Haddon Hall has been the home of the Dukes of Rutland and their forebears since 1153. It is a beautiful medieval Tudor manor house with Norman and Saxon origins. After the Norman Conquest, William Peverel, illegitimate son of William the Conqueror, was awarded the manor. Much of the current building dates from 1370 when Richard de Vernon started major building work. The Vernons were a long descended family with origins in Normandy. Sir Henry Vernon was governor to Prince Arthur and a favourite of Henry VII. One legend tells of a tall woman, dressed in white, appearing in a vision to the Prince while he was resting on the banks of the river within the Hall grounds in 1501. She is said to have warned him not only of his untimely death but that his brother Henry would become heir to the throne and marry his widow, Catharine of Aragon. Four months after his wedding the premonition came true. The hall is said to be haunted by the beautiful Dorothy Vernon, who fell in love with the son of the Earl of Rutland, however their union was opposed by her family. Legend says that they stole away on the night of a ball in honour of her sister's engagement to the son of the Earl of Derby, and married the next morning in Leicestershire. Other activity recorded at Haddon include cold spots on stone staircases, the apparition of a white lady who drifts across the 14th century banqueting hall, and a ghostly dog is heard barking in the gardens.