Chillingham Castle, situated in Northumberland, is one of the most haunted castles in England. The castle is over 800 years old, and has a very colourful and turbulent history filled with murder, torture, death and deception.

One of the most haunted areas in the building is the dungeon, where many prisoners were subjected to the most severe and horrific punishments. They would be thrown down into the oubliette below, after having their limbs broken. Many prisoners died from starvation in the oubilette, and there were even reports of cannibalism there, as hungry inmates turned on each other. They would even eat their own flesh just to survive.

It is reported that some visitors to the castle, when looking down into the oubliette, see the haunting remains of a young girl staring straight back up at them. Small wonder, therefore, that the dungeon is said to have an oppressive and extremely depressing atmosphere, with various people experiencing many different emotions within its walls.

The torture chamber of Chillingham Castle is also an area redolent with horror, suffering and pain from previous centuries. An evil ghost is said to haunt the chamber, and this entity could be one of the torturers, still enjoying the hellish pain he mercilessly inflicted upon his many victims. This malevolent spectre is said to be that of the most notorious torturer ever to work at the castle: John Sage. This man had a strong dislike of the Scots, and would derive twisted pleasure from subjecting Scottish people imprisoned at the castle to all methods of extreme suffering, using various implements of torture. Sage tortured upwards of 50 people a week for the three years he held down this job.

The most famous ghost haunting Chillingham Castle is The Blue Boy. In 1920, this boy's body was discovered behind a wall in a room known as "the pink room". It is said that he was put in there alive, along with important documents that were going to be handed to the Spanish Armada. The unfortunate boy would have tried desperately and frantically to escape from within the walls before he finally died, and strange scracthing noises have been heard emanating from this space, evoking disturbing images of the boy's final hours as he tried fruitlessly to claw his way out from his stone prison. His agonized, terrified cries are also said to resound from this area. Visitors to the castle also claim to have seen a strange blue light flashing, and a blue halo has been observed floating towards any guests sleeping in the pink room.

Another restless soul said to haunt Chillingham Castle is the spirit of Lady Berkeley. She was once Lord Grey's wife (Grey was a former owner of the castle). Lord Grey is said to hav e run off with Lady Henrietta, his wife's sister, leaving his wife and baby all alone in the castle. The story goes that Lady Berkeley's ghost is still roaming the castle, incessantly searching for her husband, and the sound of her dress swishing and rustling along the castle's corridors has been heard. This ghostly incident is often accompanied by a strange icy chill that fills the air.

Chillingham Castle is, without question, one remarkably spooky place, and a building steeped in bloody history and untold suffering. Its dark atmosphere and sinister background - not forgetting all the ghostly manifestations, of course - will never fail to touch your senses profoundly, whether you visit there night or day.

Regular ghost tours are held at Chillingham Castle, and the building has even been featured on the TV paranormal show, Most Haunted.

Chillingham Castle is featured in the book Haunted Castles of Britain and Ireland, which can be purchased from the link below: