This is one of the most famous ghost pictures in the UK! This startling image was captured in 1936 by a photographer from “Coutry Life” magazine when they were running an article on the Rainham Hall estate in Ilford, Essex.

The apparition had been sighted in the hall on several occassions prior to this photograph being captured:-

• Christmas 1835 – it was recorded that guests Colonal Loftus and a chap named Hawkins ran into an apparition on the staircase – they described it as an aristocratic woman in a brown dress – perfect in every feature – except that she glowed with a strong etherial light and where her eyes should have been, there were just empty dark sockets.

• Captain Marryat, another guest at the hall was the next to have recorded an encounter with the apparition, he and two others described seeing the glowing figure stood in a doorway,” grinning diabolically” at them – The Captain, terrified tried to shoot the ghastly being, but the bullet passed straight through it.

• In 1929, Lady Townsend, who resided in the hall reported that her son and his friend had confessed to seeing a ghost on the staircase.

Further examinations of the photograph have ruled out any deliberate tampering.