Temple Newsam
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Image:Temple Newsam Kip.jpg Temple Newsam is a country house in Leeds in the county of West Yorkshire, England.
It is the site of a Knights Templar estate. In the 16th century, a Jacobean country house was built on the site, which is described by some as "the Hampton Court of the North". It was the birthplace of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, (and the father of her son James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England) and has been home to the Ingram family for over 300 years. The gardens were modelled by Capability Brown.
The house is also known as "the most haunted house in Yorkshire". The most well known of the several ghosts that haunts the house is the 'Blue Lady'. The ghost of Mary Ingram (1638-1652), daughter of Sir Thomas Ingram, later Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is described as a woman in a blue nightgown with a scar over one of her eyes, a feature omitted from paintings which is often used as an authentication of a sighting.
She got this scar when she was attacked by highwaymen while returning home from visiting a friend who lived in nearby Barrowby Hall (near Garforth) and her valuables were stolen. Mary was a sensitive girl and easily frightened - when her pearl necklace was snatched from her she collapsed. It was a Christening present from her grandfather and was very precious to her. She was taken home sobbing and shaking. Image:Temple Newsam, Morris edited.jpg The next day she had no memory of the hold-up but over and over again she said: "Where are my pearls? where are my pearls?". During the following days she became worse - unpicking cushions in search of her necklace and even trying to lift floorboards. She wouldn't even eat.
Within a fortnight Mary was dead, aged only 14. Her unhappy spirit is said to linger in her room.
To this day locals often call the un-tarmaced long stretch of Barrowby Lane where she was attacked 'blue' lane. She has become associated with Temple Newsam to a point that thinking of the name immediately brings her into the picture.
The estate was the site of the Leeds Festival from its founding in 1999 until 2002. Subsequent Leeds Festivals have been held at Bramham Park.
Europe's largest working Rare Breeds Farm, with over 400 animals, is set within the original estate's Home Farm.