kayzr - thank you. I think a lot of these old houses must necessarily harbour something. WE all did not expect anything and arived full of beans ready to give the dcs a great time in the company of great friends etc.
I still look back and sya on the whole i enjoyed the holiday although dh didn't. Incidentally dh is religious and prays every morning. He used to pray in the dining room ( where the dodgy chair was) and say it made him feel better about the house ( as if he were clearing it somehow) but says on last day it was impossible forhim to concentrate as he kept feeling cold/losing his place/wanting to feel asleep - all sorts of strange phenomenen.