SEVEN spectres are said to haunt the subject of our Camera Club picture of the day, taken by Graham Bennett.

Surrounded by 1,500 acres of woodland, farmland and parkland, the Grade 1 listed Croft Castle in Yarpole, near Leominster has undergone many changes in its long history.

Originating as a castle in the fourteenth century, Croft Castle was home to the Croft family for 700 years, during which it is reputed to have gathered a grisly collection of ghostly residents, said to include the seven foot leather clad shade of Welsh freedom fighter and Croft family ancestor, Owain Glyndwr.

But bad investments and bankruptcy forced the Croft family to sell the castle in 1746 to a local ironmaster.

During the 170 years that followed, Croft Castle changed hands a number of times and in 1760 underwent a major remodelling in the Rococo-Gothic style.

The castle was re-acquired by the Croft family in 1923, becoming the family home of Lady Katherine Croft and her family.

After spending the Second World War playing host to the children of St Mary's Convent School for Girls, Croft Castle eventually entered into the care of the National Trust in 1957.