The Archives Team recently visited the old campus of Westfield College in Hampstead, which is now a residential campus of Kings College, and heard of stories of ghosts reportedly haunting the grounds.
One such story describes a night time cleaner being startled when she saw a young girl in period dress, sitting at the bottom of the stairs in Old House, reading a newspaper. The building was not in use at the time, so you can image her surprise!
No ghosts were encountered during our visit, but the site is metaphorically full of the spirit of Westfield, and the legacy is tangible in the many original buildings that are still in use today. As expected the campus looked rather different to the earlier photographs we have seen in the Archives. We were able to visit Maynard Wing (as pictured), the Old Skeel Library, the Dining Hall, and the old attic space that Ellen Delf-Smith used as a laboratory - which is now a staff flat! We also saw the inside of Old House, including the beautiful curved staircase that is the centrepiece of several photographs in the collection, and the location of the ghost sighting.
Whilst in Hampstead, we took the opportunity of visiting Maresfield Gardens which are the two houses, now privately owned, in which the College was originally established. We were pleased to see a plaque, marking the significance of these buildings.
To find out what it was like to be a student at Westfield College, see the Students' Experience of Westfield College exhibition in the Archive Galleries. To find out more about the Westfield College Archives, see the catalogue. For more information about the Archives see our Guide to Archives.