The Ghosts of Dunster Castle, Somerset, England. A very haunted Castle, my incident in the Crypt.

[Music] duner Castle developed from a Norman Fortress into a beautiful Country House in the village of duner in Somerset England the castle sits high up on a rocky tour and it's been home to 18 generations of the lutal family since [Music] 1405 duner Cel with its proud history is arguably one of the national trust's most haunted [Music] properties welcome to the ghosts of dunster [Music] Castle the remains of the Norman Castle lie on a steep 200t High Hill that looms over the village of dunster several iron AG forts were established nearby and an Anglo-Saxon wooden settlement was established at the top of the tour initially after the Norman invasion in 1066 William the Conqueror rewarded his friend and supporter William de moan with vast areas of land he acquired 68 manners across Devon Dorset and Wilshire including 55 manners in Somerset he was responsible for making the hill at SES steeper but it was his son who began to build a stone Castle here he was a favorite of empress Matilda and a loyal supporter to her during the war against King Steven de moan was known as the scourge of the West due to his frequent acts of plunder and burning in the locality Steven's forces surrounded dunster but William de moan successfully held the castle and even coined his own money here it may be from this early part of the Castle's history that ghostly sounds of clinking coins have been heard especially at the top of the upper Wards on nights with a full moon the direct line of succession died out in 1376 and the ownership passed to Lady Elizabeth lutrell whose descendants lived at the castle for six centuries until 1976 when the castle was donated to the National Trust [Music] although the lutal were not royalists during the English Civil War the castle came into possession of the king in 1645 and was held by royalist troops The parliamentarians Battered the castle in an effort to take back dunster which was being held by Colonel Windam in May 1645 the Future King Charles II stayed at the castle when trying to raise support for the royalist cause Colonel Robert Blake led a parliamentarian Force against dunster later that year in October frustrated by the long resistance of Colonel Windam Blake is said to have dragged windham's mother in front of the Cannons and threatened to Blaster to bits unless he surrendered the brave old lady demanded her son to ignore the threat and to do his duty but Blake reconsidered and backed down down eventually after 160 days of bombardment the castle fell to Cromwell who ordered the castle to be slighted the curtain walls were reduced to Rubble in 12 Days by 300 men in 1650 every now and again an elderly proud female figure dressed in mid 17th centur y clothing stalks the old Castle's grounds she has a hay look on her face is silent and is seen before heavy thunderstorms is this Elizabeth windham's mother steadfastly guarding dunster once more the Castle's Gate House dates back to 1420 and would have been part of the barbacan entrance designed to protect the 13th century gateway to the castle the right hand Tower contains a dungeon where captive enemies thieves murderers and other offenders would be held before trial some didn't see Freedom again and during the plague outbreaks in the 1660s several soldiers at dunster succumb to the illness the dungeon is said to be haunted by the figure of a man who is rather shadow-like in appearance and seems to disappear through the walls and the floor the uat chamber where prison would have been lowered through a trapdoor forgotten about and left to die is roughly 7 M below the floor tiles we see today during excavations in the 19th century three skeletons were discovered in the pit and they remain there to this very day one of them was a 7-t male still manacled at the wrists and ankles and chained to the wall no records exist as to who he was or what he had done to be punished in the ubet could it be that due to his unusual height he was a threat to those in charge the average height of a man in the 17th century was roughly 5' 3 is he the shadowy figure flitting about in the dungeon next to the dungeon is a well-worn set of stone steps protected by the original 13th century Ironbound Gates this set of steps leads up to the Castle's main entrance but they seem to stop certain visitors in their tracks numerous dogs including highly trained service dogs won't place a PO on the steps at all during broad daylight the steps can have a distinctly chilly feel Julian lutrol one of the last family members to live at the castle said that on numerous occasions his well-trained gun dogs refused to ascend the steps instead taking Mr lutrol All Around The Terrace the long way the head Gardener speaking in 2008 said he struggled to get his dog to climb the steps too one of the first rooms visitors to the castle experience is the inner Hall this beautiful space with its polished wooden floors elegant artwork an imposing fireplace was originally the Great Hall the core of the early 17th Century House the spiders web ceiling and the fireplace overmantle are contemporary to this period the coat of arms of Thomas and Margaret lutrell whose son George built the house is proudly on display the gental piano music and the National Trust guides create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors the inner Hall is said to be haunted by a former volunteer Steward by the name of Miss Hooper many visitors have reported seeing an elderly lady sitting in the steward's chair next to the lamp or standing near to the dinong who appears and disappears very suddenly William wake the property manager told a newspaper in 2007 we get lots of sightings every year she was a lovely lady who worked here for many years she used to work in the same room and was highly regarded by the rest of the staff she eventually retired and later passed away after that we had visitors coming to us and complimenting an older lady volunteer they said she was very helpful and told them all about the room on hearing such wonderful comments from visitors Mr wake would go to the inner Hall to congratulate the guide but would find the hall empty or occupied by a volunteer the woman was nowhere to be seen Mr wake stated we can only assume it's our old volunteer who pops in every now and again to chat to the visitors could this be the Apparition of Miss Hooper who returns to a place that she loved so much the inner Hall leads into the dining room which dates back to the 1680s with its opulent wooden paneling and mahogany furniture the plasterwork ceiling made of lime plaster stiffened with horse hair includes the dates 1681 in Roman numerals to commemorate the date it was put up by Colonel Francis lutrol and his wife Mary whilst the members of the family would entertain their guests here in lavish luxury behind the scenes the servants worked hard to prepare the Exquisite meals in the nearby blue kitchen a volunteer had a rather disconcerting and inexplicable ghostly [Music] encounter the young man on work experience at duner for 2 weeks was cleaning in the blue kitchen as he swept the floor he witnessed a naked foot materialized in the kitchen doorway he stared at the foot and described it as being almost transparent but as though covered in a sheer layer of white powder it had an ankle attached to it but no more no Shin or Cal muscles to his horror it took a step forward towards him then completely disappeared understandably the young man fled from the kitchen but was badly shaken by the incident he went on to become a member of staff at the castle but even today feels unhappy about entering the blue kitchen alone an estate manager named John Wood supervised an evening tour of the castle that was attended by a number of people who were interested in the Paranormal and included some guests who claimed to be psychic mediums and clairvoyants he said when they went into the blue kitchen several of the guests made contact with a young servant girl who was crouched down inside the dumb waiter hoping nobody would see her John Wood reported when the mediums opened the hatch to her hiding place a piercing scream was heard on the other side of the castle was there an accident connected to the dumb waiter that cut short her life at dunster [Music] Castle visitors who Ascend the beautiful Oak and Elm staircase that dates back to the 1680s will begin to enter the most active area of the castle the first floor with its beautiful morning room wisteria and East quantx head bedrooms in time visitors reach the leather Gallery named after its impressive leather panels that tell the love story of Roman general and and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra the unique leather hangings were well suited for dining rooms as they did not retain the smell of stale food to the extent of regular tapestries the leather hangings were probably made in the Netherlands in the late 17th century and are thought to have been first hung at dunster between 1705 and 1741 this Gallery formed part of the medieval Castle's Great Hall and once extended through into what is now the property manager's flat it is arguably the most active area of the castle along with its neighboring King Charles bedroom with people reporting various encounters on a regular basis in 1990 the property manager and his wife moved into the flat just next to the leather gallery for a short while his mother came to stay with the couple and was staying in the East quantx head Suite just next to the leather Gallery she had gone to bed one particular evening and was reading around 11:30 when she could distinctly hear male voices coming from the leather Gallery assuming it was her son she thought about going to ask him something that had been on her mind but decided against it thinking it might be her son talking to another colleague the following day at breakfast she asked her son the question and explained that she had thought about asking him the night before when he was in the leather Gallery he looked surprised and informed her that he'd been in the flat all evening later that day he asked a colleague if he had been in The Gallery at 11:30 but he explained that he'd gone to bed at half 10 in a different part of the castle well away from the leather gallery and had not been to the leather Gallery at any point that evening there was nobody else in the castle on another occasion the property manager's brother-in-law was staying in the East quanto's head Suite when he heard the sound of a door banging rather abruptly at 11:40 p.m. his sister was staying in the flat and both thought the other was playing a trick on them they both heard heavy footsteps and low muffled voices of a group of men both felt too scared to investigate the following day the they realized they'd both experienced the strange phenomena at the same time since that day a number of people sleeping in the East quanto's head Suite have heard the same sounds at the same time muffled male voices deep in conversations footsteps and banging doors one guest reported a presence in the actual bedroom itself on a Thursday in August 1995 a very hot summer's day at Half 8 in the morning Fay Baron cap was cleaning in the leather Gallery she had already vacuumed the floor and was in the process of using an electric polishing machine to buff the wooden floorboards it was hard and hot work and the sunlight was intense but as she continued working and moved towards the window she became aware that the temperature had dropped to the point where she became icy cold the hairs on the back of fa's neck stood up and despite the noise of the buffing she distinctly felt she was not alone Fay knew the other members of the cleaning staff were [Music] elsewhere she turned around to see a shadowy figure of a man at the top of the oak staircase he was dressed in a very old-fashioned military uniform this wasn't first or second world war this was from many centuries earlier he wasn't a solid human being and although she said she could see through him Fay was still able to see what he was wearing she turned away and continued with her task believing the noise from the cleaning would drive any Apparition away about 30 seconds later she became conscious that the room had become warm again and she was convinced he'd gone Fay believes he appeared simply to find out who the new cleaner was and didn't mean any harm a possible explanation for this strange occurrence could be linked to the morning room just along the corridor from the leather Gallery it was was used in the Civil War as a dormatory for troops garrisoned here in the mid 17th century a number of visitors have reported seeing what they believed was a costume guide standing in the leather Gallery a guest named Jackie on a trip to duner Castle organized as an outing for her choir witnessed a man dressed as a Cavalier Soldier standing in the corridor as visitors enter the gallery her friend James worked at the castle and she asked him if there were any costume guides during the day he confirmed there were not she described the Cavaliers appearance perfectly and James knew he'd not shared any information about this Apparition it is thought a Cavalier was shot in the head in the castle grounds whilst the castle was besieged by parliamentarian forces and that he died in the leather Gallery at a later date workmen employed at duner Castle have been subjected to ghostly activity when they least expect it during Renovations in the 1950s two workmen had to lift floorboards in the leather gallery to access heating pipes both men felt a dreadful sense of for boing and Terror to the point where the Young Apprentice experienced such unpleasant nausea he had to leave the room unable to complete the task the men halted the activity halfway through the Apprentice regained his composure but was so convinced that something sinister was lurking in the the gallery he refused to go back into the room a different Workman was employed to complete the task but he didn't experience any adverse effects the King Charles bedroom takes its name from The Future King Charles II who was Prince of Wales slept here in 1645 when trying to raise support for the royalist cause in the west country near the fireplace is a bedw Waring pan made for this visit and inscribed with godsave King Charles just behind the bed on the left is a small hidden passage which according to the Castle's history led to a secret ladder that enabled a quick escape the passage is now blocked off in 1993 a volunteer named David Brian was on duty in the leather gallery and the King Charles bedroom because the National Trust was slightly short staff that day he agreed to oversee both rooms as there's only one entrance into theing Charles bedroom which stems from the leather Gallery Mr Brian positioned himself in the doorway between the two rooms a man in a rather old-fashioned gray Lounge suit who appeared somewhat more smartly dressed than most visitors to the castle passed through the leather Gallery walked past Mr Brian and went into the King Charles bedroom after 10 minutes Mr Brian was puzzled as to where the visitor had gone he went into the King Charles bedroom but nobody was in there he looked in the cupboard and the secret passage thinking someone was playing a prank on him but there was nobody present the visitor would have had to have walked past Mr Brian to leave the King Charles bedroom on several occasions visitors have refused to go into the King Charles bedroom because they sense a presence or entity that makes them uncomfortable one lady fainted next to the bed and when she became conscious she declared that the incident was due to her presence another guide named June cop was in the leather Gallery talking to another Steward she felt something brush across her hip but there was nothing there later that day a clairvoyant found a cold spot in the King Charles bedroom and another cold spot precisely where June cop felt something on her hip one woman saw what appeared to be a body on the bed in the King Charles room and left in absolute Terror [Music] the oak staircase that leads from the leather Gallery down to the library passage is dunster's secondary staircase on the north side of the castle staff and visitors have often felt uneasy about this staircase and on occasions the banisters appear to be coated in an unknown substance that feels wet and slippery even in hot weather visitors have fled to wash their hands the house Steward's flat is located near this staircase and at one point concerned about the sense of forboding and unpleasant atmosphere she approached a religious figure who attempted to exercise the evil spirits from the staircase the presence of several Spirits were recorded in the vicinity of the staircase and in the drawing room below a number of visitors and staff have witnessed a lady in gray gliding up and down this staircase some believe this is Colonel windham's mother others think it's an lutrol but others believe it's the ghost of a servant who haunts the oak staircase according to Julian lutrol one of the last residents of the castle two guests staying with the lutal family witnessed the same female figure on the staircase at separate [Music] times on both occasions the guests were descending the staircase to attend dinner retired admiral of the fleet Sir James Somerville saw what he believed to be a servant coming up the stairs this may have been possible but her clothes looked rather old-fashioned more akin to the 17th century and unlike the staff he'd seen at dunster he asked Julian lol's mother who was hosting at the time who did I see on the oak staircase Mrs lol's response was I have no idea there's no one in the house at the moment on a separate occasion Colonel Frederick ler witnessed what appears to be the same figure in the same clothing on the staircase as he came down to dinner there were 25 years between these sightings and neither Sir James Somerville and Colonel Lester knew one another and wouldn't have known of each other's experiences a corridor from the oak staircase leads on to the library passage some feel they are being watched or followed in this area and others feel cold and uncomfortable and need to get out of the library passage rather quickly the library in my opinion is the most striking room at dunster Castle in July 2011 a guide named Iva was on duty in the library when a rather strange incident happened IA witnessed a man enter from the library passage in a hurry he went straight through the Library without looking at it threw to the conservatory and went outside onto the Terrace Iva was concerned the man was perhaps ill just a few minutes later the man re-entered into the conservatory rushed back through the library in more of a hurry headed down the library passage and turned left onto the oak staircase IA didn't have a clue what was happening but then the man came into the library once more looking distraught and this time he reported he'd had a nasty experience I forgot the man to sit on a chair and collect himself for a moment a few minutes later he said to Iva that he just had a very odd experience the visitor reported that as he came out of the leather gallery and as he descended the oak staircase a little girl grabbed him by the hand and said we've got to go out right now she ran down the stairs with him through the library and out onto the Terrace he felt he had to go with her as he was afraid she'd lost her parents when they got outside he looked around but there was no sign of any parents or anyone else at that time and then the little girl turned to him and said we've got to go back right now so back they went and as they were ascending the oak staircase they met a lady dressed in Gray the man thought she must have been a nanny a nurse or possibly the girl's mother the lady in gray on the stairs spoke to the little girl and said there you are come come along and they both vanished this completely unnerved a visitor it appears from his testimony that he encountered two [Music] ghosts the Castle's gift shop is located inside the impressive 17th century Stables the Luts were Keen hunters and Polo players and dun the castle even had its own polo ground Winston Churchill played Polo here and in 1879 the Prince of Wales later King Edward iith stayed at Duna for 2 days of hunting on Exmore the stable block and Shop appear to be somewhat prone to Paranormal Activity on several occasions staff have witnessed a man dressed in green who walks through the door of the shop and along the stable block where he disappears without a trace another member of Staff witnessed a man in the far left corner of the shop he wore a tight fitting gray jerkin and a loose rag scarf around his neck as a member of Staff approached the man he vanished could he have been a soldier or someone employed in the Stables [Music] themselves a shop manager also witnessed an unusual green light that floated from the front door of the shop to the rear of the stable block inside the shop many visitors have reported feeling unwell and on Ed Ed stock items that are perfectly secure one minute often fall over as if invisible hands have given An Almighty shove this happens predominantly with piles of books that are carefully stacked at the end of the [Music] shop just opposite the Shop's entrance is a stock room staff have reported feeling uncomfortable in here as though they are being watched unopened boxes of stock stored in the room have been ruined by a mysterious Brown sticky gunge which is discovered inside the packets themselves when returned to the suppliers for investigation no explanation for the mysterious substance is [Music] given the stable area can feel quite oppressive and on five separate occasions visitors who have felt unwell have asked if anyone had been murdered there one lady was adamant that two people had been murdered in this area a few years ago a private ghost tour was organized for some staff who worked in offices in toron many of the group were skeptical but having had a few drinks before the tour they were happy to attend as they stood in the Stables laughing joking and making ghostlike noises a lump of masonry the size of a pingpong ball fell from the ceiling struck the end stall and landed at their feet seconds later another piece of masonry fell this time it hit the neighboring stall even the most dismissive of the group were disturbed by the incident and many of them fled from the staes in January I visited dunster castle for the first time and I absolutely loved it it reminded me a little bit of card offf Castle which I covered in a previous video and if you you do get get a chance to go to dunster Castle I would say definitely go it's quite a hilly site I will say that so we comfortable shoes and you could definitely spend an entire day there for this video I tried to take you on a journey through the castle that follows the route that the National Trust suggests to visitors after we exited the castle we walked along the Terrace and the pathway takes you down past the Crypt now the Crypt is part of the servants quarters and this is where Dry Goods meat and produce would have been received and they were also used for for storing coal if you look at any books about dener castle none of them mention anything from what I've read about the Crypt being haunted at all it's one of the last rooms that most visitors will see as they exit the castle and you can see the entrance to the Crypt on the left hand side of this Photograph and and then of course on the right hand side you've got the steps leading up to the castle as you enter the Crypt which in no way feels creepy at all to be honest on the very far left side I don't know if you can see this green light there's an exhibition about ghosts at the castle with some stories that you can listen to and many of those I've weaved into this video in my own words so I had a look around there and took some photographs and filmed some footage of this area and then I walked across the cryp to the opposite side so you can see from this image where the ghost exhibition is and then the Green Arrow represents where I walked across to that sort of triangular little room where there's an exhibition in two rooms one either side by this time I think Mr GC and I were the only people in the Crypt itself and I headed over filming the whole way and I walked into the room on the left which has a TV set and shows videos of the castle and then the room room on the right has an exhibition about bats and Wildlife and I had not stepped into the bat room at that point and there was nobody in the TV room so I came back out and Mr GC was looking at a display about 6 feet from me and he was on my right hand side I was about to step into the bat room straight ahead of me when I stopped really suddenly and thought to myself there's someone in there and I completely froze and I was convinced there was somebody in that room I don't know why I had a problem with it then to the left of me and immediately next to my left ear I heard a very loud definitely male quite nasal long exhale and this is not going to be a great impression but I'll do my best it went like this I turned to Mr GC and I said I just heard someone breathe in my ear and he came over and I turned back to my left to see if there was anybody standing there and there wasn't and then again right next to my left ear again I heard the same thing whatever it was made a really long sniffing sound as if someone or something was sniffing my neck and it was like this and it was a really long horrible Sniff and it scared the Living Daylights out of me it really really did I turned to Mr GC and I said to him did you hear that somebody just sniffed my neck and he said I didn't hear it and I grabbed me I hadn't stepped into the batro at this point I grabbed Mr GC by his left arm and pulled him towards the batroom and I pushed him in there a little bit and he stepped in and said I said is there someone in there and he said no there's nobody in here so I stepped into the room um at that point I quickly got the iPad and pressed record because it had stopped and this is the footage I filmed and I was pretty nervous when I filmed [Music] this and again I said to Mr GC did you not hear it I heard somebody breathe on my left ear and then somebody sniffed me and he said no I didn't hear it and I kept repeating the sound and I felt really unnerved at this point and I wanted to leave and um he looked around the batroom and said he thought the noise may have come from outside now it's a possibility that the noise could have come from outside as there's a sort of barred window and on the other side of that just a few meters away are the steps up to the castle so if I was to put my hand through those bars you would see it if you were ascending the steps in this sort of little window that you can see to the left of this pillar but when we were in the room it was completely silent nobody ascended the steps because the steps are Stone and when people go up them you can hear their Footwear even if they're wearing trainers if it did come from outside then it's quite a way for the trout sound to travel and I would have thought I would have heard it with both ears but I'm not convinced it was from outside I hadn't actually stepped into the room and it was just next to my left ear as though somebody was directly behind me and had Lent over my shoulder like when you try and make somebody jump and it definitely did that to me just to be clear I didn't feel anything or sense anybody physically next to me but to experience that breath and then the sniff it was really horrible it really really was anyhow we left the Crypt and went up the steps to the tenants Hall Cafe and I'm sat drinking a cup of tea and spilling my crisps and he's eating cake and drinking a latte and I don't think we spoke very much and I really was a bit shaken by this so we left the castle and headed back to where we were staying a few days later I got the iPad out of my bag to have a look at the footage and as I went through the gallery I got to the Crypt part and I found I have next to no footage absolutely diddly squat I've got some sort of weird green footage from the ghost story's area and some photographs from there but the film I made walking across to the TV and B room was gone except for 2 seconds worth of footage and I'll play this two seconds for you be warn blink and you'll miss it I just I'll play that again for you I just and that is all I have from this incident I have no idea where that footage has gone I just I just so you see me move the iPad from my left to my right where Mr GC is and I'm saying I just heard and I was saying I just heard someone breathe in my ear and then the footage cuts out with a sort of snapping sound and I was beyond cross that that was all I had and the other thing to say is that that section is midf film there there's no way I could have recreated that or press the red button to record that might take a second and then when you finish the video you press the button again that is definitely a section of footage and this is a brand new iPad I only bought it in September from Apple it's not cellular it's not on Wi-Fi and it also has masses of unused storage space and I bought it to film and that's what I use it for and even Mr GC says that this loss of footage is weird because he'd seen me filming bits and pieces at the castle all day with no problems and he saw me walking across and filming which is why I went to film the TV room first first and he stayed behind me not to be in the shot after this incident I emailed the National Trust and relayed what had happened to me and I got a reply and it seems that other people have experienced some strange things in the Crypt and in the email it said this is such an interesting experience in the Crypt we have had people in the past say they've had their hair pulled when nobody was near them as well as hearing voices and a general feeling of being uncomfortable and not being welcome well I didn't have my hair pulled that day and it wasn't so much a voice but a breath and a presence and I definitely felt uncomfortable and I'm not sure I would go back in that Crypt anytime soon there's one more thing to say here which is that I have a Channel about ghosts and of course I was going to film in the cryp to share it with you and I was so disappointed to see all this footage was missing and I've been to so many National Trust properties and not experienced a thing ever and the other thing to say is that in no way am I a medium a psychic or an any way able to claim to communicate with the dead I'm just a regular visitor but what do you think I mean I can still hear that voice um that exhale and sniffing even today it really creeped me out but do you think it is an external noise is there some mileage in that it's a possibility but it was right next to my left ear it was horrible the only other thing to say is that I took some photographs while we were in the library and in conservatory and as we were leaving and um as you go through the library in the conservatory you can also go into the drawing room which is at the far end of the corridor Mr GC had gone out onto The Terrace at this point and I went into the drawing room which is all very lovely and I was taking photographs in there and I took a picture down the corridor to the library and I've got a slightly mysterious looking figure in it I don't know whether it's an actual person but the guide that we spoke to was definitely the front side of the rope and whatever this is in this image is on the opposite side of the rope and uh I do not know if this is a person or something else I've got no idea I only spotted this figure um while I was making this video actually I've got one postcard for you today and it's quite modern it's from 1984 and it says quite an interesting place shown on this postcard unusually historical for this part of the country well I think that's a bit debatable the village where we are staying is miles from anywhere and only about six houses no Pub No Church don't mind about the church and I love that from Dave this is our Gate House for duner Castle oh the original I'm recording this is the gate house which was built in 1420 and inside it there is supposedly an ubet so I think we're going to go and have a little look anyway I hope you enjoyed the ghost of dunster Castle I hope you enjoyed hearing about my experience let me know in the comments section what you think and thank you for watching ever and please like And subscribe and I'll see you on the next one take care guys

Channel: Ghost Casebook

Views: 134,070

Keywords: dunstercastle, somerset, haunted, nationaltrust, civilwarghosts, ghoststories, history, england, kingcharles, phantom, ghost, spookystories, paranormal, Royal family, Ghosts, Royal residences, Ghost stories, Monarchy, British royal family, Scary stories, Spooky, Halloween, Prince of wales, British, King, royal ghost stories, king charles III, english castles, haunted castle, dungeon, gaol, jail, seance, seances, river avon, exorcisms, king edward vii

Id: VwOsaRTzPME

Length: 41min 40sec (2500 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 01 2024