Echoes in the dark: A castle mystery

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. 

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. 

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. 

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 prope Christian burial in the local churchyard. Afterwards, the screams and full bodied apparitions of the blue boy stopped although since then 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