UK Haunted Castles: Top 5 Stays, Survival Guide, & Why We Visit
We’ve found 5 of the best haunted castles in the UK to stay in. And prepared for you a survival kit. We answer some burning questions and ask why stay in a haunted hotel anyway?
Content
- Would You Stay in a Haunted Hotel?
- The Grey Lady
- Looking for Fear
- Haunted Hotels and Other Haunts
- 5 of the Best Haunted Castles to stay in the UK and Ireland
- Believing the Unbelievable
- Survival Kit for Beginners and Others
- Be Prepared
Would you stay in a haunted hotel?
If I were asked that question I would confidently reply yes to it. I’ve stayed in lots of creepy places, and guess what? I think I’ve seen things.
I had an Interesting childhood, and as well as moving all the time, we often as kids just hung out, usually outside, finding some sort of dangerous pursuit; looking for adventure. My mother was especially adept at finding great places to live. As a family we lived in rented parts of stately homes, quasi castles, and old scary Victorian houses.
At the end of the day my brothers and sisters and myself would come back home seeking safety and comfort and utterly exhausted to a hot meal around a big open fire, crackling away from a Medieval, Georgian, Victorian, or Art -Deco fireplace.
These historic, haunting places to live in, were to a child just accepted as normal, but I do remember always being on the edge and either not happy with my room or trying to squeeze into my sister’s bed. As an adult I go out of my way looking for this type of thing but when I was young (about 5 being my earliest memory – of an old man upstairs at night creeping about) I was often looking behind my shoulder!
There are restful nights,sleepless nights, peaceful nights, dreamy nights, romantic nights, painful nights, but somehow they all get forgotten mostly when followed by a good sleep; but in this post I will tell you how you can have a night to remember!
The Grey Lady
When not reviewing hotels – for that I always pay my way but visit incognito, so I am able to get a true picture.
I will usually ask reception for the haunted room. I love speaking to the staff (the cleaners being the most informative I’ve found) and getting tales of what happened there long-ago and stories of unexplained events. Unidentified loud bangs in the night, ones that wake you to a start, doors opening on their own, the pressure of something touching you or holding you down, I have heard some most disconcerting stories and on the retelling, the narrator is always utterly convinced of what they have seen or heard.
Now all this shouldn’t really put you off, shouldn’t it? Some of these places are 200 and 300 years old, or older, so can they really retain vibrations from the past? or even ghosts who keep coming back with a message, or a warning perhaps? And are you either brave or silly enough to stay in one of them?
Stories like the Grey Lady who is said to haunt Ruthin Castle in North Wales. She was said to have killed her husband’s lover with an axe and still floats around today showing up in the corridors of the castle, and is even said to have been captured in the background of modern photos that guests have taken. Is it worth the risk I ask you.
Believe in it all or not, there’s no getting away from the fact that many of these places have seen fantastic and scandalous events in their time. The rake that left his lover in despair, the unfairly accused who is perpetually seeking revenge. Can the echoes of these haunting events ever really truly fade away?
The Grey Lady apparition is often associated with a tragic story and can be seen at many haunted locations around the UK. She’s not one particular person but synonymous with a trapped woman in a grey mourning dress; still in some kind of eternal pain. Making it every bit more believable knowing as we do, how hard or sad life used to be and still is for some in the world.
Looking for Fear
Are we able to pick up on their trapped grief? his disquieted love? fear or anger from someone or something that perhaps lived long ago? Well maybe, this is yet to be discounted. And the truth is, it seems, that we are all like me when I was young looking for adventure; we like being a bit scared, and find the whole thing of ghosts, ghouls and historic factual events both entertaining and a little terrifying.
Is there some kind of psychology behind all this? Are we, well some of us (I know there are some people who would run a mile from anything just a teeny bit scary) okay with having an adventure and being scared to death in a group? say we are going ‘ghost hunting’ or watching a scary movie, this would be in a safe environment within a group event. Where we are pretty much certain we will survive.
We’re usually pretty confident we are eventually going to get out alive and live to tell the tale and have a good laugh afterwards attending such events or gatherings. And searching for that adrenaline rush in a group we’re able to look back afterwards and feel very brave even after a collective experience like this.
But what if you are all alone in your hotel room, or your partner has fallen asleep already and snoring for England, what then if you hear some unusual knocking coming from the bathroom, It doesn’t sound like a dripping tap, or a over heated towel rail, The noise is something you can not place.
Well naturally you wake your companion up and go it together. But if you are on your own, you are in the minority, not too many people look for this type of thrill alone.
Haunted Hotels and other Haunts
Alone or not, you’ll need to keep your wits about you in order to get the best experience. We are all practically glued to our iphones but you’ll have to have it ready if you are going to capture that spirit you’ve just encountered. If staying awake all night in a hotel room is not in your realm, you’ll have to be ready when the spirit wakes you from your slumber.
Often people report seeing things like shadows, dark images, floating orbs, or even people that couldn’t possibly be there, but then they are gone in a flash, too soon to even grab your phone, let alone drop it because you’re shaking too much.
Why do these spirits do that? or are they doing that? or are we just witnessing a glimpse of their time in our time, but when they were here their time was somehow different in an out of sync way? Distorted, in some to-date unexplained way.
Not everyone wants to be scared when staying at a hotel but those of you who do, choosing a great place to stay with lots of character, plenty of ambience and lots of creaky floorboards is a must.
There’s something about all this, and living in the moment, expecting the unexpected, being prepared to face your fear and the thrill of witnessing mysteries about things in our world which are beyond our current understanding.
There are certainly many beautiful hotels in the British Isles and Ireland to fill your needs. Beautiful in architecture and decoration and wonderful in service and amenities as well as great menus and atmospheric bars to drink in. Some claim to be haunted and I receive emails all the time with visitors witnessing strange and memorable tales. Will the next guest to witness such an event be you?!
5 of the Best Haunted Castles to stay in The UK and Ireland
~ Chillingham Castle Alnwick, Northumbria – boasts many ghosts – here you will find Ghosts in the Courtyard, Ghosts in the Chamber and voices in the Chapel! If your’re not prepared to stay the night what about a Ghost Hunt? HERE
~ Kinnitty Castle Ireland – County Offaly – has stood on its ground in one form or another since before 1200 – here you may well see the Phantom Monk and a couple of the rooms are said to be particularly haunted. HERE
~ Barcaldine Castle – On the West Coast Scotland – Is said to have had many sightings of the ghost of Donald Campbell who in 1600 often came back to haunt his brother for not catching his murderer, he is still a restless spirit. HERE
~Bodelwyddan Castle North Wales, Denbighshire – The Blue Lady is said to float from room to room in this great Castle now filled with modern comforts HERE
~ Amberley Castle West Sussex – Is said to have as a resident ghost a young girl wondering around seemingly lost in time! HERE
Believing the Unbelievable
Like the Grey Lady or even the Blue Lady, sometimes these apparitions or spirits can take you unaware. After leaving a hotel a few years ago and looking for a quick stop, I chanced upon a very pretty piece of woodland in Buckinghamshire.
It was a sunny day and I sat for a while just marvelling at the beauty of the woods. After a time when looking up from something I was reading a saw in the distance and in the thick of the woods a castle. Not just any castle but a mahoosive, turreted enchanted vision.
I daren’t look away in case it disappeared. I didn’t want to blink in case it vanished, I didn’t want to move. So there I sat for what seemed an age and it remained, it was one of those moments when you just can’t believe something, like having an out of body experience, you’re in a realm of make believe. But you know it’s true because you can see it, it’s right there as clear as day.
I blinked, I tried my hardest not to, but I did, and when I opened my eyes the beauty was still there! again I couldn’t believe it. Now, I tested myself and deliberately blinked, it was still there. Time seemed to stand still, it felt special somehow, just me and this moment. Now I was confident enough to look away and when I looked back it was still there! What shall I do, call someone, get my phone and take a picture? My heart began to beat, ‘this is just too wonderful’ I thought. At that instant my phone rang, I looked up again, and my fairy tale castle was gone.
An out of sync moment? a time slip? I don’t know. I did mean to try and research the area if such a dwelling had ever existed there in the past, but haven’t got around to it yet.
I’m aware our brains are programmed to find meaningful patterns and I had thought maybe thoughts from the creepy hotel stay the night before might have been playing on my mind being a sensible sort of girl. But I know what I saw.
Survival Kit for Beginners and others
If you’re new to this game and you are staying overnight at an Inn or hotel that claims to be haunted, you’ll need to be prepared. It’s a good idea to take a few things with you so you feel confident about getting through the night and also making the best of your stay.
- Change of clothing. I once stayed with a friend in a place that offered up lots of truly scary stories. The atmosphere was wild. It was a group experience so she had others to protect her but still she defecated herself.
- A Torch. Just in case all the lights go out, or you just feel you need extra light even though all the lights are on. And don’t forget to check the batteries beforehand, hotels are rubbish at finding you spare batteries.
- Lavender Water. Just in case you become anxious or stressed, a little drop in your bath will help you remain calm. And if that fails you can splash it over the apparition and run for your life!
- A Good Camera. These days cameras are relatively cheap and getting a good shot of your elusive quick -as- a flash ghost before they disappear is vital if you want to show friends and family or even the media with ‘captured’ proof.
- Your Own Bedding. I always take my own pillow, that way I can get a comfortable night’s sleep. But if you’re having trouble sleeping (through fear!) It helps to have a familiar pillow that if you have survived the next morning (giving you time to get breakfast in) until 10am (usual check out time 11am) at least you can catch up on some rest before you leave. Or take your favourite snuggly or an extra blanket can come in handy if you are of the tendency to shiver when in fear.
Be Prepared
In all seriousness getting through the night in a reported haunted place is actually quite a brave thing to do. It challenges our tenacity. If you are someone who says ‘Oh I could never do that, I’d be too scared’. Well likely you will be too scared, on the other hand if you were to challenge yourself and be prepared for fear and then survive it, you will become stronger in your own confidence to do other things you might not have tried but have secretly always wanted to.
The fight or flight response is there for survival, it’s a stress response which refers to the physiological reaction that occurs when in the presence of something mentally or physically terrifying. When we are in this mode, we can either fight back (but surely antagonising a ghost might not work in our favour?) or we can run, which would be silly as we might have lost the opportunity to get a good pic!
Moreover if we were to take a breath for a minute (which I know can seem an age when you have a long-dead one eyed, black-hooded spirit looming over you) rationalise the situation, blink, look away, then back again there’s a distinct possibility the fellow would have gone back to where he came from, leaving you in peace again.
Would you have had time though or remembered to grab that camera in the moment to capture the memory? Likely not, but you would have gotten through, felt brave afterwards and be ready for the next ghost hunt, knowing you are now prepared and accomplished in surviving a night in a haunted hotel.
Have you seen anything at any of your stays, if so I would love to hear from you.
Until next time dear friends ………..X
