Charlton House: Lusty Ghost

The finest Jacobean house with reports of a lusty ghost.

Location: Charlton Road, Charlton, London, SE7 8RE

Description: Built between 1607 and 1612 by Sir Adam Newton, Charlton House is one of the finest examples of Jacobean domestic architecture in the country.

Three hundred years ago John Evelyn, the diarist, described the prospect from Charlton House as one of the most noble in the world, for city, river, ships, meadows, hill, woods and all other amenities.

Charlton House was built between 1607 and 1612 by Adam Newton, Dean of Durham. Newton was tutor to Prince Henry, son of James I. Evelyn, who was well acquainted with Newton's son, stated that the House was built for Prince Henry; Newton, however, ceased to be the Prince's tutor in 1610; the Prince died in 1612 at the age of eighteen, so that it is unlikely that the house was at any time a royal residence. Newton probably intended it to be what it became, a nest for his old age.

The architect of Charlton House is unknown. The most likely attribution is to John Thorpe, The garden-house, or orangery, which Greenwich has turned into a public convenience, is attributed to Inigo Jones. Nearby is one of the first Mulberry Trees to be planted in England.

It passed into the hands of Sir William Longhorne who bought the house as a nest for his old age. He married twice but no neir to his fortune appeared. Several reports of a lusty apparition looking for suitable young women, turns bedroom doorknobs. In fact during WW1 the house was used as a military hospital, however one room was always left empty as nurses refused point-blank to enter it.

The house is regularly used for paranormal investigations.

Tours: architecture sights you must see

Tours: The Great London Ghost Tour

Themes: Architecture Architecture Theme