Motherwell’s Dalzell House is filled with colourful ghosts. CALLUM CAMPBELL tells us the story behind this historic Scottish haunted mansion.
Dalzell House in Motherwell, South Lanarkshire, is an imposing mansion with roots all the way back in the year 843 as Royal Hunting Grounds.
These grounds were owned by the Dalzell Family, who continued their use as a hunting forest, however, when granted to James Hamilton, 1st of Dalzell, bigger plans were put in motion.
Archibald Hamilton, the 4th Laird, began work on developing the grounds and added to it many features such as expanded orchards, 150 acres of forest, spots such as the Listening Cave and many paths and routes throughout the establishment.
The actual building began as a wooden shack-like building, which was eventually upgraded into a stone keep in the 15-16th centuries. This keep was always being added to with new expansions and extensions particularly in 1857 due to the family increasing significantly in wealth.
At the turn of the 20th century it began to be used for different purposes; a temporary military hospital in 1914-1918 and was turned into Gresham College, a boys school, after the death of Lord Gavin Hamilton.
In 1985 it relinquished its role as a school and took on its current position as a set of private apartments.
Although the rooms are wonderfully decorated and perfect if you enjoy a medieval theme there is the slight problem that you share the building with three ghostly women.
Hauntings of Dalzell House
The first of these apparitions is referred to as the Green Lady. Although it is unknown who she was in her life or how she died, she has made quite the appearance in the afterlife.
Back when the building functioned as an educational facility, a schoolboy stated that he saw a “green lady with bloodshot eyes” floating out of the paneled walls in the Piper’s gallery.
The boy was in much shock and panic, but this apparition did not seem to have malicious intent towards him. She seems to favor the South Wing as her haunting ground and is accompanied by a pungent scent of Oriential fragrance.
The second spectre that roams Dalzell House is the White Lady, a most tragic figure. It is said that she lived as a young servant girl in the House and was enthralled with her partner.
He, unfortunately, left her and filled with despair and grief she threw herself out of a window in the Peel Tower into the Whinney Burn. Troubled by her tragic and messy death her spirit is unable to pass over and is trapped in between worlds at Dalzell House.
Chillingly recent events have captured some possible photographic evidence of this phantom: a Coatbridge man named Martin Leeson was walking his dog around the Dalzell estate and decided to snap some pictures of the house. Shockingly in one picture of the Peel tower, you can see a distorted face peering out one of the windows.
The final ghost of Dalzell House is known as the Grey Lady, due to her nursing uniform. This ghost was one of the nurses who worked at Dalzell House in WW1 when it was a military hospital. Her cause of death is unknown and she seems to be the most obscure spirit at Dalzell.
These three ghosts have created many pieces of phenomena around the house and grounds over the years such as flashing lights, creaking floorboards and sourceless footsteps. Dogs bark at spots in the air and refuse to enter rooms. Security Guards report being spooked. Dalzell House certainly has something happening.
Have you seen something strange in Dalzell House in Motherwell? Tell us about it in the comments section below!
CALLUM CAMPBELL is a determined writer who lives in Blantyre, Scotland, and enjoys reading, writing about the supernatural, weightlifting and cycling.
Good Evening Callum,
Reference Dalzell House.
My mother who was a widow worked there in the 50s when it was a private school, she was asked to the over one of the cottages in the estate to supervise and look after the resident pupils who remained in the school during the summer holidays, I was offered a place in Gresham school but she refused the the move.
She told me many stories about the “ghosts” that were said to frequent the building, my mother was a very level headed lady and was not one to make up tales for effect.
She said she could always feel a presence in all parts of the building with the exception of the chapel. One particular happening stuck in my mind all these years and that was she felt often someone tapping her on the shoulder and when she turned round there was no one there.
I thought nothing of this tale until a couple of years ago when I was walking in the estate and I notice who I thought was a new gardener for the extensive gardens, I spoke to him and found out he was not the gardener but he and his wife were new owners of a flat in the building.
We spoke for some time regarding the building and it’s history and I related the story from my mother regarding the tap on the shoulder. He then stopped what he was doing and looking directly at me he said since they moved in a couple of months ago his wife had mentioned without knowing anything about the house that she continually felt a tap on her shoulder and on turning round there was no one there.
So there we have two ladies nearly 70 years apart experiencing the same result, hope this is of some interest to you.