Ancient Rectory Mansion

The Ancient Rectory Mansion is an outstanding example of local early-Tudor architecture, with the current building dating from 1499. The foundations, however, date back as far as 1228, with traces of earlier occupation suggesting the site was used in Roman times. At the time the Rectory Mansion was built, Brading was a busy seaport, and Quay Lane led straight to the local docks. The Rectory Mansion underwent a series of uses throughout its history, not only as rectory for the neighbouring Church of St Mary, but also as a coaching inn and, later, private cottages. In 1965, the Rectory Mansion - along with the neighbouring cottages - was converted into a wax museum by local entrepreneur Graham Osborn-smith, a use that would continue until 2010. Since then, the site has seen mixed use as a venue for shops and eateries, being sold on the open market again in 2024. The Ancient Rectory Mansion is said to be haunted by a Frenchman called Louis de Rochefort, reputedly murdered at the building when it was an inn in the 1640's. According to local tradition, Louis was an emissary sent by the French King to assist Charles I, then imprisoned on the Isle of Wight at Carisbrooke Castle. An unknown assassin - supposedly at the behest of Charles's Parliamentarian enemies - plunged a knife into the unfortunate Frenchman, who died swearing that he would haunt the building unless his body was returned to France. The gruesome story provided inspiration for an equally gruesome tableau in the wax museum, showing the murdered Louis lying in his bed - purportedly in the very room where the murder occurred. Additionally, the discovery of human bones during work at the site in 1964 led to the theory that these were the ghastly remains of Louis de Rochefort, and Graham Osborn-smith made much of his efforts to trace any descendants in France. Unfortunately, nobody came forward to claim the remains and the bones were displayed in a suitably spookily-lit coffin in the museum courtyard until it closed in 2010. Reports of ghostly sights and sounds pre-date the wax museum. The Carley family, who occupied the cottages as private owners for over a hundred years, claimed to have been disturbed by 'unearthly voices' in the middle of the night, the inexplicable sound of rushing water in the building and the sound of a stagecoach and horses clattering down Quay Lane in the early hours of the morning. This happened on more than one occasion, but when they went to look out into the lane, nothing could be seen. It was said that the last tenant of the Ancient Rectory Mansion left in hurry during the 1950s after hearing ghostly voices arguing in the darkness. More recently, paranormal investigators in the building have claimed to have heard footsteps, rattling door handles and terrifying screams. One medium who visited the site claimed to have made contact with a spirit that claimed it was not the ghost of Louis de Rochefort, but rather the quick-tempered local who had murdered him instead! Dogs are said to behave strangely at the location where the murder is reputed to have taken place. The ghost has also been seen on several occasions, in each instance being described as 'a tall, thin man' in old-fashioned clothes. This figure was seen in the cottage garden (and subsequent courtyard which replaced it), and some time in the 1960's, a neighbour glimpsed the same figure flitting along the balcony. The tall, ghostly man has also been reported inside the house, gliding through the wall into the room where he was supposedly murdered. In the ornate language of Graham Osborn-smith's guide book, Louis de Rochefort 'may well be doomed to restlessly pervade the confines of these ancient walls until the end of time...'