Haunted Chiswick Ghosts (walks of london)

Surrounded by its own peaceful grounds and modelled on Palladio’s Villa Rotonda at Vicenza, Italy, Chiswick House (1725-9) was designed by Richard Boyle, the 3rd Earl of Burlington, and stands as a monument to his appreciation of the arts. He lived in an adjoining Jacobean mansion (demolished in 1758), and used the new house to exhibit his works of art as well as to entertain friends, such as Handel, Pope and Swift. It later came into the ownership of various Dukes of Devonshire. Charles James Fox, Whig Statesman and Foreign Secretary, died here in 1806, as did Prime Minister George Canning in 1827. In 1892 the 8th Duke of Devonshire moved to Chatsworth, and Chiswick House became a private mental asylum. Middlesex County Council purchased it in 1929 and, over the next thirty years, it was allowed to fall into disrepair.

In 1958 the Ministry of Works became an extensive restoration project and set about returning to the house to its former glory. As the workmen set about their task, they appear to have disturbed the spirits of several former residents. The aroma of bacon and eggs, which the workmen attributed the smell to the ghost of “one of the mad cooks,” would often waft around the building, although no cooking was ever taking place anywhere in the vicinity. Although the restoration was completed long ago, staff and visitors are constantly mystified by the distinctive smell of fried bacon that sometimes permeates the air in the back gallery from time. It can hang in the air for several months at a time, and then not be noticed for a few years. Elsewhere in the house, some visitors have sensed a female presence in the bedchamber, and a lady who was one day admiring the mirror in there – the only original mirror in the house – was startled by the distinctive reflection of Lady Burlington standing behind her. On turning round, however, the lady found that her spectral companion was nowhere to be seen.