Preston Manor, one of the UK’s most haunted houses, is due to reopen with new visitor experiences in April after a five-year closure.
Final preparations are underway at the manor in Brighton, England, with guests set to enjoy a new Downtown Abbey-style experience set in 1912, also the year of the Titanic’s sinking.
A new audio trail brings the house to life and tells the stories of its former residents, Ellen and Charles Thomas-Stanford, and offers a look at the lives of their servants and beloved pets.
For families, Preston Manor will offer a children’s trail and interactive activities throughout the house, like dressing up and sound installations.
Hedley Swain, CEO of Brighton & Hove Museums, said Preston Manor will provide an “immersive experience” when it reopens.
“The house provides a unique opportunity to journey back in time to the grandeur of early 20th-century aristocratic life, exploring the upstairs-downstairs lives of the eminent Thomas-Stanford family,” Swain said.
Immersive experience at Preston Manor
“Fans of historical dramas like Downton Abbey will love this engaging journey into the world of the Edwardian upper class.”
Additionally, a new tearoom has been added. This will be run by Café Rust, which also operates a café at Hove Museum of Creativity, another Brighton & Hove Museums site.
As for the building’s ghosts, spectral sightings over the years have included mysterious shadows, phantom hands, ghostly children, and spirit dogs.
Special guided tours will be available, covering the house’s history, ghosts and even an extensive pet cemetery containing 16 dead dogs and four deceased cats.
“The manor is also steeped in ghostly mystery, with spine-chilling hauntings and tales of eerie sightings and unexplained incidents,” said Swain.
“It has become an iconic destination for those seeking supernatural thrills.”
After the reopening, there will be an Edwardian Easter celebration at Preston Manor on 12 April.
Images courtesy of Brighton & Hove Museums
