Ham House and Gardens

A unique 17th-century treasure trove

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This rare and atmospheric 17^th-century house sits on the banks of the River Thames in Richmond. It is the creation of the tenacious Duchess of Lauderdale and her husband, the Duke, who together transformed Ham into one of the grandest Stuart houses in England.

Ham House is internationally recognised for its superb collection of paintings, furniture and textiles, largely acquired 400 years ago. Some of our unique objects include a rare Chinese teapot, said to have been used by the Duchess herself, and the exotic ivory cabinet. The house is reputed to be one of the most haunted in Britain. Some visitors have reported the ghostly aroma of the sweet Virginia pipe tobacco that the Duke smoked after meals in the dining room.

You can now visit the hands-on below stairs rooms with just a garden ticket. The bathroom, complete with a wooden bathtub and bed, illustrates how baths were taken before washing became an everyday event.

Outside, the open and formal restored 17th-century gardens surround the house. It includes a productive kitchen garden containing many heritage crops, the maze-like ‘Wilderness’, complete with summerhouses, and many beautiful spots perfect for a picnic.

The newly refurbished Orangery café set in the kitchen garden serves light lunches and teas. The café is set in one of the first examples of an Orangery, however it was not an ideal building for plants to grow as the windows are small and very little light could reach the orange and lemon trees.

Ham House Seasonal Events and Christmas Fair

• Starting with the Christmas Fair!

• Christmas fair

  3-4, 10-11 and 17-18 December
  The popular Christmas fair returns with an array of interesting and festive local stalls in our heated marquee 11am - 5pm.

(Historic Event Reference Only)

Ham House Haunted Stories London

Ham House Haunted Stories London

Ham House is located in Ham, Richmond-upon-Thames. In addition to the house, there is an orangey, icehouse, and dairy. This grand house as built along the Thames in 1610 for Sir Thomas Vavasour, who was the Knight Marshal to James I.

Sir Thomas died in 1620, the house was then occupied briefly by the Earl of Holdernesse before being given to William Murray in 1626. Murray was a close friend of King Charles I. When he died, the house was passed on to his oldest daughter, Elizabeth as was his title.

Elizabeth was described as being beautiful and smart, however she was also ruthless and greedy. It was said that even while married to her first husband, Sir Lionel Tollemache, 3rd Baronet, of Helmingham Hall in Suffolk, Elizabeth was seeing her future husband, John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale. The two eventually married after her first husband's death, and Duchess Elizabeth had Ham House remodelled and made larger.

Word of a haunting at Ham House first appeared in 1879. It was a written account by Augustus Hare. "There is a ghost at Ham. The old butler there had a little girl, she was then six years old. In the small hours of the morning, the child, waking up, saw a little old woman scratching with her finger against the wall close to the fireplace. She was not at all frightened at first but sat up to look at her. The noise she made in doing this caused the old woman to look round, she came to the foot of the bed and, grasping the rail, stared at the child long and fixedly. So horrible was her stare, that the child was terrified and screamed and hid her face. People ran in and the child told what she had seen. The wall was examined where she had seen the figure scratching, and concealed in it were papers, which proved that in that room, Elizabeth had murdered her first husband to marry the Duke of Lauderdale.

In more recent times Elizabeth's ghost has been seen wandering the corridors at night. In her latter years the Duchess used a cane at night to get around the house. Guests have reported hearing tapping in the corridors at night.

House steward Victoria Bradley has seen footprints at the bedchamber of the Duchess. After turning on the light, she said she saw footprints by the bed, facing the fireplace. There have also been footprints seen on the staircase. Others who work at the house have reported smelling pop tobacco in the dining room. Anne Partington-Omar, the manager of Ham House, who also lives there says there are things that have happened here that you just cannot explain.

Croydon resident Colin Iles, 30, visited Ham House on Monday, June 23, 2009, with his girlfriend Elaine Camera. Elaine described hearing a deep growl whilst on a tour of the lower floor. His girlfriend initially thought it was Colin's stomach and thought nothing of it, but as they went to leave the room, something compelled her to turn and take a photo.

Mr Iles said: "We were walking out and I just felt I should not be here. I had tingles down my body but my girlfriend felt the need to take a picture. "She has no idea why she did it but I'm glad she did." When the couple got home and uploaded the snap, they spotted a white, orb-like shape in the photo of the empty room.

Visitors and guests have reported seeing the ghost of a dog, a King Charles' cocker spaniel in the grounds of Ham House. Each Halloween, the Ham House offers ghost tours in search of the evil Duchess and the playful ghost dog.