A mile and a half west of Staveley, Derbyshire is the beautiful old Jacobean mansion known as Hagg. This building was erected in 1630 by Sir Peter Frecheville as a shooting box, so it was said, and it may have been, but it would seem to have more of the nature of a widowed house.
The building is in excellent condition and is a good example of a Jacobean house from that time. It faces south, and when it was first built it would have a beautiful view of the valley from the balcony and the upper floors.
At the front of the house is a two-story square porch, with a leaded flat roof, said to have been used by the ladies of the house to watch the hunt.
A ghost appears … In recent times, the late Mr. Crawshaw was the tenant, and the last person to come in contact with the local ghost, who is said to have haunted Hagg for many years. The appearance was of a lady dressed in white with an antique cape and hat.
It is reported that a gentleman from Ireland, who had not previously been to Hagg, came to visit Mr. Crawshaw. The morning after his arrival, he looked around the breakfast table and asked his host if the lady in white he had passed on the stairs the night before was not coming down for breakfast.
This gentleman had seen the ghost.
An old couplet describes this ghostly visitor as follows: “Then, as you cross the entrance hall to climb the oak staircase, don’t be afraid to meet the lady who often stays there. She disappears from the player’s eyes, even in the light of noon.
Is there another mystery related to Hagg?
A few years ago a huge old oak tree, many years older than the house itself, stood outside the garden wall, and from one of its branches grew a large handful of mistletoe. Mistletoe is not common in Derbyshire and is rarely seen growing on oak. The tree was surrounded by a dry stone wall and was said to be protected by a peculiarly cruel and dangerous ogre.
It is alleged that Druidic ceremonies were held there, but I do not know for what reasons. This tree was felled in 1883, and only a mound of dirt remains to show where it was located.
