Mllionaire businessman Anwar Rashid and his family thought they would be happy living in the beautiful 52-room, £3.6 million Clifton Hall in Nottinghamshire - but after just a few hours, they realised moving there was a mistake.
The family were left so terrified by the ghostly occurences at the mansion that they moved out of it just 8 months after moving in.
Sightings at the house whilst they were living there included a monk walking through the grounds, a woman in the graveyard falling over and chairs moving in one of the rooms.
The final straw came whenunexplained bloodstains appeared on their baby's bed clothes.
The hall, which dates back to the Norman conquest and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book, has 17 bedrooms, ten reception rooms, ten bathrooms, a gym and a cinema.
King Charles I stayed briefly there in 1632 as a guest of the 1st Baronet of Clifton, Sir Gervase Clifton.
According to legend, a woman dressed in white once jumped from a window to her death, while locals say tunnels in the grounds were more recently used by devil worshippers and are daubed with satanic symbols.
'We were like the family in The Others,' says millionaire who fled 'haunted' mansion
By Andy Dolan
21st September 2008
Daily Mail
When businessman Anwar Rashid bought the 52-room Clifton Hall, he thought it complemented his millionaire lifestyle perfectly.
But within hours of moving in to the imposing £3.6million mansion, the Rashids realised they were not the only ones in residence.
Today Mr Rashid told how the family were left so terrorised by a series of ghostly sightings they handed the property back to their bank, just eight months after being handed the keys.
Spooked: Anwar Rashid said he and his family were driven out of their mansion by ghosts
The final straw came when unexplained blood spots appeared on their 18-month-old son's bed clothes.
Mr Rashid, 32, compared his experience to the 2001 film The Others.
In the film, which stars Nicole Kidman, a family is forced out of their country home by ghosts.
Mr Rashid said: 'Clifton Hall is a beautiful property. I fell for its beauty but behind the facade it is haunted.
'We were like the family in [horror film] The Others. The ghosts didn't want us to be there and we could not fight them because we couldn't see them.'
He said the first experience came hours after the family moved in.
'There was a knock on the wall', he said. 'We heard this, 'Hello, is anyone there'?
'We ignored it the first time but two minutes later we heard the man's voice again. I got up to have a look but the doors were locked and the windows were closed.'
Mr Rashid, wife Nabila, 25, and their four children bought the house from millionaire businessman Chek Whyte in November 2006 - who they say did not mention anything about ghosts. The family moved in two months later, along with Mr Rashid's brother and their parents.
'Haunted': Mr Rashid handed Clifton Hall back to the bank because the family were spooked by the sound of screams and the appearance of mysterious figures in the £3.6million mansion
Mr Rashid, who is worth £25 million and made his money through a chain of nursing homes, a hotel in Dubai and has 26 properties, said the house remained quiet after their 'welcome' for several months until one of the maids saw a grey figure sitting on her bed, causing her to collapse with fright.
He claimed that things began to get really scary when the ghosts started to take on the form of his children.
'On one occasion my wife went downstairs to make milk for the baby at 5am and she saw our eldest daughter watching television', the businessman added.
'She said her name but she wouldn't respond. My wife realised something was up, so she went back upstairs to check on her and found her fast asleep in her bed.
'When we found red blood spots on the baby's quilt, that was the day my wife said she'd had enough. We didn't even stay that night.'
The hall, which dates back to the Norman conquest and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book, has 17 bedrooms, ten reception rooms, ten bathrooms, a gym and a cinema.
King Charles I stayed briefly there in 1632 as a guest of the 1st Baronet of Clifton, Sir Gervase Clifton.
Eerie: Mr Rashid compared his experience to the 2001 film The Others, starring Nicole Kidman, in which a family are forced out of their home by ghosts
According to legend, a woman dressed in white once jumped from a window to her death, while locals say tunnels in the grounds were more recently used by devil worshippers and are daubed with satanic symbols.
The family moved out of the house in August last year and Mr Rashid attempted to sell it, without success. He then stopped paying the mortgage in January 2008 'as a last resort' so that the bank would eventually repossess, which happened on Thursday.
In a futile effort to drive the spirits from the mansion, Mr Rashid had previously called in the Ashfield Paranormal Investigation Network, based in nearby Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Lee Roberts, team leader of the network and a serving police officer, said: 'Clifton Hall is the only place where I've ever really been scared, even in the light. It's just got a really eerie feeling about it.' He said two members of his team fainted after independently seeing the same ghost of a boy stood behind curtains during one of the team's visits to the hall.
Mr Rashid had planned to open the hall for weddings, but failed to obtain a licence. He denied suggestions he had made up the ghost stories because he couldn't pay his mortgage as a result of the failure of his business plan. The hall was always intended primarily as a family home, he said..
Mr Rashid now lives in the Wollaton area of Nottingham. He said he had never believed in ghosts until his experience at Clifton Hall. He condemned Mr Whyte for not revealing that the hall was haunted.
'I would never have bought it, had I known', he said.
'That is why I am speaking out now. I couldn't sleep knowing that I have kept something so serious from the next person who buys it.'
Darren Brookes, whose security firm previously guarded the hall for five years, said some of his staff 'refused point-blank' to work there.
He said staff reported sightings such as a monk walking through the grounds, a woman in the graveyard falling over, who vanished when a security guard went to assist her, and chairs moving in one of the rooms.
dailymail.co.uk
The family were left so terrified by the ghostly occurences at the mansion that they moved out of it just 8 months after moving in.
Sightings at the house whilst they were living there included a monk walking through the grounds, a woman in the graveyard falling over and chairs moving in one of the rooms.
The final straw came whenunexplained bloodstains appeared on their baby's bed clothes.
The hall, which dates back to the Norman conquest and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book, has 17 bedrooms, ten reception rooms, ten bathrooms, a gym and a cinema.
King Charles I stayed briefly there in 1632 as a guest of the 1st Baronet of Clifton, Sir Gervase Clifton.
According to legend, a woman dressed in white once jumped from a window to her death, while locals say tunnels in the grounds were more recently used by devil worshippers and are daubed with satanic symbols.
'We were like the family in The Others,' says millionaire who fled 'haunted' mansion
By Andy Dolan
21st September 2008
Daily Mail
When businessman Anwar Rashid bought the 52-room Clifton Hall, he thought it complemented his millionaire lifestyle perfectly.
But within hours of moving in to the imposing £3.6million mansion, the Rashids realised they were not the only ones in residence.
Today Mr Rashid told how the family were left so terrorised by a series of ghostly sightings they handed the property back to their bank, just eight months after being handed the keys.
Spooked: Anwar Rashid said he and his family were driven out of their mansion by ghosts
The final straw came when unexplained blood spots appeared on their 18-month-old son's bed clothes.
Mr Rashid, 32, compared his experience to the 2001 film The Others.
In the film, which stars Nicole Kidman, a family is forced out of their country home by ghosts.
Mr Rashid said: 'Clifton Hall is a beautiful property. I fell for its beauty but behind the facade it is haunted.
'We were like the family in [horror film] The Others. The ghosts didn't want us to be there and we could not fight them because we couldn't see them.'
He said the first experience came hours after the family moved in.
'There was a knock on the wall', he said. 'We heard this, 'Hello, is anyone there'?
'We ignored it the first time but two minutes later we heard the man's voice again. I got up to have a look but the doors were locked and the windows were closed.'
Mr Rashid, wife Nabila, 25, and their four children bought the house from millionaire businessman Chek Whyte in November 2006 - who they say did not mention anything about ghosts. The family moved in two months later, along with Mr Rashid's brother and their parents.
'Haunted': Mr Rashid handed Clifton Hall back to the bank because the family were spooked by the sound of screams and the appearance of mysterious figures in the £3.6million mansion
Mr Rashid, who is worth £25 million and made his money through a chain of nursing homes, a hotel in Dubai and has 26 properties, said the house remained quiet after their 'welcome' for several months until one of the maids saw a grey figure sitting on her bed, causing her to collapse with fright.
He claimed that things began to get really scary when the ghosts started to take on the form of his children.
'On one occasion my wife went downstairs to make milk for the baby at 5am and she saw our eldest daughter watching television', the businessman added.
'She said her name but she wouldn't respond. My wife realised something was up, so she went back upstairs to check on her and found her fast asleep in her bed.
'When we found red blood spots on the baby's quilt, that was the day my wife said she'd had enough. We didn't even stay that night.'
The hall, which dates back to the Norman conquest and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book, has 17 bedrooms, ten reception rooms, ten bathrooms, a gym and a cinema.
King Charles I stayed briefly there in 1632 as a guest of the 1st Baronet of Clifton, Sir Gervase Clifton.
Eerie: Mr Rashid compared his experience to the 2001 film The Others, starring Nicole Kidman, in which a family are forced out of their home by ghosts
According to legend, a woman dressed in white once jumped from a window to her death, while locals say tunnels in the grounds were more recently used by devil worshippers and are daubed with satanic symbols.
The family moved out of the house in August last year and Mr Rashid attempted to sell it, without success. He then stopped paying the mortgage in January 2008 'as a last resort' so that the bank would eventually repossess, which happened on Thursday.
In a futile effort to drive the spirits from the mansion, Mr Rashid had previously called in the Ashfield Paranormal Investigation Network, based in nearby Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Lee Roberts, team leader of the network and a serving police officer, said: 'Clifton Hall is the only place where I've ever really been scared, even in the light. It's just got a really eerie feeling about it.' He said two members of his team fainted after independently seeing the same ghost of a boy stood behind curtains during one of the team's visits to the hall.
Mr Rashid had planned to open the hall for weddings, but failed to obtain a licence. He denied suggestions he had made up the ghost stories because he couldn't pay his mortgage as a result of the failure of his business plan. The hall was always intended primarily as a family home, he said..
Mr Rashid now lives in the Wollaton area of Nottingham. He said he had never believed in ghosts until his experience at Clifton Hall. He condemned Mr Whyte for not revealing that the hall was haunted.
'I would never have bought it, had I known', he said.
'That is why I am speaking out now. I couldn't sleep knowing that I have kept something so serious from the next person who buys it.'
Darren Brookes, whose security firm previously guarded the hall for five years, said some of his staff 'refused point-blank' to work there.
He said staff reported sightings such as a monk walking through the grounds, a woman in the graveyard falling over, who vanished when a security guard went to assist her, and chairs moving in one of the rooms.
dailymail.co.uk