• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

The Brown Lady Of Raynham Hall

Hi, Arthur, I think this was discussed a few pages ago (on this thread). There seems to be some doubt as to whether the "Mrs." ever existed--and if she did, her name is as fake as her husband's. In spite of the "exotic" name, Indre Shira was said to be a Scotsman of all things!! :shock: (Indre Shira was his pseudonym.)

What I would love is to find out his real identity!! This Marshall person sounds interesting!

And why would he "need" a pseudonym anyway?!

As to the "lady" in the famous photo--here I always thought it was THE BEST "ghost photo" ever taken and now all you doubting Thomases are throwing cold water on the poor spirit (and me!). :cry: ;)

Okay, I admit the romantic in me would like to believe. ("I want to believe". :twisted: ).

It's interesting how many people have compared the image to a statue of the BVM. Because the then Lady Townshend (lady of the manor when the famous photo was taken) never believed that the photo depicted the late lamented Dorothy Walpole--or any other predecessor.

Lady Townshend, who was a devout Christian, was convinced that the figure was that of the Virgin Mary.

Interesting, don't you think?? :D
 
Friend Frobush, a badly belated thank you for the negative image you kindly published here last month.

I've been away from the thread (I apparently accidentally unsubscribed) and am just catching up with it this evening.
 
According to the narrator in this link, Raynham Hall was opened to the public for the first time in 2017 by the (still) residing Townsend family. I've always wanted to visit so I'll be looking into any future dates hopefully available ..


araynhamstairs01.jpg
 
Frideswide said:
OK.... can't see anyone on the stairs but there's a pair of feet and legs to about mid calf standing on the snazzy tiles before they turn into carpet :)

I'm not goning to mention the person sitting at the desk :p
Click to expand...
I hadn't spotted the phantom legs. I'd love to pose for a picture on those stairs, those steps are extremely wide.
 
i have a book by indre shira ... he ran a dodgy palm reading business in london prior to the infamous photo ... see a couple pages back

i dont imagine theres much to see on those stairs
 
Back in the late '70s/early '80s when the 'ghost' photo was being discussed in magazines etc, much was made of the fact that the front edges of the stairs were shiny, giving the impression of a double exposure. As nobody was allowed into the building to take a another photo there was nothing to compare it to.

On the modern photo above, the stair-edges are clear, showing that the treads overlap the risers. This might account for the double exposure effect.

No doubt there'll be many new photos of that view in the near future. Bring it on!
 
It's funny how many men had to be armed in case the brown lady appeared. Is a gun effective against a ghost? And even 3-4 men need to arm themselves against one woman, alive or dead?
 
Swifty said:
those steps are extremely wide.
Click to expand...
Funnily enough, my immediate thought on seeing the colour photo was how narrow it made them look in comparison to the famous picture.

And, no, I didn't notice the phantom feet, either. You'll be telling me next a gorilla walks through the scene.
 
Swifty said:
According to the narrator in this link, Raynham Hall was opened to the public for the first time in 2017 by the (still) residing Townsend family. I've always wanted to visit so I'll be looking into any future dates hopefully available ..


View attachment 15100
Click to expand...

In the original photo, you can see a part of the window beneath the stairs but none of it above - it just looks like a long blank wall. Neither can you see the upper window, which looks quite pokey for a house of that size, so perhaps it's a modern addition. There's also no definition of the ceiling (shown here above the pictures) so I wonder if that's another sign the image was influenced somewhat? Funnily enough, the stairs seem more legit in light of the modern photo...
 
ShadyCavalier said:
In the original photo, you can see a part of the window beneath the stairs but none of it above - it just looks like a long blank wall. Neither can you see the upper window, which looks quite pokey for a house of that size, so perhaps it's a modern addition. There's also no definition of the ceiling (shown here above the pictures) so I wonder if that's another sign the image was influenced somewhat? Funnily enough, the stairs seem more legit in light of the modern photo...
Click to expand...

This photo is possibly the most famous alleged ghost image ever. As a teenager I would look long and hard at it, wondering how that view would look if I had a chance to look for myself. If it's a fake, and one assumes it must be, it's a clever one for the time.

Now it can finally be done, hurrah! The house owners should make a feature of the 'Ghost Stairs' and accommodate photographers.

I will certainly be visiting at some point. It's a long way from home so I'll be planning a mission.
 
escargot said:
This photo is possibly the most famous alleged ghost image ever. As a teenager I would look long and hard at it, wondering how that view would look if I had a chance to look for myself. If it's a fake, and one assumes it must be, it's a clever one for the time.

Now it can finally be done, hurrah! The house owners should make a feature of the 'Ghost Stairs' and accommodate photographers.

I will certainly be visiting at some point. It's a long way from home so I'll be planning a mission.
Click to expand...

I live in Norfolk (for now, at least) and we went for a drive out to the coast one day. On the way we passed through East Raynham and by a set of beautiful gates. I quickly Googled the area to see what magnificent pile the gates were for and was shocked to find I lived so close to the scene of THAT photo. I almost don't want it to be fake because I've known about it for so long. It would be like losing a friend :(

I'm surprised the current owners are willing to let people in. I imagine they must get inundated with slightly-unhinged, obsessive ghost gawpers.
 
escargot said:
Oh how very spiffing! Sadly we're otherwise engaged every Halloween, scaring the Dickens out of the local kids with our lame bait-and-switch mask tricks.
Click to expand...
Here's a video of the tour, the stairs are at 7:10 .. the reflection of torch light on the steps looks very much like the famous photo. The blokes spot this trick of the light at 30:15.

 
Last edited:
ShadyCavalier said:
That's the trouble with Norfolk - it's ages away from anywhere else.
Click to expand...
That's partly why I moved here (that and following a woman here) ..

It breaks my heart to say it but I think the brown lady photograph has been debunked after watching that illicitly filmed tour video above .. again, watch from 30:15 as the two men recreate the effect for selfies.

A modern torch light produces the same lighting effect as the shape of a spectre's body shape. It would be interesting to take a new pic of those stairs under the same lighting conditions and also using a daguerreotype plate camera, the light reflecting back from the flat surfaces of the stairs seems to create an illusion of a body shape almost exactly the same as in the famous photograph.

Different versions of the famous pic:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=r...HSGZAUcQ9C96BAgBEBg&biw=1093&bih=538&dpr=1.25

The SPR notes:

http://www.xenophon.org.uk/sprfile.html
 
Last edited:
Swifty said:
That's partly why I moved here (that and following a woman here) ..

It breaks my heart to say it but I think the brown lady photograph has been debunked after watching that illicitly filmed tour video above .. again, watch from 30:15 as the two men recreate the effect for selfies.

A modern torch light produces the same lighting effect as the shape of a spectre's body shape. It would be interesting to take a new pic of those stairs under the same lighting conditions and also using a daguerreotype plate camera, the light reflecting back from the flat surfaces of the stairs seems to create an illusion of a body shape almost exactly the same as in the famous photograph.

Different versions of the famous pic:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=r...HSGZAUcQ9C96BAgBEBg&biw=1093&bih=538&dpr=1.25

The SPR notes:

http://www.xenophon.org.uk/sprfile.html
Click to expand...

And it's partly why I'm moving away... (not the bit about the woman though. How romantique!)

On the topic of the Brown Lady, there's a reason why, even in the age of cameraphones, ghost sightings are incredibly slim. That and the scepticism of the public - people were a lot easier to deceive before the internet.
 
ShadyCavalier said:
And it's partly why I'm moving away... (not the bit about the woman though. How romantique!)

On the topic of the Brown Lady, there's a reason why, even in the age of cameraphones, ghost sightings are incredibly slim. That and the scepticism of the public - people were a lot easier to deceive before the internet.
Click to expand...
I've never planned to grow old here, I noticed years ago that people have this romantic idea about retiring to the middle of nowhere which is a shit idea unless you're rich. I've decided to live by the sea while I'm still young enough to be able to walk on a beach and then relocate in my grazing years to somewhere that the ambulance can get to me quicker.

The good news is Cromer is soon getting a Maccy D's in the CO OP car park so I can at least now pretend to be in the 20th century for a change.
 
Swifty said:
I've never planned to grow old here, I noticed years ago that people have this romantic idea about retiring to the middle of nowhere which is a shit idea unless you're rich. I've decided to live by the sea while I'm still young enough to be able to walk on a beach and then relocate in my grazing years to somewhere that the ambulance can get to me quicker.

The good news is Cromer is soon getting a Maccy D's in the CO OP car park so I can at least now pretend to be in the 20th century for a change.
Click to expand...

It boggles the mind why developers like to build bungalows in a county with terrible transport links and only one proper hospital... and yet people still buy them, and I'm astonished by how few people drive (often the wives, I've noticed). Good for you for living the by-the-sea dream while you're still a mere stripling.

I thought Cromer was vehemently opposed to that kind of joint. Didn't they fight off Costa and Tesco? Or am I thinking of another similarly Northern Norfolk town?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top