Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, England

Chillingham Castle is exactly what one might expect from a castle - it's hundreds of years old, it's solid, and it's haunted.

The castle caters enthusiastically to its ghost-seeking clientele, with ghost tours offered (only to those aged 16 or older) and even all-night vigils. Those wishing to stay in the building can do so, with elegant rooms offered - and a little extra; some guests have reported supernatural occurrences in their rooms. Visitors can see the castle's original torture chamber, with frightening instruments

The castle was the site of no less than eighteen executions, some by drawing and quartering, a particularly gruesome, drawn-out method involving hanging, disembowelment, and the body being quartered. It seems, however, that it is not these unfortunates who haunt the castle, or if they do, they are kind enough to appear intact.

A white ghost in the "Inner Pantry" appears from time to time, always begging for water. A "blue boy" once glided out of a wall in one of the rooms, wearing clothing appropriate for the time of King Charles II. He was dressed in blue and surrounded by a blue glow, hence the name. Only in the 1920s, when restoration work was being performed, did anyone break into the wall - to reveal the skeleton of a young boy, with shreds of blue clothing adhering to it.  The bones were given a proper burial, and the ghost never appeared again, though flashes of blue light were occasionally seen in the room after dark.


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