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Cursed relics from Tutankhamun’s tomb, a white lady
who walks the grounds and a Roman centurion who wanders with his
throat cut. These are just some of the apparitions unearthed at
Port Lympne, as the mansion celebrates its 100th anniversary,
writes Chris Price.

It reads like a brainstorm for a Hollywood horror flick. A
100-year-old house on the site of an ancient Roman settlement marks
its century by inviting curious but unknowing people inside for an
evening tour, where the staff have been touched by a host of
ghostly apparitions.

“I’ll be telling people about the history of the house and the
strange things that have gone on during that time,” said Matt
Crittenden, who will lead the visitors through the mansion’s
imposing bronze doors for the hair-raising historical tours.

Of course, by day Port Lympne is better known for it’s animal
park but it will be the things that go bump in the night that take
centre stage for two nights next week.

“We’ve had reports of ghostly sneezes, mysterious typewriters
being punched on and screaming German airmen,” said Matt, who looks
after the primates in his 9 to 5 job. “We have a white lady who
likes to frequent the top end of the park. It goes on from there,
from Roman centurions to plaques from Tutankhamun’s tomb. It is not
until you start to look that you realise we have the grounds for
one seriously spooky house.”

Right from the beginning, Port Lympne comes across as ripe for a
good haunting. Originally called Belcaire, the name was changed to
Port Lympne by Sir Philip Sassoon, who commissioned the mansion in
1908. The name comes from the ancient Roman settlement of Portus
Lemanis, first documented on the site in the third century,
although there is much earlier archaeological evidence of a naval
base. The mansion was completed in the winter of 1912.

“We’ve been told that when the main house was being built and
they were digging up the driveway, builders discovered two bodies,
believed to be from the Roman era,” said Matt, 46. “It is said they
had their throats cut. Speaking to some of the most level-headed
colleagues of mine here, who you wouldn’t think would be troubled
by this sort of thing, they have said they have seen a Roman
centurion walking the length of the estate.”

The rooms of the house itself are spooky enough and often with a
touch of melancholy. The Tent Room was painted by the artist Rex
Whistler, a friend of Sassoon’s, with the walls telling stories
from the owner’s life. Although the mansion was Sassoon’s party
house – entertaining the likes of Winston Churchill, Charlie
Chaplin and Lawrence of Arabia – Whistler’s painting puts the owner
in a window, watching the fun from a distance, as a symbol of his
battle to hide his homosexuality.

Another of Sasson’s friends was Egyptologist Howard Carter, who
discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.
The steps to the upper part of the gardens are flanked by two
plaques, which Carter took from the tomb and donated to his friend.
None of the gardeners touch the small stone tablets, for fear of
the curse of King Tut.

After Sassoon died in 1939, the house was left to his sister
Sybil, who then passed it on to her cousin, who sold it to an
Australian called Colonel Waite, a cousin of the owner of the
Austin motor company. He never actually moved in, although he had
alterations made to the house and it remained empty until John
Aspinall bought it in 1973. The house opened to the public as Port
Lympne Zoo in 1976.

“The whole house is a mystery,” said Matt who lives in
Littlestone. “To research it is a complete nightmare. If people do
know about it, they don’t want to tell you. We have gardeners who
won’t cross the front of the mansion at night.

“They would rather take 127 stairs around the back, past those
two tablets, than take the quick walk across the mansion.

“There are toilets that some people will not go into because
they feel like someone’s watching them. We have no idea what has
gone on here.

“We have facts but only small facts and some of the facts we do
have are seriously creepy.”

Halloween tours of Port Lympne mansion, near Hythe, take
place on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 30 and 31, from 6.30pm.
Tickets £10. Children must be over 12 and their tickets are £8.
Call 0844 842 4647.