .
A nun’s apparition near the nearby Nun’s Bridge, blamed in local lore for causing fatal accidents .
Auditory phenomena: eerie footsteps, disembodied voices, and apparition of a dog and children—especially noted after the house transitioned into a school .
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