Gawsworth Hall is a half-timbred, sixteenth century
manor house situated in Macclesfield, Cheshire. According to many sources it
has a number of ghosts.
The
mansion was once occupied by Mary Fitton, the maid of honor to Elizabeth I,
who is now believed to haunt not only the house but the church and the
surrounding roads. It is rumored that Mary Fitton was the 'Dark Lady' that
Shakespeare wrote of in his sonnets.
In the 1970s, the smell of incense was reported near a
priest's room in the hall. This room was used as a hiding place for holy men
in the sixteenth century.
The Old Rectory is also thought to be haunted. Smashing
glass and various knocks and bangs have been heard and, on one occasion, an
image of a man with a pointed beard was seen in a dark alcove.
Maggoty's Wood, nearby the Hall, is said to be haunted
by Samuel Johnson, the last professional jester in England. He has been seen
dancing around the wood, near the place he is buried.