Echoes in the dark: A castle mystery

Photo of Chillingham Castle

A recurring autumn ghost named the "blue boy" haunted the Pink Room in an ancient castle. More on that with other ghosts later, all in that very same castle. So grab something to eat before you settle down to read.

Located in rural Northumberland, near the Scottish border, Chillingham Castle is a fortified stronghold during the border wars. It's stood since the 12th century. It endured intense history of violence and warfare, mostly of Anglo-Scottish battles, including many executions.

The castle has a dark history of its own, including a dungeon, oubliette and torture chamber. In the dungeons cells have walls covered in scratches left by prisoners to pass the time. Human remains were discovered inside an oubliette, where some prisoners had been injured. Another area, the torture chamber, has an iron maiden device, hanging cages and an executioners block. 

This castle has a reputation for being one of the most haunted places in the UK. There are between 50 and 100 resident ghosts in the castle. Unseen feelings of being pushed have been experienced by guests. Some angry spirits have pulled people's hair. There's been a load of sightings of phantom monks walking along the castle garden and passing the chapel. It might be because there used to be a monastery there. 

Other ghosts include sounds of voices and conversations between men who aren't there. The ghostly chatter occurs in the chapel, located beside the great hall. Not all ghosts are invisible.

AI illustration of the Blue Boy 

The Grey Lady appears drifting in the corridors, bringing with her the scent of roses and a very cold atmosphere. It's believed that she was Lady Mary Berkeley, who was left heartbroken when her husband had an affair with her own sister, causing him to run away. She's haunting the castle looking for him still.

John "Dragfoot" Sage was a brutal executioner, he was set upon by an angry mob after he killed his girlfriend. He haunts the dungeons as an imposing spirit.

A pale white ghost in the pantry is haunting an area where silver was secretly locked away. It's got a legend attached to her, that she was employed there as a maid, who died from poisoning after accepting a drink from a footman. She was discovered near the treasure. 

There's a spirit child in the castle's chapel, named Eleanor, who looks dirty with matted hair. Some say she was a victim of the border wars, and daughter of one of the prisoners. 

Eerie candle graphic

Most famous ghost in the castle is the Blue Boy in the guest room called the Pink Room. This blue eerie glow sometimes looked like a human boy, often wailing and screaming in the night. He wore blue 16th or 17th century clothes. Guests staying at the castle in the Pink Room saw the Blue Boy. He sometimes played peek-a-boo and startled people staying in the room. So who was he? 

During the 1920's, renovations were made in the castle, and workmen found the skeleton of a small boy inside a thick wall in the Pink Room. Fragments of his blue clothes were found with him. It looked as if he'd been bricked up alive. There was damage on his finger bones and signs that he tried clawing for a way out. No one knows who he was. Soon he was given a proper Christian burial in the local churchyard. Afterwards, the screams and full bodied apparitions of the blue boy stopped although sometimes only little blue lights appear from that same section of wall where the boy's skeleton was found. 

The story of the blue boy made me cry. The castle will reopen for overnight visitors next Spring 2027. They hold ghost tours throughout the year. This is next on my trips out. Stay safe! Violet Dark

Beyond the bonfire

 

November is filled with legends and the paranormal. One chilling event is the focus of "Beyond the Bonfire" entry, things beside Guy Fawkes Night and other than Bonfire Night on 5th November that will interest you. So make yourself a pot of tea as this will be a read.  

There is a cursed rock in a Devon village that must be turned over once every year. On the 5th November, a ritual of local people in Shebbear turns this rock because if they don't, a curse happens. It's been called The Devil' Stone. 

The Legend: It's believed that Archangel Michael flung the Devil out of Heaven, a celestial boulder was grabbed and thrown down on top of the Devil, who landed smack bang in the grass at Shebbear. It takes a whole year for the Devil to claw his way out from under this rock. Just before he emerges, the villages use a crowbar to flip over the rock, plunging the Devil far back below again. It would take him 365 days to crawl back up. Each time he tries, it's 5th November, and the villagers of Shebbear are ready to turn the rock over and send him falling back down. 

The devil's Stone is a doorway. While many say it's just stuff of legends, there's something scientifically interesting about THAT very stone. It's an unknown piece of rock that doesn't belong in the UK. Alone and an isolated feature, this rock is a glacial erratic, a sedimentary conglomerate orthoquartzite. Scientists are puzzled by how it got to be there. Some theories believe it was left over from the Ice Age, or carried by a prehistoric waterflow. But the people of Shebbear have a much more fascinating legend about it.

Prehistory: Long before Christianity arrived, early tribes found the rock sacred and carried out rituals on it. But today villagers keep to the centuries old tradition. There were two times that the curse was unleashed when someone forgot to turn over the stone on 5th November. Let's see more.

Villagers turning the Devil's Stone

Historic curses: In 1913 the villagers regarded the ritual as mumbo jumbo and they didn't turn over the stone. What followed was ruin and disasters in Shebbear: illness outbreak among livestock, stored food had rotted, crops died and a number of accidents and fire outbreaks.. The villagers were in misery and suffering, so they quickly turned the stone over and their misfortunes stopped. 

Again in the year 1939 villagers failed to turn over the rock again during the start of WW2. What happened next was a darkness and panic, an enormous sense of dread. Evil was freed in the world. So they worked together during blackouts and turned the stone over in cover of darkness. Once they did this, relief washed over them. Even during the intense years of the war, they continued to keep flipping over the stone every 5th November to stop the Devil escaping to bring more evil. 

Conclusion: Today with growing scepticism, people easily forget many old traditions and folklore. The villagers of Shebbear and their stone ritual will keep this tradition. It's their way of protecting the world. And if someone in future misses turning the stone again, Heaven help us all.

I plan to write more spooky legends for November. Did that give you chills? It did for me. Posted by Violet Dark.