Graded locations

Listed buildings are graded in each location in this blog. Eg. Grade I, II* II of grade I is of most importance. Grade A relates to Scotland. See BLB

Tuesday 18 February 2014

PINK ROOMS AND TORTURE CHAMBERS - Chillingham Castle, Northumberland

CHILLINGHAM CASTLE - NORTHUMBERLAND

Tripadviser


I love this room, open fire, books and spooks
Dusty bones

CHILLINGHAM CASTLE

Looming  out  of  the  eerie  mist,  the  castle  seemed  to  elicit  a  chocolate atmosphere like  the  ghostly  Marie  Celeste.   As I  walked  through  the  woodland  of  the Chillingham  estate,  the  sandy  coloured  gravel crunched  beneath  my  feet.   At  its  entrance two  lit  torches  framed  the  doorway,  casting  long  shadows  on  the  steps.   Inside  this grand  entrance  the  stone  floor  and  walls added  an  uncanny  medieval  element.

I  turned  to  my  right,  then  a  short  path  led me  into  the  first  large  room.   Around  the room  there  is  a  collection  of  large  oak furniture  which  stood  there  like  it  had  been there  forever.   Portraits  of  former ancestors  looked  on  in  interest  at  me  below, their  eyes  slowly  following  me  around  the room.

An  old  brass  telescope  took  centre  stage  in the  main  window,  a chinsy  red and blue sofa waits for a frightened sitter.   The  old  dungeon  with  its  narrow  aperture entrance  invited  me  in  further  to  adventure into  its  depths.   Once  inside  the  chamber  a strange  unnatural  claustrophobia  came  upon me.

A  medieval  calendar  counted  down  the indefinite  years  of  the  sentence  within.   A cast  iron  grill beneath  my  feet  enticed  me to  peer  down  it;  down  in  the  far  reaching dark  unearthly  depths.  a  lone  skeleton  lay  on its  side  on  the  ground.   One  can  only  imagine the  misery  and  the  abandonment  as  this person  died  alone  and  frightened  in  this creepy  god forsaken  castle  that  people  call Chillingham.

Written by Jules.

Location: Chillingham, Northumberland, England.

Built: 12th century.

Ghostly manifestations: 'Radiant' blue boy, ghost of abandoned wife Lady Berkley ~ Lady Grey, the ghost in the portrait painting, the white pantry ghost, ghost in the chamber, ghosts in the courtyard, ghost of a young officer.

Ghostly anomalies: Bright glow by the fireplace, blue flashes, rustling of fabric, icy draughts, soft halo of light around the four poster bed, voices in the library .

History: Chillingham was first a 12th Century stronghold, it became a fully fortified castle in the 14th Century. The family of the Earls Grey and their relations have continuously owned and lived in the castle since the 1200s. The current owners of Chillingham are Sir Humphrey and the Honorable Lady Wakefield.

The castle was often besieged during Northumberland's bloody Border Wars due to its strategic position, and it is steeped in royal history. The most famous resident of Chillingham, however, is a nameless child.

Residents and visitors of the castle's "Pink Room" (which isn't open to the public) have reported that, just as the clock strikes midnight, horrible cries of a child in pain can be heard echoing from a passage cut through a 10-foot thick wall into the adjoining tower. Apparently as the cries fade, a halo of light appears and the figure of a boy dressed in blue begins to approach the four-poster bed. During some refurbishing a few later years, the bones of a young boy and fragments of a blue dress were discovered in the bedroom wall.   Some say his clothes were like those seen in paintings dating from the Restoration period of the 1660s, when Charles II was on the throne. The "blue boy" was given a proper burial, though no one ever knew who he was. It is known that there is also a catacombe of many skeletal remains of those who had been tortured there, I wasn't lucky enough to find it on my previous visit to Chillingham.



Main entrance

Trapped in the piano? nope its the body press :O


A form of torture

Gibbet cage

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