English Heritage has released a collection of eerie accounts from staff and visitors at its historic properties, including a security guard's encounter with a faceless figure at Chester Castle. The guard, alerted by motion sensors, arrived to find his normally fearless dog refusing to leave the car. Investigating, he felt 'a hundred eyes' on him but found no intruder—though cameras recorded a strange, faceless figure walking in front of the main gates, where the medieval gatehouse once stood.
Other reports include disembodied hands at Belsay Hall in Northumberland, unexplained piano music at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire, and soldiers disappearing into woods at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire. At Bolsover Castle, a 'ghost book' records such experiences; staff recently heard piano music, and visitors have reported feeling a child's hand holding theirs.
Michael Carter, a curator of history at English Heritage, said the accounts continue a centuries-old tradition of supernatural stories tied to historic sites. 'This isn't just a collection of modern fabulations,' he said. 'It's an extraordinary new iteration of telling supernatural stories associated with ruins and historic sites that goes back to the 16th century.'
The release coincides with Halloween half-term events at English Heritage sites, including ghost tours. Carter recalled his grandfather's tale of Kirkstall Abbey's last abbot haunting the ruins, a story that left a lasting impression on him.
