Penmon Priory, Anglesey

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Ghostly nun

'Spontaneous Case - Paranormal phenomena that occur in everyday life, unsought and unexpected'.

Is Penmon Priory haunted? 'Joan' a visitor to Anglesey certainly thinks so.

"In 1980 I was with my husband and two boys on holiday on Anglesey. One evening at dusk, we visited Penmon Priory near Beaumaris. We had visited the church, the well and my husband led the way to the old stone priory which was open to visitors.

He suddenly looked at me with a very surprised expression on his face and said "did you see that?" I replied "see what?" he said "that Nun - she bent down, looked at me and walked into the priory".

Puzzled, we walked towards the building and walked in. There are only two rooms, we didn't see her in the first so we walked through to the back room only to find that she had completely vanished!

Later on that evening, we spoke to the keeper about my husband's experience and he asked him to describe her. He described her in detail to which the man replied "Oh I've seen her a few times around here. When I'm walking the dog at night, I sometimes feel someone tapping me on the shoulder when I'm out at night. Often the church bells ring during the night by themselves."

It was at this point that we realised that he had indeed seen a ghost.

When we were driving away from the grounds, the car kept stuttering and stalling until we were out of sight of the priory. The car was brand new and had been running fine up until that point and was fine afterwards.

My husband was never one to invent stories so I believed him straight away. I didn't believe in ghosts back then but I sure do now!"

___

I love these kind of stories, or 'spontaneous cases' as they are called, when people are just going about their daily business without a mere thought of the paranormal and then witness something profound.

It is interesting that the experient actually thought he saw a nun. It appears to be a very fleeting visual description and it did happen over 20 years ago.

Thinking rationally; could he have been mistaken, why did he think she was a nun, there was no mention that they had described a nun to the keeper or that she was wearing a nuns habit or uniform in this narrative.


Maybe another visitor was present around the building. The old stone priory is a small ruin, so it doesn't take you long to get around the rooms, making it round in just a few seconds or so. And a pigeon couldn't be mistaken for a nun, surely? Unless she is really ugly! ;)

Also the light was fading it was dusk so he may have misinterpreted what he saw. But, church bells do not ring by themselves unless someone wanted to have a good ole yank in the middle of the night. The car misfiring may have a more down to earth explanation (dirty petrol).

I have been to Penmon priory, it is a very tranquil and still place, so you may notice if anyone is around quite easily. This reminds me of a time when I was visiting Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire, one busy summer afternoon, the paranormal was far from my mind; I had gone into the old mill area, nobody was in there only me, I entered the middle section and I thought I saw a man wearing a leather waist coat, he was bending down doing something on the floor, I only saw him for a split second, it was a cross between seeing something and a hallucination, it was very odd. Maybe my eyes and brain had done the window dressing for that location. Same applies to this story.

On researching the priory further, it is Augustinian and there could well have been Augustinian nuns staying there at some point in history. A believer would say, 'the nun looked at the husband, this could not be a residual type haunting as there was visual interaction'. There could be a logical explanation though of course and there doesn't appear to be any other related incidences at the priory appart from what the keeper had experienced too.

Footnote: Witness testimony

Retelling old experiences can lead to confabulation, the experiencer should immediately record or write down exactly what they saw. Getting a witness soon after their experience is important (paranormal investigators)

Bodmin Jail, Cornwall

We decided on a visit to Bodmin county gaol. This cruel looking building must have struck the fear of God into those prisoners who saw it for the very first time. It looked very threatening from the top of the hill on the drive down. As we pulled up into the carpark the heavens opened, I ran for cover only to find myself faced with a trap door and a noose! We bought our tickets at the bar and was handed a governors notice.

Once inside it was colder than it actually was outside, I was physically shaking.

I peered into the small cells and I tried to imagine what it must have felt like to be imprisoned in such a dwelling ‘horrible’. We then walked onto a wing, each tiny cell

housed with mannequins in various poses. One was called ‘Fed by the fairies’ – Anne Jefferies was born in 1826; apparently she attracted a large following in Cornwall. She was suspected of been a changeling (fairy offspring) in solitary confinement and not given any food continued to thrive, she insisted that every night the fairies brought food to her cell.


We then walked down to the naval jail it was a very tall building covered in overgrown shrubbery, but on the way whilst taking photos I looked up and noticed out of the corner of my eye a face in one of the high windows, it was slightly creepy but on closer inspection it was one of the mannequins that had been strategically placed, maybe by accident or by design, but it was quite amusing all the same.


Inside the naval jail looked similar to a modern jail in its design, rows of cells going as far as 4 floors. I bobbed my head in one or two to get a feel of them, I would have loved to have visited at night. No ghosts jumped out at me although it did feel very creepy, even during the daytime.

Dunstanburgh Castle

LOCATION: DUNSTAN, NORTHUMBERLAND 

NUMBER OF ALLEGED GHOSTS:3 
THE EARL OF LANCASTER 
SIR GUY THE SEEKER 
AN UNKNOWN LADY

Photo - JPTUK

Visit this place at night its seriously creepy and desolate. Take suitable footware and be prepared to walk a couple of miles. Beware of the cows.

We had spent a week roughing it on the Northumberland coast in the last weeks of September 06. Ok not entirely true. We spent a week in complete luxury in our newly purchased mobile home, not quite a ghost hunting winnebago but it will suffice, it does come in handy on long spooky jaunts. The evening was drawing in and we decided to pay Dunstanburgh Castle a visit. The castle looked near but it would be a 4 mile walk there and back. We had to walk across two farmers fields and down a long country lane that was never ending until we reached the coastline, a golf course ran alongside it. The castle looked fantastic in the distance, sitting there on the basalt above the sea, it looked like something from a children’s fairytale. As we walked nearer the castle it seemed to be getting further away, a strange optical illusion. We had to pass some cows on the way to the top, we had no option but to walk past them, they just gave us a brief look but we were slightly nervous of our bovine audience, especially with having the dog with us, so we clambered the very steep slope above them to avoid a stampede, but they just ignored us and carried on chewing.
We had passed a young couple on our accent, she was wearing very high heeled sandals, ridiculous footwear for that terrain, she precariously planned her route, personally I thought she was crazy. We eventually reached the entrance to the castle, we were disappointed that it was shut and bolted. The English heritage sign on the gate said “The castle will shut at 5.30pm” we looked at our watch it was 6.05pm. The entrance fee for adults was £2.70 !! What a cheeky admission price English heritage, its only a ruin I shouted ! Been brave and slightly naughty, I climbed over the gate and took a look around whilst my partner and the dog waited for me outside. The whole castle had an electric fence around it, I wasn’t sure if that was to keep unsuspecting visitors out our to keep the cattle in. I walked under the stone archway into the gatehouse half expecting a security guard to jump up behind me, but no one was there to welcome me in, not even the ghost of Sir Guy the Seeker. The place was deserted and desolate, the ticket office was bolted and by the time I’d walked past the ticket office there was nothing else to see apart from a large field and a lone tower in the distance, I was still moaning to myself about the outlandish price to get in to see a field ! I decide to jog to the tower, I had a quick look around and jogged back. The gatehouse was creepy, I stuck my head around this dark L shaped corridor that led to nowhere and noticed a figure looking around the wall, when all of a sudden this creepy howl came circling around me, the wind howled around the place making really strange noises through the holes in the walls. I convinced myself the figure was just my imagination going wild, I was spooked, so I legged it out of there. By the time we got back it was dark.

Jules field trips - Sutton Scarsdale Hall

SUTTON SCARSDALE HALL


Location: Chesterfield, England

Built: 1724 AD

History: Sutton Scarsdale Hall is North of Derby, you can reach it via the M1 motorway, where you will see it opposite Bolsover Castle on the other side of the hill. There is a footpath that leads you right from the Hall to the castle, but be prepared to walk 4 miles. This now skeletal ruin was built in 1724 by Smith of Warwick and it is an 18th century remodelling of an earlier house. It used to be one of Derbyshire finest houses in its heyday similarly matched to Chatsworth House. The remaining artefacts from the building now reside in a Philadelphia and Los Angeles museums.

Ghostly manifestations: The White Lady.

*Ghostly anomalies: Sutton Scarsdale Hall has the reputation to be a very haunted house, witnesses have seen disembodied floating body parts, footfall and strange tobacco smells, sometimes unexplained screams. Moving shadows have also been captured in the cellar area by paranormal investigators* text pinched by RG
SP

Some of the weirdest things have been seen in the cellar area. This area is cordoned off to the public, there is a small aperture where you can see into, but it has a substantial iron grill over it. Apparently there are tunnels that run from these cellars. There has been talk of some dreadful act that took place in the cellar. This is the main area of all the accounted paranormal activity. Shadows have been seen whilst filming in the cellar too, I managed to put my night shot camera in but I didnt see anything.

During the latter half of the 1960's Sutton Hall was the centre of a ghostly enigma. A Bolsover man and his son reported seeing a ghostly apparition early in the morning moving between the church of St. Marys and the hall, the 'white lady' was seen gliding through the churchyard without legs, wearing a white hood with slits for eyes and crying like a baby or sobbing like a woman.

When interviewed the vicar of Saint Marys church, the Reverend Stanley Hare said, "It flies through the bushes and makes very weird noises at night and could very well frighten anybody".

The sounds of echoing footfalls have been reported coming from this shell of a former grand hall, and strange floating lights seen after dark.

Haunted Castles

Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire.

 

Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

A servant of the castle suspects his partner of been unfaithful. Intent upon catching her in the act, he hides himself on the roof above their bed. Unfortunately, he falls and dies the next day. Soon there are reports of his corpse wandering through the town. This, of course, coincides with an epidemic that kills several townspeople. It is blamed on the "vampire." On Palm Sunday, the local priest assembles a group, and they proceed to the cemetery. Upon exhumation, the body appears engorged with blood. (It gushes out when the body's poked with a spade.) The body is dragged out of town and burned, and soon the epidemic ends.

Baldoon Castle, Scotland

Baldoons Castle ghost is mentioned in the novel by Sir Walter Scott “The Bride of Lammermuir. It is the 17th century ghost ‘Janet Dalrymple‘, she was told to leave the man she loved by her parents, instead she was forced to marry David Dunbar and went insane, she stabbed him in the bridal chamber on his wedding night. She is said to roam the castle in a blood-splattered white dress, some have seen the saddened ghost of Janet wandering pitifully among the quiet ruins, most often on the anniversary of her death. In the Lammermuir story the door of the bridal chamber was broken down after hideous shrieks were heard from inside it. The bridegroom was found lying across the threshold, awfully wounded and streaming with blood, while the bride crouched in a chimney corner, her white night-gown splashed with blood, grinning and muttering and quite mad. Apparently she never recovered and died in a while later. Bamburgh Castle, Northumberland

The nicknamed shade Green Jane has been seen at the castle. She was thought to be the daughter of an impoverished family who sent her with her baby to the castle to beg for food, but when she got there, the guards abused her then turned her away. Visitors have seen and heard her ghost stumbling down the steep steps, then going to her rescue and finding that no one was there. Many people have had feelings of been touched. Visitors also report the movement of furniture inside the castle. Rattling chains has also been heard, accompanied by stomping of feet, many say that this is the manifestation of a knight that is clad in armour.

Beeston Castle, Cheshire

The castle boasts that it has one of the friendliest ghosts in England. The ghost of a pretty lady wanders the outer bailey, but she only ever appears to children. She is seen in a lacy white dress and she looks over her shoulder. She brings a feeling of kindness to the place, she must have really like the castle. Dog walkers report that their pets refuse to enter certain areas of the castle. Deep moans have been heard coming from the well.

Berkeley Castle, Worcester

In 1327 Berkeley Castle was the scene of the infamous murder of Edward II he was gruesomely tortured with a red-hot poker. Sounds of his screams echo around the castle.

Berry Pomeroy Castle, Devon

The ghost of Lady Margaret Pomeroy appears all dressed in white in the tower named after her. A second more chilling ghost resides 'the blue lady' predicts death of those who see her ! She is said to be the ghost of the Pomeroy's daughter.

Blackness Castle, Lothian

In the late 1990s a woman who was sightseeing said she was startled when she saw a knight in armour in the tower, the angry spirit chased her out of the castle. A group of ghost hunters stayed in the castle one Halloween night. They heard what sounded like furniture scraping across a stone floor in a room beneath where they were staying. On investigation, nothing was out of place, on returning to the room above, the sounds began to start again.

Bolton Castle, North Yorkshire

Mary Queen of Scots shade wanders the courtyard wearing a black velvet dress.

Bramber Castle, Sussex

Bramber Castle, Sussex. William De Braose angered King John. He escaped to Ireland with his children, only to be captured. The king ordered that his children be held hostage for William's future good behaviour at Windsor Castle. The children were starved to death there but their spectres returned to Bramber Castle and have been seen begging pitifully for bread, dressed in rags and holding out their hands, they are said to return at Christmas.

Bodelwyddan Castle, North Wales

Bodiam Castle, East Sussex

Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire

Bowes Castle, County Durham

Burgh Castle, Norwich

Carisbrook Castle, Isle of White

The well house is haunted by the ghost of a young woman strangely her disembodied face was surrounded by draperies of her dress. A young man in a brown jerkin has been seen near the moat. A woman wearing victorian dress, followed by two shadowy dogs was witness as they strolled round the castle. A full appartion was seen in broad daylight, it wore long coat also followed by 4 small dogs.

Carlisle Castle, Cumbria

A sentry may have died of shock after seeing a grey figure, he lunded at it with his boyonet. A female skeleton was found bricked up in one of the walls, its was still clad with tartan clothes and jewellery. Mary Queen of Scots was incarcerated in the building as so was Bonnie Prince Charles supporters. There is a famous 'licking stone' here, tales tell that it was worn away by prisoners tongues, the stone was moist with water, they licked it in order to stay alive.

Castell Coch, Cardiff

Castle Rising, Norfolk

Castle Rushen, Isle of Man

Charleville Forest Castle, Ireland

Chepstow Castle, South East Wales

Chillingham Castle, Northumberland

Conisbrough Castle, South Yorkshire

Ghost of a grey monk, also an unhappy grey lady, she is seen at the top of the keep where she reputedly met her own death. Also strange bumping noises and whispers and ghostly candles have been witnessed here.

Comlongon Castle, Scotland

Corfe Castle, Dorset

Craigievar Castle, Aberdeen

Craig Y Nos Castle, South Wales

Culcreuch Castle, Scotland

Culzean Castle, Ayrshire, Scotland

Denbigh Castle, North East Wales

Dartmouth Castle, Devon

Dover Castle

Dudley Castle, West Midlands

Dunrobin Castle, Scotland

Dunstanburgh Castle,Northumberland

Durham Castle, Durham

Ecclesgreig Castle, Scotland

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire

Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset

Fyvie Castle, Aberdeenshire

Glamis Castle, Dundeeshire

Six ghosts are said to haunt this lavish Victorian royal castle, they wander the rooms and corridors. The Dining room has a connecting door into the crypt which looks something like it has come out of the middle ages, it is in the crypt that there is a secret chamber, legend has it that it was here one of the Lord's of Glamis 'Earl Beardie' played cards, but as the clock struck midnight at the beginning of the sabbath the devil appeared and asked to join in the game. Earl Beardie gambled his soul away and died soon after. The chamber was promptly bricked up after foul mouthed utterances were heard, but the swearing phantom couldn't be restrained and persisted to roam the abode. Earl Beardie's spirit is said to peer at guests whilst they lay in their beds. The chapel is haunted by the grey lady, said to be the ghost of Janet Douglas, wife of sixth Lord Glamis. Also the ghost of Lady Campbell has been seen in the chapel, she was wrongly accused of witchcraft, she burned at the stake at Edinburgh Castle, her spectre is seen in silent prayer with an aura of peaceful traquility surrounding her. Glamis has seen thousands of tragic deaths, the ghosts seem to seep out of the very mortar.

Goodrich Castle, Herefordshire

Location

Goodrich, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire.

Built

1160 AD

Ghostly manifestations

On dark, stormy nights ghostly screams can be heard and there have been reports of a ghostly horseman, accompanied by a woman, spotted at the foot of the walls by the river.

Ghostly anomalies

Strong smells of freshly baked bread.

Brief History

Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire has a well known haunting relating to the tragic tale of two lovers. During the Civil War, Goodrich saw major action when in 1646 Colonel Birch, leader of the Roundheads, placed the Royalist garrison under siege. His niece, Alice, was engaged to one of the Royalists inside the castle. One night, just before the final assault, Colonel Birch allowed them to escape but in their frantic attempts to clear the enemy lines and cross the River Wye they missed the ford, they were swept away by the river and drowned.

Hadleigh Castle, Essex

Helmsley Castle,North Yorkshire

Hermitage Castle, Scotland

Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex

A local village girl tried to escape from been murdered by throwing herself over into the moat, unsuccessful, she was re-captured and murdered, she is thought to appear as the white lady of the moat. A phantom drummer has been seen marching along the ramparts at night, said to have died in the battle of Angincourt. Blue sparks radiate from his drumsticks.

Hylton Castle, Sunderland

A ghost known as the Cauld Boy, haunts the castle, he manifests himself without any clothes on and shivering, apparently murdered by his master Baron Robert Hylton who stabbed him to death with a pitchfork. The spirit boy also haunts the kitchens where he ransacks it if it is neat and tidy.

Kidwelly Castle, South Wales.

Knaresborough Castle, N Yorkshire

Lancaster Castle, Lancaster

Leap Castle,Roscrea, Ireland

Lincoln Castle, East Yorkshire

Lindisfarne Castle, Northumberland

Ludlow Castle, Shropshire

Lydford Castle, Devon

Notorious 12th century prison, reputed to be haunted by Judge John Jeffery's 'The Hanging Judge'. Lady Howard manifests herself here as a black hound, she also haunts Okehampton Castle.

Margam Castle, Wales

Meggernie Castle, Scotland

Middleham Castle, North Yorkshire

Known as the ‘Windsor of the north’ the castle was built in the 12th century on the site of an earlier Norman fortification. It was Richard III most favoured castle. It is reputed to be the site of a buried hoard of treasure, to pin-point the treasure you must run a round the castle three times, and where you stop the treasure will be found. Unfortunately there is no indication of where you should start. A crying of a newborn baby has been heard by visitors to the castle.

Monmouth Castle, Wales

Morton Corbet Castle, Shropshire

Muncaster Castle

Newark Castle, Notthinghamshire

Nottingham Castle, Nottingham

Nunney Castle, Somerset

Okehampton Castle, Devon

Every night at midnight Lady Howard rides a coach made from the bones of her four dead husbands and with a skull on each corner of the roof. Also a headless coachman is her driver !

Old Wardour Castle, Wiltshire

Orford Castle, Suffolk

Peel Castle, Isle Of Man

Pendragon Castle, Cumbria.

Under the foundations of Pendragon Castle there is treasure ! This legend is quite bizarre; if you decide to try your hand at unearthing the gold, you may be confronted by a spectral black hen, which promptly scratches and pecks until the hole is refilled ! A spectre of a horseman gallops towards the castle whilst a grey lady glides her way through the castle walls.

Pengersick Castle, Cornwall

Penrith Castle, Cumbria

Pevensey Castle, East Sussex

Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire

Location

Pontefract, West Yorkshire

Built 1070 AD

King Richard II was murdered here, no-one has yet spotted his ghost.

Monk figures seen walking around the outskirts near the catholic chapel and 2 figures of children seen playing near the dungeons. Holding a large axe, this figure walks around the ruins of the castle. a black monk walking from the remains of the kitchen towards the steps up to the ruins of the Queen's Tower. Strangely the monk is always seen walking from west to east, never in the opposite direction. The monk has been seen by quite a lot of people over a considerable period of time and they are of all ages and different backgrounds and "when you hear it from so many people you start to believe it." Sightings are usually around 5pm". Ghostly foosteps have been heard in the magazine area.

Porchester Castle, Hampshire

Pickering Castle, North Yorkshire

Pudhoe Castle, Northumberland

Chanting has been heard coming from the chapel area. A white horse silently walks around the outer ward of the castle; one night a man that lived in one of the blocks saw that horse running towards him. In the 1950's a lady witnessed noises like a ball being bounced against the wall but when she looked, no one was there. Another couple heard water being thrown at a door with force. One night a heavy oak table was flung to the floor in the hall, apparently the noise was that loud the residents thought that there had been a gas explosion.

Richmond Castle, North Yorkshire

Rochester Castle, Kent

Ruthin Castle,North Wales

Sandal Castle, West Yorkshire

A phantom dog has been witnessed at the castle.

Scarborough Castle, North Yorkshire

Scotney Castle, Kent

Sherborne Old Castle, Dorset

Sir Walter Raleigh who was executed for disobeying orders and was beheaded in 1618 - walks the grounds of the castle, his shade appears at midnight on Michaelmas Eve "headless" !

Skibo Castle, Scotland

A ghostly white lady flits through the castle at night, her nocternal roamings are precipitated by terrified screams and blood curdling moans. The grisly remains of a woman's skeleton was found hidden behind one of the castle walls, only after the re-burial took place that the hauntings ceased. A local girl had gone missing, there was talk that she was murdered by the Castle's keeper. In 1898 American millionaire Andrew Carnegie bought the ruined estate. Carnegie's grandson Rosewell Miller the third, saw the female phantom one night, she was seen drifting silently along one of the third floor corridors where she turned into one of the bedrooms, Rosewell followed her but she had disappeared into thin air.

Skipsea Castle, East Yorkshire

Slains Castle, Scotland

Snape Castle, North Yorkshire

Southsea Castle, Hampshire

Spofforth Castle, North Yorkshire

Stafford Castle, Staffordshire

Stokesay Castle, Shropshire

St Michael's Mount, Cornwall

Tamworth Castle, Staffordshire

Location

Tamworth, Birmingham.

Built 1070 AD

History

Tamworth castle is of Norman motte & bailey design with a shell keep. The present stone structure replaced the first timber tower surrounded by a palisade which was built shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Ghostly manifestations

The black lady, the white lady. The Black Lady is allegedly the ghost of a nun called Editha who founded her order in the 9th century; her nuns were said to have been expelled from a nearby Convent by Robert de Marmion.

Ghostly anomalies

Spirits have been heard and seen wandering through the 'Haunted bedroom' and the staircase.

Tattershall Castle,Lincolnshire

Tintagel Castle, Cornwall

Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire

Tynemouth Castle, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Walworth Castle, County Durham

Warkworth Castle, Northumberland

Warwick Castle, Stratford

Wigmore Castle, Herefordshire

Yester Castle, East Lothian

The Ancient Ram Inn, Gloucestershire

Is that an EMF detector in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

TripAdviser

Reviews

The Oldest Inn in England

Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England.

Grade II listed, in 1145 AD

Official website  www.theancientraminn.com

Famously nicknamed as the 'Scam Inn' the Ancient Ram Inn is believed to date as far back as 1145. John Humphries, the current owner, bought the property from a brewery back in 1968. The Ancient Ram is a Grade II listed building and John Humphries has spent the past 30 odd years renovating it. When he first moved in he was totally unaware that the place was haunted until he was awoken by someone with icy hands grabbing at his ankles and trying to pull him out of bed. His daughters also had several experiences. The Ancient Ram is believed to be built on an ancient burial ground where ritual killings took place. It is also opposite a henge. Apparently things happen on a daily and nightly basis ranging from tappings on windows, objects moving, strange smells, ghostly figures, people being pushed.

John is well known amongst the paranormal community and is famous for his strangeness and questionable techniques in getting money out of gullable ghost hunters.

Incubus, Ghost of an inn keeper, ghostly lady. baby crying, a monk, a cavalier.

A frightening incubus creeps into the beds of terrified victims in the dead of night, scaring both owner and visitor alike. A succubus is the female version on an incubus, a negative entity that feeds off the sexuality of the living.

Violent poltergeist activity, power drains, rattling of door knobs, footsteps, light anomalies, objects being moved, cold spots, an unexplained black cat, doors slamming.

I found the Inn hidden at the bottom of a hill in Wotton-under-Edge. It is a rickety looking old house, it looks like it's actually sunk into the ground. The site in which this once Inn stands is known to be an ancient site on a major leyline (there is no evidence leylines exist). Bones of children have been unearthed by archaeologists inside the house and two ceremonial daggers have also found close by the bones. There are also stories of murder and bloodshed here. I didn't find the henge, only modern buildings surround it.

There is a medical condition called NREM Arousal Parasomnia (explicit) which makes sense regarding some incubus and succubus experiences.

Ghoulish Crimes and Punishments through the centuries

Not for the faint of heart!

Ghoulish crimes, punishments and morbid tales

It's little wonder ghosts still haunt some places, as they still linger and fear to move on to the next world.

Only people who did heinous crimes were subjected to the most horrible of punishments in England.

In the past people craved a decent burial, but if you were tried for murder or any other heinous crime then you could find yourself gibbeted, or hung drawn and quartered, flogged, burned alive, guillotined or pressed to death.

If you were lucky you would get off with a straight forward hanging from a long drop which brought you a quick death, alternatively if you weren't so lucky, you would be hung from a short drop where your body would have writhed about for at least and hour, you would choke and vomit yourself to death.  The innocent were also punished too. Gibbeting..hung up from a metal cage, the local blacksmith would measure you up for a gibbet cage and they would cram you in it, hang you 30 foot high off the ground then leave you to die where bits would drop off and what remained of your decomposing flesh the crows would peck off including your eyeballs.

'Gallows birds' The gibbet story of a Lincolnshire murderer 'Tom Otter' the flesh fell off his jawbone and a blue tit nested inside his mouth and had its young. The poem goes  "nine tongues within one head the tenth went out to seek for bread, to feed the living within the dead" As the old lady walked past his gibbet cage she noticed a nest of starlings in his rib cage. 44 years he was hung up in the gibbet, eventually it blew down in the wind. His bones lie buried beneath the gibbet post.  You can still hear the phantom creaking of the gibbet post and hear the rattling of chains that held up Tom Otter's gibbet cage.

If you found yourself living rough in the sleazy part of Edinburgh in the 1700's then it wasn't a pleasant time for you, you didn't lay down to sleep without keeping one eye open because a body snatcher might be lurking round the next corner. Body snatching was rife in the area and you could have been their next victim! Body snatching and grave robbing was so bad graveyards had large walls and railings built around them, doctors would pay good money for a good supply of cadavers, they also used executed criminals for anatomical experimentation. But criminals found their own sinister methods of profiteering the business by supplying medical students with fresh bodies, so fresh in-fact they were just barely alive!  Burke and Hare were notorious body snatchers of the era, they had their own form of strangulation by restricting their victims breathing by covering the nose and mouth so as not to damage the body, the method was known as 'Burking'. Dr Knox paid up to seven pounds seven shillings for the bodies so he could carry out his 'no questions asked' work, easy money for the pair. When they did the grave robbing they would remove the body and replace it with tanning bark.  After many years the pair were found out through rumour and Burke was sentence to hang. On January 28th 1829 Burke was hanged, over 25,000 people attended the execution, the crowded cheered 'Burke him, Burke him!!"  Ironically HIS body also ended up being dissected by medical students who removed sections of his skin and bound a book with it, it is stamped on the front in gold lettering 'Burke's Skin 1829' but before dissection, Burke's corpse was put on a slab in town, a public exhibition for thousands to see and walk past at a rate of sixty people a minute. His skeleton can still be seen at Surgeon's Hall in Edinburgh along with his death mask and the life mask of is cohort Hare, but did you know, Hare got off Scot free!!

Mary Queen of Scots ghost wanders many an earthy pile, her life was taken away in 1587 by the executioners axe.

She laid down her head, putting her chin over the block with both her hands she laid there quietly, and stretching out her arms cried, In manus tuas, Domine, she endured two strokes with the axe, making hardly a noise or moving so the executioner cut off her head, although not detaching it accurately, he lifted up her head to the view of all the assembly and bade God save the Queen. Then lifted her wig off her head, her hair appeared as grey as a women's of threescore and ten years old, cut very short, her face in a moment being so much altered from the form she had when she was alive, as few could remember her by her dead face. Her lips stirred up and a down a quarter of an hour after her head was cut off.

A very ordinary lady by the name of Margaret Clitheroe who lived in York in the 1500's was found guilty of practicing Catholicism which was considered treason in that era.  She held mass in her house knowing that if the authorities found out, there would be hell to pay.  Alas one day her home was searched and chalices and vestments were found and she was arrested.  But the trial couldn't proceed because she wouldn't plead, she shouted "I need no trial!" which lead to a very barbaric death by pressing.  Only aged thirty she was laid on the floor with a stone under her back and a door place on top of her she was subjected to having heavier and heavier stones placed upon her chest until a plea was entered, the weight of the stones on  her chest became too great for the condemned lady to breathe, fatal suffocation finally occurred.  Her home is now a shrine.

What is a ghost??

Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire

Photo by JPTUK

HAUNT RATING *****

Ghost: The keeper

Name of ghost: John of Gaunt
Area of haunt: The gateway to the castle
Incidence: It shouted, 'Get thee hence' to some unsuspecting visitors that thought he said 'Get over the fence'
Type of manifestation: Solid apparition

Ghost: Mary Queen of Scots
Area of haunt: standing at the top of the South Tower all dressed in white,
Seen stood looking out of the window of the great hall all in black.
Seen rapidly crossing the grass.
Type of manifestation: Solid apparition

Ghost: The white Lady
Area of haunt: Around the north tower.
Type of manifestation: Misty figure

Ghost: Child
Name of Ghost: Ellie
Area of haunt: The Kings bedroom
Type of manifestation: Invisible/tactile

Ghost: Small boy child
Area of haunt: Great Hall
Type of manifestation: Solid apparition


A morning at Tutbury Castle.
We travelled down to Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire on the 14th May 08 which was only a short drive as we were staying in Dovedale in Derbyshire for a few days. It was a glorious morning. As we walked up the long driveway to the castle I spotted Leslie Smith (now historian on most haunted) the curator in the distance.  Richy and the dog continued to walk around the grounds whilst I took a few shots of the castle while I waited to get Leslie's attention, she saw me with the camera and waved me over to her.

We had a chat about the castle and my last experience in the King's chamber where I nearly fainted, Leslie wasn't surprised as it had happened to many in there. Apparently there is a vortex where the spirits come through and I was stood right in it!! We chatted about her myspace blog which she remembered me from which was amusing as she grabbed my hands and said, 'I know you! You're Jules, spelt J.U.L.E.S hehe.. then she spotted Rich and the dog and continued to pat him on the head (the dog not my hubby lol) then she asked if I watched Most Haunted and how she was really excited working on the show and to watch series 11 because a chair moved that was next to her.  Then she did a couple of poses for me in-front of the ruined castle, one I missed of her looking menacing because my sodding flash card was full. I told her that I wouldn't keep her as she was a busy lady but she told me it didn't matter which was nice of her.
She then said to go take a look round the castle and that she would open up the Kings bedroom for me, but I didn't go in, I was too scared! what a wuss!!

I continued to take photos around the castle and was amused to find a man hanging in the undercroft.

I didn't spot the ghost of Mary Queen of Scots and I didn't bump into John of Gaunt who likes to jump out at people, nor the little boy who sits on the stairs in the Kings chamber.

The last nightly visit to the castle will stay in my mind for a long time to come.
This was about 4 years ago, I had felt sparks of energy as Leslie walked past me, but I put it down to static, but I've read that other people have experienced the same thing. We also got a vortex on camera, I do have a photo of it but image doesnt belong to me so I wont be adding it to the site.

Tutbury is one of my favourite haunted places.

Temple Newsome, Leeds, West Yorkshire - Haunted House

Only a 15 minute journey for us to get to this fantastic pile. The very first time I visited the property it seemed harshly formidable in its appearance, kind of reminding me of some institution for children not a family home in the way it presented itself. You could imagine some cane thrashing headmaster stood waiting for you in the doorway, it even has the word GHOST about the roof! To be honest, I didn't like the look of the place, but I warmed to it after a while. After a few visits down to the garden and lake changed my mind, it really is a glorious place.

Temple Newsam near Leeds is a 15th century Tudor-Jacobean mansion, is had been nicknamed 'Hampton Court of the North'. It was the home of the Ingram family for over 300 years. There are some creepy cellars too which date from the Tudor period about 500 years ago and run the whole length of the south wing of the house, also an underground passage beneath the courtyard that links the north and south parts of the house. Originally this passage allowed the servants to run around from the kitchens to the dining room.

Visitors have reported seeing a monk and a little girl, also people have heard knocking on doors when there is no one there and being pushed out of the way. The ghost most spoken of at the house is the Blue Lady, said to be Mary Ingram, her portrait painting can be viewed in the house. Mary was robbed by highwaymen on a journey back to her house, she was so shocked and scared by what happened that she acquired a paranoid habit of hiding her belongings in various parts of the house.

A picture of Napoleon flies off the wall in-front of visitors and staff for no apparent reason when securely fastened.

Allegedly there is another ghost, said to be that of a young servant girl who was murdered by an over amorous male servant in 1704.

Southstack Lighthouse, Anglesey

I decided to drive to the west coast of Anglesey to South stack lighthouse, this lighthouse has warned passing ships of the treacherous rocks below since its completion in 1809. The 91ft lighthouse was designed by Daniel Alexander and the main light is visible to passing vessels for 28 miles, and was designed to allow safe passage for ships on the treacherous Dublin, Holyhead and Liverpool sea route.

Fortunately it was a calm day, this part of the coastline was once hit by tremendous gale force winds.  On the 25th and 26th of Nov in 1859 the royal charter storm hit the coast of Anglesey, it was considered to be one of the most severe storms of the century with a death toll estimated at over 800. There were lives lost on both land and at sea.

We precariously descended the 400 steep steps down to the lighthouse, then crossed the iron bridge, where back in the 1800's the assistant keeper John Jack Jones was said to have been killed by a falling rock and died many weeks later from a compound fracture of the skull, his ghost is still said to roam this desolate place. One of the tour guides told us that there is a white outline on the stones outside believed to be the old remnants of blood from the injured John, but she remained buoyant in her scepticism.

There were a few visitors to the tower whilst we were there, so if there had have been any strange footsteps or doors shutting of their own volition we wouldn't have noticed.

The Muckleburgh Collection, Norfolk - Military museum

We arrived at The Muckleburgh Collection in Weybourne on a sunny afternoon, as we drove in the first object to catch our eye was a German V2 rocket nicknamed the ‘doodlebug’ a truly horrifying machine in it’s day; it stuck the fear of God into the British people in WW2 in the 1940’s, it flew over Britain at a speed of 400 mph then it would suddenly become silent mid air, this was when it exploded killing hundreds of people on the ground below.  Inside the building which was originally the old NAAFI was a plethora of exhibits and photographs.  I was taken aback at a life size horse called ’Copenhagen’ that was ridden by Duke of Wellington in the battle of Waterloo it was a mighty 17 hands or more. I walked round for a short time but found myself skipping impatiently into the artillery hall and then the Robert Curson tank hall where unexplained cold spots have been felt  also odd pinging sounds have been heard coming from the Russian T 34 tank like the engine has been running. I wrapped with my knuckles a couple of times on the Panzer tank and asked out for spirits, Richard was grinning at me from across the room keeping lookout for members of the public coming in. I announced to everyone including the spirits that this was a pointless exercise as I couldn’t hear a damn thing for the loud 1940’s music that was ringing in my ears. Whilst in another area of the building where the medical exhibits are I did hear a tapping sound on one of the glass panels, but it was rather breezy that day.  The only spirit I heard that day was our dog barking his head off in an even draftier kennel.  We then decided to go to the restaurant for a cup of tea, someone saw a part manifestation of a ghost in that room. Our pots of tea arrived and the largest chocolate cake I’d ever seen in my life appeared our of the chiller of which I had a slice... and the meal portions there were scary!

Other occurrences that have happened here are Spirit lights seen moving outside by a WW1 pill box, said to be the spirits of some military girls killed in action, strange movements have been heard in the artillery hall, an iron gate was heard slamming in the restaurant, people have heard footsteps walking down the long corridor. Groans and screams have been heard coming out of a military ambulance, people often see unexplained shadows, poltergeist activity has been witnessed in Berry Savoury’s office which is right at the end of the long corridor.
One other interesting note but not of the paranormal kind is that of an exhibit at Muckleburgh, is that of an 88mm flak gun that was actually used in the band of brother series.

Houghton Hall (Brown Lady of Raynham Hall)

We just had to pay a visit to see Houghton Hall, just south of Sandringham in Norfolk. The house has links to the Walpole family, the most famous Walpole ghost is that of Lady Dorothy Walpole, also known as the brown lady also of (Raynham Hall) as seen in the very famous image of her photographed floating down the staircase at Raynham Hall.   

She was given the nickname ‘the brown lady’ because people see her wearing a brown brocade dress,  the ghost made an uncanny resemblance to a portrait painting of Lady Dorothy Walpole that hangs on a wall at Raynham Hall and is said to be her shade that lingers around both Houghton, Raynham and Sandringham House, which is the Queens country residence. 

Dorothy was the daughter of Robert Walpole the owner of Houghton Hall and one time member of Parliament, she was also the sister of Sir Robert Walpole, famous for becoming the 18th century Prime Minister.   Dorothy ended her days in Raynham Hall after been locked in her apartments at Raynham where she died either of smallpox a broken heart, some say she met her end by being pushed down the grand staircase, the very place where her ghost was captured on camera.  Two men saw her apparition and one had a gun and shot right through the figure, the bullet embedding itself in the door behind where she was stood.  Although pretty in life, Dorothy appears horrifying as she has been seen with grotesque features, devoid of eyes, people who have seen her say they only saw black sockets where her eyes once were.  A photographer from the country life magazine visited Raynham Hall to take some photos but got more than he bargained for.  What he caught on camera is said to be one of the best photographs of a ghost in existence today.  


Houghton Hall is a beautiful place, with its walled garden which won the prestigious ‘best garden award 2007’.  The model soldier collection is amazing too.

Haunted Ashbourne, Derbyshire - Town, village

On my tour of Derbyshire I decided to start my ghostly journey in the historic and very paranormally active town of Ashbourne. It's reputedly haunted by many a spectre.  I started my walk about at St. Oswald’s Church, you can't miss its imposing spire that towers above the rest of the buildings, apparently there is supposed to be a ghost that haunts the graveyard. The entrance to the church gives you the creeps even before you set foot into the graveyard, with its tall iron gates and stone pillars and overhanging stone skulls, reminding you that 'dead people live there'!!
I was minding my own business taking photos amongst the graves and asking out for any spirits when I felt someone staring at me, I turned and noticed this little old man, I was half expecting him to ask what I was doing, I grinned, but no sooner had I looked at him, he did an about turn and he walked into the church. He wasn't the ghost, just a curious church attendant wondering what I was up to.
Whilst I was there I didn't see anything unusual and on reviewing back my photos I didn't see anything unusual on them.

The old grammar school is only across the road from the church, this building has seen ghostly encounters, built in 1585, old borders to the school have seen the ghost of a very thin boy, the headmaster apparently starved his pupils and kept food for himself, people think that the thin boy was the victim of the headmaster.

We then walked up the hill to the very haunted Green Man Inn. It is a 17th century coaching inn, guests have reported hearing a coach and horses and a ghostly figure has been spotted looking out of one of the windows.

The bus station in the town has seen some strange encounters too, a whole regiment of ghostly soldiers has been seen marching through it!

There is another story of ghostly presence that roams the streets of Ashbourne, that of a young girl, apparently she was buried alive after doctors thought she had died during childbirth, a concerned doctor was not convinced of her death and her body was later exhumed and it was found that the girl actually had given birth to her baby in the coffin!! How horrible!!

There is also a great piece of paranormal history that is linked to Ashbourne, which  was reminded to us on a plaque which is reference to Dr Johnson one of the worlds first paranormal investigators. In the 18th century Dr Samuel Johnson the author from Lichfield came to Ashbourne to conduct some of the first paranormal investigations after he was asked to look into incidents involving poltergeists, he stayed in the mansion on Church Street.
On the last part of our journey around haunted Ashbourne we walked along the tunnel that runs under Ashbourne’s streets, I've not heard of any ghostly encounters down there, but when we got halfway through the tunnel we both heard voices and strange sounds and there was only us in there, the tunnel is very long. But as we got to the end, we saw a sign about a sound project in the tunnel, small speakers were places at intervals along the tunnel ceiling, the sounds travelled the whole length within seconds. If you didn't know about this and you had been down there alone at night you may have had a fright thinking its the many shades of Ashbournes past that are following you down there!   

Ashbourne is definitely worth a visit and is on my map of favourite haunted places to visit.

Richard Felix of Most Haunted fame is now running ghost tours around the town.

Gwrych Castle, Wales

Travelling along the A55 to Bodelwydden castle I spotted on the hillside a fantastic looking castle, another one of Cinderella's pads haha!! A seriously inpressive building that would appeal to both ghost hunter and urbexer alike. Unfortunately it was under renovation so we didn't go in. By what I can gather, it has some rather impressive paranormal history, the locals appear to love the place and have fond memories of its past. I won't rattle on about this eye candy ghost palace, but instead go to one of the best websites I can find about it here

More paranormal goings on at Gwrych Castle?