But none of these Hungerford men are said to haunt the buildings, rather it is Lady Agnes Hungerford who is sometimes seen in the chapel – perhaps repenting her deeds. Agnes was convicted of inciting and abetting two of her servants to murder her first husband, after which his body was disposed of in the castle kitchen’s oven and she promptly married Sir Edward Hungerford. After her second husband’s death she and the servants were hanged at Tyburn.
Old Wardour Castle, Wiltshire
This remarkable castle in a remote valley was built by John, 5th Lord Lovell, one of the richest barons in England, in the 1390s. It was at the time as sophisticated as any building in Europe, its hexagonal design pioneering in its arrangement of luxurious self-contained suites for guests and its whole a symbol of Lovell’s closeness to the opulent court of Richard II – a cousin of his wife. In 1578 the new owner, Sir Matthew Arundell, decided to modernise this exquisite castle, adapting it for Elizabethan living. But during the Civil War in the 1640s it was besieged, partially blown up, and afterwards left to fall into ruin.
The usual ghost at Old Wardour is said to be that of Sir Thomas Arundell’s wife, the indomitable Lady Blanche, who in her husband’s absence during the Civil War mustered twenty-five men and servants, and withstood a siege against 1,300 Parliamentarians for six days before surrendering. But what visitors report encountering on the spiral staircase is not the figure of brave Blanche but a light, as if of a lantern, and the sound of a deep groan.
Portland Castle, Dorset
This squat, compact coastal artillery fortress was built for Henry VIII in 1540 to protect the important anchorage known as the Portland Roads. It was one of a chain of such forts built along the southern coast at a period of threatened invasion from Catholic Europe. It remained armed and garrisoned into the nineteenth century, was then converted into a private house, but returned to military use at the end of the century and remained in service until after the Second World War. During the Civil War, the island of Portland was a Royalist stronghold, while the nearby merchant town of Weymouth backed Cromwell. The castle was much fought over, and taken and retaken several times by both Parliamentarian and Royalist forces.
Richard Wiseman, a Royalist surgeon, and later surgeon to Charles II, recalled attending to one of the soldiers of the Portland Garrison in 1645. The man was haemorrhaging, and Wiseman cauterised the wound, using a heated poker. As well as pushes and pinches in otherwise empty rooms, when in the castle kitchen, where this surgery is said to have taken place, visitors have reported the smell of burning flesh.
Yorkshire and the Humber
York Cold War Bunker, York
The Cold War Bunker in York, headquarters of the Royal Observer Corps, No. 20 Group, was opened in 1961 at the height of the Cold War. In 1949, the unstable relationship between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies following the Second World War deteriorated when the Soviets detonated a test nuclear bomb. In response Britain intensified its nuclear arms development and began to research and plan for possible nuclear attack. In 1956, the Ministry of Works began designs for nuclear-resistant bunkers. York Cold War Bunker was one of twenty-nine such bunkers built to form a network of semi-secret posts to observe and monitor nuclear attack. It was built underground of reinforced concrete, three storeys deep, ‘tanked’ in three layers of asphalt protected by brickwork, and then covered with earth. Here, after the world outside had been devastated and contaminated, a body of service men and women would seal themselves off behind the airlock doors and attempt, from the operations room at the heart of this sunken asylum, to make contact with the surviving outer world. The bunker remained manned and ready until it was decommissioned in 1991.
Perhaps due to its short and mercifully uneventful life – only thirty years, and witness only to peacetime activities – there are no known accounts of ghosts here. Instead this chilling underground stronghold seems to be haunted by its own once-dreaded fate.
Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire
Scarborough Castle stands on a dramatic promontory with sweeping panoramic views over the North Sea and surrounding coastline. The Romans built a signal station here in the fourth century ad and Henry II’s massive twelfth-century great tower still dominates the site. The castle was besieged several times, notably by rebel barons in 1312, and twice during the Civil War. It was shelled and badly damaged by German warships during the First World War.
It was during the siege of 1312 that the favourite of Edward II, Piers Gaveston, who had taken refuge in the castle, was captured. Although promised safe conduct on his surrender, he was seized on the return south by his great enemy the Earl of Warwick – whom Gaveston had disparagingly named the ‘Black Dog’ – and summarily beheaded. Visitors have reported being pushed and shoved in empty rooms, and, according to local legend, the ghost of Gaveston tries to lure people to their death over the edge of the castle cliff.
Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire
The great ruins of the abbey can be seen from many miles away, dominating the headland above picturesque Whitby. The first abbey was founded here in 657 by King Oswiu of Northumbria, and its first abbess was the formidable Anglo-Saxon Princess Hild. It was here that the cowherd Caedmon was miraculously inspired to become a poet and the great synod of Whitby was held in 664 to determine the future direction of the Church in England. This abbey was abandoned in the ninth century, probably after Viking raids. The ruins seen today are not of this abbey but of the one founded in the eleventh century by a Benedictine monk, Reinfrid. The new abbey grew to be one of the most powerful monasteries in Yorkshire, but was suppressed in 1539. Part of it was converted into a handsome mansion, a section of which remains today. The Gothic ruins provide the unforgettable backdrop to the arrival of Dracula in England in Bram Stoker’s novel. In his book, Lucy Westenra is curious about the ghost of a ‘white lady’ said to have been seen at one of the abbey’s windows, though a sceptical local tells her bluntly that such stories are ‘all very well for comers and trippers an’ the like, but not for a nice young lady like you.’
Byland Abbey, North Yorkshire
The Cistercian abbey of Byland was regarded in its heyday as one of the three great abbeys of Yorkshire, alongside Rievaulx and Fountains. The enormous late twelfth-century church was bigger than most cathedrals of the time. Its west front, which dominates the ruins with the remains of a great circular rose window above three tall pointed lancet windows, proclaims Byland as an outstanding example of early Gothic architecture, a pioneer of the style in northern England. At the Suppression, Byland passed into private ownership, and fell into ruin. But one of the most remarkable survivals from the abbey is the medieval collection of ghost stories written in Latin by one of the monks at Byland in about 1400. One of the strangest tales clearly troubled the writer so much that he expresses the hope that he may not come to any harm for having written it down. It relates how, in days gone by, Jacob Tankerlay, a former rector of a nearby parish, who had been buried in front of the monks’ chapter house at Byland, would rise from his grave at night to visit his former mistress. One night he ‘breathed out into her eye’. It is not clear exactly what this means but the verb exsufflare (literally, ‘to blow out’) is used in the context of exorcism at baptism and also associated with magic rites. Whatever happened, the consequence was that the abbot and chapter took the drastic step of excavating the coffin and having it thrown into a lake. The monk concludes by praying that God should have mercy on Jacob if he is among the souls to receive salvation.
Helmsley Castle, North Yorkshire
The ruins of Helmsley Castle stand on a rocky outcrop above the River Rye. It was first built in the early twelfth century by Walter Espec, a Norman baron of ‘gigantic stature’ with a voice ‘like a trumpet’, known for his soldiering and his piety – he founded nearby Rievaulx Abbey and Kirkham Priory. Helmsley passed to his sister’s husband, Peter de Ros, and he and his descendants raised most of the massive stonework defences seen today. In 1508, Helmsley came into t
he hands of Thomas Manners, who remodelled part of the castle into a luxurious mansion. The castle’s only – but significant – military trial was a siege in 1644 during the Civil War. It was held by a small garrison for the king for three months before surrendering, during which time four men were killed. Later in the Civil War, Royalist prisoners were held in the basement of the west tower. It is one of these unhappy soldiers, killed by cannon fire or simply returning to the place of a wretched imprisonment, who is said to be seen sitting among the castle ruins.
The East of England
Audley End, Essex
This magnificent Jacobean house was built on the site of Walden Abbey, a twelfth-century Benedictine monastery that was suppressed on 22 March 1538. Five days later Henry VIII gave it to his Chancellor, Thomas, Lord Audley, to adapt for his own use. Audley converted the ranges around the monks’ cloister into a courtyard house. He demolished the east end of the church, which extended from the north side of the cloister into what is now the parterre, or formal garden. Its foundations, as well as burials in what would have been the monks’ cemetery, were discovered during work on this garden. Audley’s grandson, Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, rebuilt the house between 1605 and 1614 on a palatial scale. Charles II bought this ready-made palace from the 3rd Earl in 1667; then Audley End was returned to the Howards in 1701. Later in the century the Countess of Portsmouth began remodelling the house and gardens. She bequeathed it to her nephew in 1762, who commissioned Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown to transform the gardens and Robert Adam to add a fashionable suite of reception rooms. In the 1820s, the 3rd Baron Braybrooke, a scholar and antiquarian, redecorated many of its rooms in the Jacobean style.
The massive oak screen in the great hall, with its carved busts and festoons of fruit, was probably originally brightly painted. In the eighteenth century it was painted white to represent the then fashionable stucco. The 3rd Baron stripped the screen back to the wood, as it remains today, and bought Jacobean furniture and an eclectic collection of arms to display in the house. His son, the 4th Baron, had a passion for natural history and his collection of stuffed and mounted animals is to be seen in the house.
There is no known curse attached to the screen, as in Sarah Perry’s story, nor a monk who hanged himself here, but staff have experienced various peculiar happenings. A couple of years ago after closing time two members of staff doing a final check in the great hall smelt violets before the portrait of Margaret Audley. They summoned a colleague, who smelt the same thing. The scent moved about the hall and then simply vanished. On another occasion, a staff member was standing at the window outside the chapel when she felt the presence of someone behind her. She turned to see a tall aristocratic-looking man in dark clothing who then walked into the chapel. She followed him, but he had vanished. A black and white dog was seen in the butler’s pantry by a new member of staff showing visitors round. She assumed it was a guide dog only to discover there were no dogs in the building. Oddly, Lord Howard de Walden and his wife, who rented Audley from 1904, left in 1912 after becoming convinced the place was haunted: while playing billiards he had seen a dog ‘rush in through the wall’.
Bury St Edmunds Abbey, Suffolk
The abbey, founded in 1020, became one of the richest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in England. The surviving structures are extensive and include the impressive Great Gate and remains of the immense church and monastic complex. The site became home to the remains of Edmund, king of the East Angles (d. 869), in 903 and the acquisition of such a notable relic made the monastery a place of pilgrimage as well as the recipient of numerous royal grants. It was here in 1214 that King John’s discontented barons assembled to discuss their grievances against him – which led to Runnymede and the sealing of Magna Carta the following year. Although after the Suppression the abbey precinct was soon stripped of valuable building material, the abbot’s lodging survived as a house until 1720.
Bury’s monks must have been deeply attached to the abbey. Sightings of monastic ghosts are numerous and wide ranging. In the 1960s Enid Crossley, who lived in a cottage built in the medieval remains of the abbey, claimed that a monk regularly crossed her bedroom. Another has been seen disappearing through the wall of a butcher’s shop and hanging around the basement of a local pub. He may be the lover of the spectral nun in grey, said to have been involved with one of the monks of Bury, and often seen around the place – occasionally in the pub.
Castle Rising Castle, Norfolk
This spectacular keep, one of the best preserved and most lavishly decorated in England, stands with its associated buildings surrounded by massive earthworks on a broad spur above the village of Castle Rising. Norman lord William d’Albini began work on the castle in 1138 for his new wife, the widow of Henry I. In the fourteenth century it became the luxurious residence of Queen Isabella, widow of Edward II, and the suite of buildings to the south of the keep was probably built for her. After her death it was held by the Black Prince, who ordered and authorised various building works here. In 1544 it was granted by Henry VIII to the Howard family in whose hands it remains today; the current owner is also a descendant of d’Albini, the castle’s founder.
It is the presence of the formidable Isabella which is felt most strongly at Castle Rising, where visitors believe they have heard the skirts of her dress rustling on the stairs and in the white room, one of the upper chambers of the castle. In 2015, during an investigation, a photograph was taken in this room that revealed an unexpected shape: the shadowy figure of a woman in medieval dress.
Framlingham Castle, Suffolk
Framlingham is a magnificent late twelfth-century castle, its striking outline reflected in its glassy mere. The castle was built by Roger Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, one of the most influential courtiers under the Plantagenet kings. It remained the home to the earls and dukes of Norfolk for over 400 years, after which it was briefly owned by Mary Tudor, where she mustered her supporters in 1553 after the death of her brother, Edward VI. At the end of the sixteenth century, by now partly ruinous, the castle was used as a prison to hold Catholic priests and recusants. In about 1600 it held forty prisoners. The following century a poorhouse was built within its walls. It was occupied until 1839.
As to ghosts, staff at Framlingham report footsteps in the upper room of the medieval hall that now forms the Lanman Museum, as well as ‘constant muttering’ on the back stairs. One winter evening while alone in the castle, a member of staff heard a bell ring right beside her – the sort of hand bell that might have been used in the poorhouse to summon the inmates. On another occasion, one of the stewards arrived at the castle one morning and, as she went to turn on the lights, she saw a man standing dressed all in black wearing a Puritan-style hat and long cloak. She has never seen him again – fortunately – as she vows she would no longer be working at the castle if she had.
The Midlands
Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire
Situated in the heart of England, Kenilworth was one of the mightiest fortresses in the country, a vast castle which withstood a famous medieval siege and is renowned for its association with Elizabeth I and her favourite, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, to whom the queen granted the castle in 1563. A castle was first established here in the 1120s. Later in the century Henry II took it under his control and it was his building work and that of his son, King John, that extended the castle to much the form it retains today. In 1244 this strategic and magnificent stronghold was granted by Henry III to Simon de Montfort – then a great royal favourite who strengthened the castle further and installed ‘unheard of . . . machines’ – probably the trebuchets (huge counterweighted catapults) that would soon to be used here in the longest medieval siege on English soil.
After the death of de Montfort during the Second Barons’ War, his followers withdrew inside the castle. The king sent a messenger to demand their surrender. Instead, they sent him back to his master with a severed hand. The resultant great siege lasted six months. Dis
ease and starvation finally forced the surrender of the rebels.
Kenilworth was subsequently developed as a palace by John of Gaunt, and became a favoured residence of the Lancastrian kings before passing to the Dudley family under Henry VIII. The last great works at the castle were carried out by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who built what is now known as Leicester’s Building, a four-storey tower block erected in 1571 specifically to provide private accommodation for Elizabeth I. The queen visited four times, the last time in 1575, and the current Elizabethan gardens are a recreation of those Leicester created for that visit as part of his extensive efforts to impress the queen and win her hand in marriage.
The three-storey gatehouse in Kamila Shamsie’s story was built by Leicester between 1570 and 1575. In 1650 it was converted into a house and an extension created at the back, where the staff office and kitchen now are. Staff have reported peculiar happenings in the gatehouse – things missing or moved once the castle has been closed to visitors, and the antique cot in the adjoining room rocking by itself. A night watchman reported that, while patrolling the grounds one evening, he witnessed a ghostly figure walk through his colleague, who went cold as it happened. Certainly, staff are used to various unexplained happenings. Some say ghostly chickens have even been seen pecking about the stables.
Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire
This extraordinary seventeenth-century aristocratic retreat stands on the site of a medieval castle perched high on a ridge above the Vale of Scarsdale. The medieval ruins were used as the setting for the exquisite Little Castle, built by Charles Cavendish from 1612 as an escape from his principal seat nearby. His son, William, added the terrace and the riding house, which remains the earliest complete survival in England. Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria were entertained at Bolsover by Cavendish in 1634 with a lavish feast and entertainment. This was its heyday. By the end of the century the castle began to decline, though Cavendish descendants used it as a retreat until the early nineteenth century. Indeed, it remains occupied today, permanently it would seem.
Eight Ghosts Page 12
