10/23/2021
We have a spinning wheel if anyone wants to recreate this story for Halloween 👻
Have you heard of the ‘Grey Lady’? It’s a ghost story that will set your imagination spinning 😅
Sybil Penn was wet nurse to Edward VI and Lady of the Bedchamber to Elizabeth I and is Hampton Court Palace’s most famous spirit. In 1562, Sybil contracted smallpox at the same time as Elizabeth but, unlike the queen, she did not survive.
As a loyal family servant, Sybil was buried in the nearby Hampton Church. After her tomb was disturbed in 1829, reported sightings began to emerge of a ‘Grey Lady’ walking the palace’s courts and corridors.
The first of these stories came from the Ponsonby family who were residents of the palace at the time. They complained about the noise of a spinning wheel coming from behind one of their walls. Legend has it that a small sealed chamber was later discovered close to their apartment, containing an old, well-used spinning wheel…
Sybil’s spinning wheel can apparently still be heard within the walls of Hampton Court and some have even seen a figure or ‘Grey Lady’ moving in the shadows.
If you can pluck up the courage, come and investigate Sybil’s story through Hampton Court Palace's immersive new series of Halloween installations open from today 👉 https://bit.ly/hcp-halloween
