5. The Talbot Hotel in Oundle boasts a staircase that was once in Fotheringhay Castle. The hotel is said to be haunted by someone who walked down that staircase on her very last journey; who was it?
From Quiz Things That Go Bump
Answer:
Mary Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen on Scots, was imprisoned in Fotheringhay at the end of a captivity in England that lasted nearly 20 years. Initially, she sought refuge with Elizabeth I in England after she had escaped from captivity in Scotland, but she was arrested, and for many years her jailer was the Earl of Shrewsbury. Mary was kept in the state and style that a queen might expect, all at the expense of the Earl, but an increasing number of Catholic plots intended to put her on the throne of England in place of Elizabeth I led to her closer confinement.
In 1585 she was handed over to Sir Amyas Paulet, who disliked her and strictly curtailed her activities, and then in 1586 the Babington Plot was uncovered. Mary's letters showing her involvement in this plot to murder Elizabeth proved to be her downfall, and in 1587 Elizabeth signed the warrant for her execution. She was beheaded in the Great Hall of Fotheringhay Castle.