Haunted England is a short (24 minutes) documentary film, directed by Michael Winner and released, with a ‘U’ certificate in 1961. Michael Winner was also the producer, assisted by Pat Ryan. The cinematography was by Charles Marlborough. Among the actors taking part were Tom Corbett and Irene Culyer.
Tony Hillman on the IMBd page describes it as follows:
“David Jacobs, better know as a disc jockey, takes us on a guide to some of the haunted places in England. The ghost of Anne Boleyn at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, a girl who lost her head literally in Burton Agnes Hall, Yorkshire, a phantom funeral at Lyme Hall in Cheshire, a lady in white who appears at Blenkinsopp Castle in search of hidden treasure, a 10th century nobleman who rides the Welsh Stiperstone mountains in search of his missing bride, The Devil’s Chair in the Stiperstones which causes a thunderstorm if anyone sits in it and the Marquis of Bath tells of some of the ghosts at his stately home of Longleat.”
Captain Bill Grant, who was a member of the Warminster Dramatic Society and later lived at Bishopstrow, played a headless horseman in the Longleat section of the film. The Western Advertiser, issue dated Saturday 12th August 1961, mentions that Captain Grant in the guise of a headless horseman “urged his mount down the wooded slopes of Heaven’s Gate in Longleat Park.” Grant is billed in the end credits as a “headless horseman” but if you watch the film though, Grant does not appear ‘headless’, nor is he seen descending the woodland slopes. He is actually seen on horseback in “a lonely part of the grounds” below Heaven’s Gate, playing an 18th century nobleman talking with his groom. Not that you can hear what is being said, as it’s what’s called a non-speaking role. Grant is also seen riding off on horseback.
Also in the film is Emlyn Rees from Warminster.
Haunted England can be viewed for free online on the BFI website:
player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-haunted-england-1961-online