Seaton Deleval Hall, a Grade I listed house on the coast of Northumberland, was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1718 and is regarded as his finest work.  Like all old houses worth their salt, it is alleged to have a ghost.  According to family biographer, Francis Askham:

Seaton Deleval Hall, a Grade I listed house on the coast of Northumberland, was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1718 and is regarded as his finest work.  Like all old houses worth their salt, it is alleged to have a ghost.  According to family biographer, Francis Askham:

‘There is a first-floor window on the North front of Seaton Delaval where, so it would seem from one particular part of the forecourt, a white-clad figure is standing. This, according to legend, is the White Lady, a girl who fell in love with the Delaval heir and died of a broken heart because the marriage was forbidden.’  (Source: Wikipedia)

I first heard this story as a child of 7 or 8 in Newcastle.  Local legend (at least among schoolchildren in the 1980s) states that the White Lady committed suicide in her despair.