Alone In The Dark Entertainment, Ghost Hunting Events and Ghost Walking Tours in Newcastle, Sunderland, North East, North West England

There are many fine examples of Norman defensive architecture around the British Isles, but perhaps few are as well-preserved, or accessible, as the Keep which gave Newcastle its name. Its location is ideal for defensive purposes, and there has been some sort of settlement on the site for over 2000 years. Built between 1168 and 1178 by Henry II, the Keep stands on the ancient site of Pons Aelius, the Roman fort, and a motte-and-bailey castle built by the son of William the Conqueror in 1080. The castle was extended by King John I in the thirteenth century, which saw the addition of the barbican, now known as the Black Gate, in 1247. Due to the addition of fortified walls, the Keep became redundant as a military base in the mid fourteenth century, and was later used as a prison. Now a Scheduled Ancient Monument, the Keep is open 361 days a year, and is well worth a daytime visit. However, it is when the sun goes down and the shadows grow more threatening that the Keep really comes alive. Reputed to be one of the most haunted castles in England, would we be able to spend an evening here, alone in the dark?

No Norman Keep would be complete without a Great Hall, which lies near the top of the Castle. Originally accessible from the outside, through an impressive doorway that was restored by John Dobson in 1848, the lofty room would have once had floors above, and two storeys of balconies run around the room. A grey smoke like apparition has been seen and captured on film in the Great Hall, and the ghost of a girl who is believed to have died in the fireplace has been seen. Investigators Yvonne and Tonia chose to patrol the upper balconies, and reported the smell of beer and urine, smells believed to herald the presence of former guards. These balconies have seen a lot of activity over the years, including physical attacks on those using the staircases. Are the guards still determined to guard the Keep, even after death?

There is no evidence that royalty ever actually stayed in the Castle, but that doesn’t stop the Keep boasting both a King’s, and a Queen’s, Chamber. The King’s Chamber lies beside the Great Hall, and features its own latrine. Indeed, one brave investigator named Kev opted to carry out a lone vigil in the privy, and reported that he felt like his arms were being lifted when he sat on the crude toilet. The King’s Chamber presently contains two iron boxes, as well as a gravestone dated to the eleventh century. One of the iron boxes is known as the Cursed Box, and one team of investigators did an experiment with dowsing rods to determine which of the two boxes bears the curse. Four out of four investigators picked the correct box. A presence has been felt beside the box in the past. It was brought down from Scotland, but highway robbers waylaid the party and stole the contents, killing all of the guards. To this day, no one knows what was in the box but it is believed to be guarded by the murdered guards. Those who sit or stand on the box get a lot of EMF activity.

If you follow the stairs within the Great Hall, you find yourself in a small, narrow room. Dark red, brownish stains pepper the wall, giving this room its name of the Blood-Stained Chamber. No one is entirely sure if these stains are in fact blood, or rather deposits of iron, giving the stone its rusty look. Despite its sinister appearance, the room was believed to have been used as either a store room or as servants’ quarters for visiting officials. The spirits in this room appear slightly playful, as they complied with various requests made during a human pendulum experiment. Better still, a green laser pointer was used to create a grid of light across the walls, and the spirits managed to dim individual dots within the grid, even turning half of the dots off, while leaving the other half on. The grid is created by splitting a single beam with a lens, meaning that dimming individual dots should be impossible, and the phenomenon could not have been due to a faulty battery for the same reason – a physical loss of power should have dimmed all of the dots, not just some of them. Were these the spirits of long departed servants, eager to please the new human occupants of the room?

Not all of the spirits in the Keep are so harmless. One spirit in the museum room, used during this investigation as the hub, has been so thoroughly unpleasant in the past that he has been bound in the corner by investigators Steve Taylor and David Marshall. This spirit decided to make his presence felt during a ouija session, telling the team that our presence had put him in a bad mood. Further questioning led to him claiming to be “more than” a witch, as the spirit even claimed to be a god. He told us to leave, and on during an EVP experiment later in the investigation, a male voice could be heard to say “Get out”. We don’t know who this spirit is, but he certainly doesn’t like the share the Keep with visitors.

The Queen’s Chamber, mentioned earlier, is reached through the museum room. Again, we don’t know if it ever played host to a queen, but it has long been the tradition for the owners of castles and stately homes to include state apartments in the hope they would host royal guests. Instead of tales of royalty and pageantry, the room now plays host to a vicious spirit named Jacob, who thought nothing of indulging in both murder and infanticide. He particularly affects women, causing a variety of injuries, including stomach cramps and feelings of weakness. During our investigation, we thankfully suffered none of these, but did hear various unexplained bangs, as well as a clear “pffft” sound from one corner. Lights also moved inside the room that were unconnected with the passing trains outside. Was this Jacob making his presence known, or his unfortunate female victim?

It seems hardly surprising that crimes would have been committed within the walls of the Keep, since the Castle spent much of its working life as a prison (for more details, check out the Paranormal Prison Tour as part of this year’s Ghostfest). The chamber on the ground floor is now known as the Garrison Room, but in days gone by would have been a giant prison cell. Men, women and children would have been kept in degrading conditions, knee-deep in rainwater, dead vermin, human waste and rotting food. Indeed, we contacted a female spirit named Victoria, who told us she was unhappy because she was "goin to die". Asked when, she told us it would be in "the morning". Spelling words in the Geordie dialect, Victoria told us it was Friday in April 1666, but she didn't know the actual date as she'd been in there too long to remember. The most shocking part of Victoria’s tale was that she was only thirteen, and yet she’d been working on the Quayside, selling her body to sailors. She told us her parents were dead, and this was probably her only means of supporting herself. There is no way to verify this individual account but considering the Keep’s history, it’s all too likely to be true.

If you look at the western wall of Keep from the outside, you’ll see a narrow door one storey above the ground. This is the execution door, and can only be reached by passing through the Garrison Room, up the stairs on the south wall, and into the Condemned Man's Cell. This is another deeply unhappy and turbulent chamber in the Keep, which has also seen various attacks on investigators. During our investigation, those performing lone vigils in the cell saw a lot of EMF activity, which was so loud it could be heard downstairs in the Garrison Room – through thick stone walls. The variation in pitch and tone ruled out a manmade source, leading the team to conclude that the spirits in the cell are far from inactive.

The final location within the Keep is the Chapel, also found on the ground floor. A Saxon graveyard lies beneath the chapel, and Saxons have been known to make their presence felt in the room. It has also been used by monks, and there have been reported attacks on people who say the Lord's Prayer or make confessions. One very clear EVP recording was made in the chapel, and Latin chanting can be heard echoing in the room, accompanied by rhythmic thumping, as though the monks are walking around the chapel. On this occasion we had no real activity other than the sound of feet scraping on the stone floor, although an EVP recording made during a ouija session did feature bangs on the recording that were not heard during the session itself.

The real questions remains – is the Keep haunted? While there were no real sightings and no physical interactions, I think there was enough evidence gathered during the investigation to say that yes, it is. If you’re willing to spend the night alone in the dark at the Keep, then why not book a place at our next investigation there? Check the dates on our website.

Icy Sedgwick