{"id":4005,"date":"2026-02-03T13:01:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/mary-queen-of-scots-haunts-pub-made-from-bricks-of-her-execution-spot\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:01:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:01:18","slug":"mary-queen-of-scots-haunts-pub-made-from-bricks-of-her-execution-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/mary-queen-of-scots-haunts-pub-made-from-bricks-of-her-execution-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Queen of Scots \u2018haunts\u2019 pub \u2018made from bricks of her execution spot\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-02-03 13:01:15<\/b>
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Mary, Queen of Scots is once again at the centre of a story that refuses to fade, with folklore claiming the executed monarch returns each year to a Northamptonshire pub built from the stones of the castle where she met her death.

\nThe Scottish queen was executed aged 44 at Fotheringhay Castle on 8 February 1587 after her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I authorised her death for treason.

\nMary had been implicated in a plot to overthrow Elizabeth, uncovered after the English spymaster Francis Walsingham intercepted correspondence linking her to conspirators.

\nEven though Mary\u2019s involvement was clear, Elizabeth was said to have been deeply uneasy about ordering the execution of a fellow crowned monarch, aware of the dangerous precedent such an act might set.

\nNevertheless, the sentence was carried out, and Mary\u2019s death became one of the most enduring and controversial episodes in British history.

\nAccording to local legend, Mary\u2019s story did not end at the scaffold.

\nShe is now said to appear annually around the anniversary of her execution at The Talbot Hotel in Oundle, a historic building whose fabric is closely tied to Fotheringhay.

\nThe market town lies three miles from the castle site, and a tavern has occupied the hotel\u2019s location since the 1500s. Although the present building was rebuilt in 1626, it is widely believed stone from Fotheringhay Castle was reused in its construction.

\nThe castle itself, the birthplace of Richard III, 32, was abandoned and fully dismantled in 1628, leaving only a grassy mound behind.

\nFolklore holds parts of the hotel \u2013 including bedroom panelling, a great horn window and the staircase \u2013 originated from the castle.

\nIt is also said Mary\u2019s executioner stayed at the inn the night before carrying out his task, dining on pigeon pie.

\nMarian Pipe, author of Northamptonshire Ghosts and Legends, told Northants Live: \u201cThe tragic queen is said to haunt the upper stairs and two of the bedrooms at the top.

\n\u201cMany people have seen the ghostly figure of a woman in a long black dress, standing at the foot of a bed in one of the rooms. She is sometimes seen gazing sadly through the mullioned windows on the stairs.\u201d

\nGuests have reported being woken by the sound of a woman weeping for hours \u2013 accounts often coinciding with periods of renovation.

\nMrs Pipe added sightings frequently involve a figure in a long black dress descending the oak staircase \u2013 the colour Mary wore to her execution.

\nLegend also points to a dent in the staircase handrail, said to have been caused by Mary\u2019s signet ring as she clutched it for support on her final walk.
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