Medieval staircase ghost

Last week we had a group of 50 children from a local holiday play scheme doing hands-on activities with the Learning team at the castle in the morning. In the afternoon we took them around the castle on a costumed guided tour in four groups. We were dressed as two Lady Penrhyns, a housemaid and a butler. My friend, who was dressed as Lady Penrhyn, was taking her group of 10 children ahead of me. As she was standing by the medieval tower spiral staircase between the Drawing Room and the Ebony Room, she suddenly felt as though she was being pushed hard in the chest by an invisible force. She was not afraid because she has heard about other people's experiences in the same place, so she knew what it was. She said that she stood by the tower door as she explained to the children about the tower being built in the 1400's as a look-out tower. She does not usually stand right next to it when she explains the history, but this time she did. She felt the strong pushing sensation, like a heavy weight on her chest. When she moved out of the Ebony Room it disappeared as quickly as it had come. By the time she got to the foot of the Grand Staircase her chest felt normal again, much to her relief!

It is interesting that she felt the same sensation that several people have experienced in that exact spot. I have spoken to staff who have felt it and have heard stories of visitors who have described exactly the same feeling there. One visitor left me a comment on this site describing her experience. I will be moving past it very quickly next time I take a group on a tour of the castle!

I asked the room stewards today if they have heard any stories about the dining room or the state bedroom because I have stories about every other room in the house. I would be very interested to hear about any experiences anyone reading this blog has had if they would like to leave me comments. I am writing a booklet for the National Trust about the ghosts stories which will be hopefully published soon . It will be a room by room tour of the castle with ghost stories from each one for people to carry around with them if they want to do their own ghost tour. I will let you know when it is published and available in the castle shop.

Shop ghost caught on camera?

Yesterday I went into the National Trust shop at Penrhyn Castle to warm myself, as I had been waiting outside for a group who were due to visit the castle and had got rather cold. While I was waiting for the group to arrive I overheard the shop assistants talking about a ghostly apparition which had appeared on a photo taken by Ian, on Sunday afternoon using his phone. I asked if I could see the photo and explained that I am collecting stories about the ghosts at the castle. They had heard that someone was collecting stories but did not know that it was me. Ian explained that a few months ago a man had come into the shop and said that he sensed there was a ghostly presence there. He took out a crystal on a string which started to swing, apparently indicating a spirit was nearby. Ian was sceptical and had not thought much about it since. On Sunday afternoon the shop was not very busy at the end of the day and he decided to wind up one of the other assistants about some of the ghost stories he had heard since working at Penrhyn. He went over to the end of the shop near the books and said, "Come on then, show yourself!" He took a photo of the area without using a flash, but the phone moved and the picture was blurred. He took a second one and when he looked at it closely he could make out the outline of a person in the corner of the room. He said that it looked like a young scullery maid. Here is the photo. What do you think?

More on the ghost dog in the Ice Tower

I found out some more details about the ghost dog in the Ice Tower this week. The student who had the experience told my friend Elaine that it happened last year while she was visiting the castle with some friends. She went up into the Ice Tower ahead of them on her own.They came running up the stairs when she started screaming. She was shouting, "Get it off me! Get it off me!" When the friends rushed into the Ice Tower room they asked her, "Get what off you?" She said it was something warm pressing on her leg, like a dog. I wonder if it is the same dog which other people have felt pressing against their leg, like the visitor in the Library, or the room steward in the Slate Bedroom? Perhaps it wanders around and chooses people at random to lean on! I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience there? Please let me know if you have felt a dog leaning on you at Penrhyn or if you have heard of anyone else who has. Thanks.

Ghost dog in the Ice Tower

Last Friday I taught 60 students aged 16-18 from a school near Chester about the history and architecture of Penrhyn Castle. One of the girls told another Learning Assistant that when she came to visit the castle a few years ago she went into the Ice Tower. While she was in the tower she felt something warm pressing against her leg. It felt like a dog. She did not see it but felt it quite clearly. I will find out more on this story and add further details when I get them. The students were very curious to know if there are any ghosts at the castle so I directed them to this website. I hope that they enjoyed their day with us and that if any of them have had any supernatural experiences at the castle they will share them on here.

More sounds heard in the Victorian kitchens

Today I met a lady who used to work at the castle on the beach in Caernarfon. She is doing a research project for the National Trust at the Bangor University archives for her MA. We discussed the ghosts stories at Penrhyn and I mentioned the sounds which had been heard in the Victorian kitchens just before Christmas. She told me that a couple of years ago she was asked to get something from the archives at Penrhyn Castle, which are in the scullery maids bedrooms at the top of the scullery stairs. She went down to the kitchens and stood outside the door of the main kitchen with the keys ready to open the door. She said that she could hear noises inside the kitchen, which sounded like someone working in there. She was too frightened to go into the kitchen because she knew that nobody was working in the room, as it was locked up. She would have had to walk through the kitchen to get to the scullery to go upstairs to the archives. She said that she went back up to the office and made her excuses about not being able to get the file but didn't tell them why! She is the same lady who was locked in the Pickard room and has heard footsteps in the Learning and Communications corridor when nobody was there. She also saw something black go across the window in the door of the toilets in the L&C department, and when she looked down the corridor there was nobody there!

I have been investigating the possibility of  producing a booklet of some of the ghost stories I have collected so far, which could be used as a room by room guide for people who visit Penrhyn and are interested in ghosts. I would appreciate any feedback from people who read this Blog as to which stories I should include. It will hopefully be sold in the National Trust shop at the castle. If it sells well and there is enough interest in it, they may agree to have it published professionally. I still plan to write a book when I have enough information and stories, so if anyone reading this has had any spooky encounters at the castle please let me know via the comments on here. I look forward to hearing from you.

Eerie black shapes seen in the Keep

I was talking to one of the conservators at Penrhyn Castle a few days ago and I asked whether anyone had seen anything ghostly since I was last there. He said that he often sees things out of the corner of his eye, which he says are dark shapes moving just to the side of him, as though he is being followed around as he does his work. I asked where he sees these shapes and he said that it is mostly in the Keep, which is an area of considerable ghostly activity, where lots of staff and visitors have seen things. He has not been able to identify anything specific but he often has an uneasy feeling as though he is not alone and is being watched. He told me that he wonders whether he imagines the shapes but they appear when he is not thinking about anything to do with ghosts and it happens quite regularly. Very creepy! I wouldn't want to be up in the Keep on my own after all the things people have experienced in there! I will ask him more about it when I am next at the castle.

Spooky black shape seen in the scullery and ghosts working in the Victorian kitchen!

Me in the Victorian kitchen with Christine

I spoke to Lindy, the new Winter Engagement assistant, in the Victorian Kitchen at Penrhyn Castle again yesterday. I needed to use her keys for the storeroom to put some costumes away because our Christmas schools programme has now finished. She was very excited to tell me about something extraordinary which happened to her the previous day. She was sitting at the large wooden kitchen table facing the windows, making Christmas decorations. Another assistant was standing on the opposite side of the table and there was a lady visitor with two children standing next to her. Lindy said that she suddenly saw a black shape moving quickly across the scullery doorway from the area near the vegetable pantry to the bacon loft side of the room. She asked the other assistant if she had seen anything, but she had not been looking towards the scullery and did not see it. Lindy also asked the visitor, but she had not seen it either. She said that it was a definite shape which looked very solid, but there was nobody there.

When she was locking up the kitchen later that afternoon she heard hail on the window of the roof light near the kitchen door. As she was listening to the hail hitting the glass she became aware of sounds coming from the kitchen. She knew that there was nobody else in the area but she called out, "Hello!" She said that she was very spooked and wanted to run out of the door but she remembered that she had not switched off the electric switch for the spit in front of the range. Lindy said she could hear it turning round. which struck her as rather peculiar, as it is usually silent. As the hail died away she could hear sounds of mixing and chopping coming from the kitchens and several voices, as though there were people in there busily preparing food. She gingerly walked along the corridor to the kitchen door and peeped into the room. She said that as soon as she got to the door everything stopped and it was completely quiet! She switched off the spit, locked the doors and went home.

Lindy told me that when she arrived this morning she was too scared to go and unlock the kitchens on her own. She asked the conservators if somebody could come with her after what had happened yesterday, but they just laughed at her. (One of them is her husband!) Eventually she persuaded John to go to the kitchens with her to check that they were ghost free before she started work.

I have asked her to let me know if anything else happens. I am delighted to get a story about the Victorian kitchen as I haven't had many from there yet. I am sure that there will be more to follow!