Bolsover Castle

A plethora of phantoms have been reported here: objects moving, sounds of horses and loud screams, flickering, candle-like lights seen moving and footsteps in the riding house. In the grounds, people report sensations as if they are being pushed along or watched, and some see Civil War soldiers or marching feet or the sounds of horses hooves. Ghostly knights are sometimes described and a grey lady has also been seen in the gardens, where footsteps are sometimes heard. The ghost of a friendly young boy, invisible to adults, takes the hands of corporeal children. In "The Little Castle", the smell of pipe smoke and perfume has been detected and one tour guide was pushed down the stairs. A previous housekeeper who occupied one room seems loathe to leave as the doors slam shut and are locked by an unseen hand, and stories of opaque mists and a tightening of the chest abound. The housekeeper, whose phantom has been seen, died of pneumonia and this may be the cause of people's breathing difficulties. In the basement, people have reported the smell of food including oranges and cucumber. The most common phenomena seems to be people being slapped, pushed, tickled, pinched or their clothes tugged. There are many other stories associated with this place, the most famous being the time a lady walked into the kitchen, and became aware of movement near the ovens. A young woman, looking frightened and apprehensive, came striding into the room, carrying a bundle under her arm. Continuously glancing over her shoulder in a nervous fashion, the woman opened the door to the ovens and shoved the bundle into the furnace. The witness then heard a baby crying but when she approached the young woman, she faded away.

Update 15/9/21: The team at the Castle replied to my Facebook query; "We haven’t had anything reported recently."

Update 4/6/24: I spoke to a worker at the castle and he provided a few more recent occurrences. Two lady employees who were in the castle at night heard the alarm go off and after resetting it, when back to their room. The alarm went off again but this time they decided to wait for the police. It turns out that a pair of ghost hunters had been allowed in the castle (my contact thinks the ladies hadn't been told about their presence but he is not 100% sure of this), but they had breached the terms of their entry by bringing a dog with them; they had brought a tin of dog food and had seen it move by the door by itself. Anyway, the police turned up and kicked the spook chasers out for breaking the rules. At this point, the policemen, who had brought two dogs with them, saw a big black shape of a ghostly dog behind them.
There are also stories of a White Lady here. The story is that there was a wedding party here, but when the coach overturned killing the groom and his group as they ascended a steep hill, the bride to be went mad and killed herself by throwing herself from the tower. There is also another (?) ghostly lady but it seems to be an old report but this woman was faceless, with just two black spots where her eyes would have been.
A ghost of a little boy has een encountered; according to legend he fell out of a tree and died instantly. He has been seen and holding onto the side of lady's skirts.
Some men who were taking part in a historic re-enactment heard the sound of people and carriages. My contact described this as being on "the main track" but the sound seemed to come from "over the ridge."
A figure was seen by my contact going into the Cheese Room, but when he checked there was no-one there.
In the pillar room, a young girl is said to walk across the room into the wall (on the other side is a 30 foot sheer drop). Also here William or Charles Cavendish has been seen (Charles instigated the building of the castle in 1612 while his son inherited it when his father died five years later).
During one Halloween tour, my friend and a colleague saw a dark figure move from the far side of the garden into the courtyard. Everyone had been accounted for and the guests were in the main building, being shown around by the tour guide.

Link: The Official Ghost Quest on Facebook

Link: Derbyshire Times

Link: The Chad

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