The Fish Hotel in Buttermere is one of the oldest Inns of the Lake District, and was owned by the Robinson family in the 1790s. The small village of Buttermere was only accessible through difficult passes, but the Inn became famous not just for its trout fishing but for the Robinson’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Mary. Many travellers wrote of her beauty and came to visit her from afar.

However, by the beginning of the 1800s she was married to a gentleman who stayed at the Inn, calling himself ‘Colonel Alexander Hope’. Mary’s beauty had led to the story being published in London papers, who soon discovered that the Colonel was nothing more than an imposter who was already married. His real name was John Hatfield, an undischarged bankrupt. He was eventually punished by death for the crimes of bigamy and of false pretences.

Read more about Lake District ghosts at GrasmereCumbria.co.uk.