No one seems to know how old The Talbot Hotel actually is. It probably was standing in the ancient market town of Oundle for centuries before being partially rebuilt in 1626, and some of its medieval timbers are still plainly visible. Oundle itself dates from Saxon times and, with its evocative stone buildings and stone-slated roofs, still looks like a perfect movie-set version of the 16th Century. The rebuilding of The Talbot in the 1600's, however, brought with it an infamous ghost, Mary Queen of Scots, who is still seen and heard to this day by guests staying at the Hotel. Mary is reportedly the best-documented ghost in all of Britain. After tearing down Fotheringhay Castle they used the windows and stones and especially the oak staircase – the staircase Mary descended on her way to execution - in The Talbot's rebuilding. And it's on that great bewindowed staircase and in the two bedrooms (Rooms 5 and 7) that it is said that Mary haunts