Belgrave Hall is a modest but elegant Queen Anne period house in the Leicester suburb of Belgrave. Built in 1709, it served as a family home for over two centuries before being acquired by Leicester City Council and opened as a museum of domestic life. The house attracted international attention in 1999 when a ghostly white figure was captured on the museum's CCTV security cameras — footage that was broadcast around the world and reignited debate about the existence of ghosts.
The CCTV footage, recorded on the night of December 12, 1999, shows a luminous white shape moving through the garden outside Belgrave Hall. The figure appears to glide rather than walk, and its form suggests a woman in a long dress. Leicester City Council confirmed the footage was genuine and unexplained, and the video was analyzed by multiple experts without a definitive conclusion being reached. Some suggested the figure was a moth or leaf close to the camera lens, amplified by infrared sensitivity. Others pointed out that the shape's movement and proportions were inconsistent with an insect or debris.
The CCTV incident gave new weight to reports that had circulated for decades. Staff at the museum had long described encountering a female presence in the upstairs rooms — a figure seen briefly in doorways or reflected in mirrors. The ghost is most commonly associated with one of the daughters of the Ellis family, who lived in the house during the Victorian era and are believed to have died there. Visitors have reported the smell of cooking in the period kitchen when no food is being prepared, and the sound of a piano playing in the music room. The CCTV footage, regardless of its explanation, transformed Belgrave Hall from a quiet suburban museum into one of Leicester's most visited attractions.