The House a Family Finally Couldn’t Live In

Mary Ricketts was lying awake in bed when she heard someone walking across her bedroom. The footsteps were slow and heavy, as though a man were making his way toward her.

She listened as they came closer, eventually reaching the foot of her bed. Mary jumped up and hurried into the nursery, where she found a servant named Hannah Streeter.

The two women returned with a light and searched the room. Nobody was there, and the only way out was through the nursery. Mary had heard someone walking right beside her bed, but there was nowhere that person could have gone.

It Started With Doors Slamming

The incident happened during the summer of 1770 at Hinton Ampner, a large country house in Hampshire, England.

Mary and her husband, William Ricketts, had moved into the property with their children in 1765. It was a comfortable home with plenty of space, servants to manage the household and beautiful countryside surrounding it. But not long after they arrived, the family began hearing strange noises at night.

Doors slammed so violently that Mary thought someone must be going through the house deliberately banging them shut. Sometimes the noises came from nearby rooms, while other times they sounded as though they were travelling through the building.

Mary suspected someone was playing tricks on the family. She ordered locks replaced, checked windows and questioned the servants, hoping to catch whoever was responsible.

The noises continued. Servants also began reporting strange sights. Some claimed to have seen a man wearing dull-coloured clothing, while others spoke of a woman dressed in silk.

Mary wasn’t especially interested in ghost stories. She wanted to know who was making the noise and how they were getting into the rooms.

Someone Was Walking Behind a Locked Door

One of the most frightening problems involved a room connected to Mary’s bedroom. She would hear footsteps and rustling coming from inside, as though somebody were moving around. But whenever she went to investigate, the room was empty.

Mary began taking extra precautions. She checked the windows, searched behind furniture and made sure nobody could enter without passing through her bedroom.

She even secured the connecting door so that anyone attempting to get inside would have to go past her. Yet she continued hearing someone moving around on the other side.

On one occasion, Mary and a servant searched the room together. They checked the furniture, the chimney and the window, but found nothing unusual. While Mary was still standing there, the nearby door began moving as though someone were handling it from the other side.

By now, she was having trouble sleeping. She tried changing bedrooms, but the noises seemed to follow her.

The House Began Filling With Voices

William had travelled to Jamaica on business in 1769, leaving Mary to manage the house and children. Without her husband there, the strange activity became increasingly frightening. She began hearing low murmuring sounds that seemed to spread through the rooms.

Sometimes the noises reminded her of several people talking together in the distance. She couldn’t make out any words, but the sounds continued even on calm nights when there was no wind.

Then the voices became louder. Mary described hearing a woman’s voice followed by what sounded like two men answering her. On other occasions, there were groans, footsteps and tremendous crashes that seemed to come from inside the building.

One night, she heard a noise resembling something extremely heavy falling onto the floor outside her room. It was followed by a piercing scream that seemed to come from beneath the spot where the crash had occurred.

The screaming happened several times. Mary searched afterward, but couldn’t find anything that had fallen or anyone who might have screamed.

The servants were becoming frightened too. In February 1771, one maid reported hearing groaning and fluttering noises around her bed during the night.

Her Brother Came to Investigate

Mary eventually turned to her brother, Captain John Jervis, a Royal Navy officer who would later become one of Britain’s most famous admirals. Jervis wasn’t inclined to accept that the family was being haunted. He wanted to find the person responsible and put an end to the trouble.

He came to Hinton Ampner and arranged to stay awake at night with another naval officer, Captain Luttrell, and a servant. The men were determined to catch anyone sneaking through the house.

They searched rooms whenever the noises began and checked the doors and windows. They also listened carefully, trying to work out where the sounds were coming from.

But they couldn’t find anyone. At one point, the men heard such loud noises that they hurried through the house expecting to discover something badly damaged. Everything they inspected was still in place.

Jervis continued investigating for several nights, sleeping during the day so he could remain awake after dark. Eventually, even he had heard enough.

In a letter to William dated August 9, 1771, Jervis described the noises and the unsuccessful searches. He believed the house had become unsuitable for Mary and the children. He advised them to leave.

Armed Men Took Over the House

Mary moved out, but the property’s owners still wanted answers. In September 1771, an agent connected with the estate arranged for armed men to spend nights watching the building.

The men stayed inside, hoping to catch someone making the noises. They searched the property and kept watch, but couldn’t discover who or what was responsible.

The people managing the estate decided to offer money for information. A reward of £50 was announced for anyone who could identify the person causing the disturbances. William later increased the amount to £100, a considerable sum in eighteenth-century England.

Nobody claimed it. The house continued attracting attention, and letters written in 1772 showed that people were still discussing strange sounds there.

Mary had also changed servants during her years at Hinton Ampner. By the time she left, none of the household staff who had been there when the family first arrived were still working for her.

She believed this made it unlikely that a group of servants had been playing the same elaborate trick for years.

Mary Wrote Down Everything That Happened

In July 1772, Mary prepared a detailed account of her experiences for her children. She described the footsteps, voices, crashes and the many occasions when she and others had searched the rooms without finding anyone.

She also preserved the names of witnesses and explained the precautions she had taken. Her account included letters from her brother and others who had visited the house.

Years later, the family papers attracted fresh attention. In 1872, parts of Mary’s account appeared in The Gentleman’s Magazine under the title A Hampshire Ghost Story.

The story spread far beyond Hampshire, eventually becoming one of England’s best-known haunted-house accounts. But the building where Mary had heard the footsteps was already gone by then.

In 1793, the old mansion was demolished.

The Hinton Ampner house that visitors see today stands in a different location on the estate.