Local Ghost Stories
The Queen's Hotel. St Bees.
This stone built hotel is actually three cottages joined together. It is thought that the hotel dates from the time of Elizabeth I whose head is shown on the sign outside. The ghost in this hotel is said to haunt room 11, apparently quite a well behaved ghost, it is known to mess up the beds after the cleaner has made them, though one business man was frightened one night after he awoke and heard a voice asking him "What are you doing here?" Apart from that the ghost, whose name is not known, restricts himself to letting people hear him walking around at night and moving small objects.
If you continue from St Bees to the village of Holmrook you will see the Lutwidge Arms. This hotel has no ghost, but it is on the site of Holmrook Hall; the family seat of the Lutwidges, the cousins of Lewis Carroll the author of the Alice In Wonderland books, his real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He visited Holmrook often in the 1870's.
The Pennington Arms. Ravenglass.
This old hotel which is currently closed for refurbishment, is said to be full of ghosts. Ravenglass itself is at the mouth of three rivers, and is the site of a Roman fort, the remains of the Roman bath house can still be seen, known as Lyons Garde, and was said to be the home of the Arthurian Fairy - Morgan L Fee.
Muncaster Castle
Muncaster Castle is said to be the most haunted castle in England. There are lots of ghost stories related to the castle and according to the present owner, strange things are still happening. The owner tells that he visited the Kings Room one morning and something pulled the door from the other side. No one was in the room, and he says that no creature of flesh and blood could have held the door and then disappeared so quickly. He also reported that on a number of occasions he had been followed up the stairs by ghostly footsteps. A lot of the ghostly goings on at the castle are attributed to Tom Fool, the jester at Muncaster who died around 1600. Tom is supposed to have murdered the local carpenter by chopping his head off. Tom is said to be keeping his eye on the place still. The spirits certainly like Muncaster, as the mother of a previous owner, Sir William Pennington, has been seen walking the corridors of the castle, but somebody else seems to haunt the Tapestry Room. People say that the room has a strange atmosphere, and lots of people do not enter it after standing at the door, people who have entered complain about the cold in this room. Guest who have stayed in this room have reported some unpleasant experiences, babies can be heard crying, and a woman's voice singing lullabies to soothe the crying, people have heard children singing softly. Research after these incidents show that in the middle of the last century that the Tapestry Room was used as a children's nursery. One of the lesser known ghosts at Muncaster is Mary Bragg, who has been seen walking across the fields, also motorists have reported seeing a distressed looking woman near the entrance to the castle, also motorists have thought they have hit someone, but found no body. Mary Bragg was murdered in 1805 and her body dumped in the River Esk, she was murdered near a tall tree which was then known as Mary Bragg's Tree. This tree had the reputation of being cursed. Over the years it became old and dangerous, until in the mid 1990's it had to be cut down. No one would actually do the job, as in Britain and Ireland there are reports of roads going round sacred or haunted trees in rural areas, because no one will cut them down. Eventually a man was found to do the job, whilst cutting he was sprayed with warm blood, it was actually a hibernating bat, but did nothing for the trees reputation, no one would buy the wood from this tree and it had to be transported out of the area.
Eskdale
From the village of Eskdale Green a very minor road leads up to Mitredale, where the river Mite has its source. At the top of this track, where you can go no further with a vehicle, is the ruin of a farm called Bakerstead. A monstrous ghost has been heard at this place that roars and screams in agony. When it's seen, its head is described as a white shapeless blob. The story behind this is that this is a would be robber who was killed by the farmer in the early 1800's by tipping boiling wax over his face.
Santon Bridge
In the mid 1960's a group of young men from the Outward Bound College at Eskdale Green were camping out at Santon Bridge and were awoke by a cacophony of noise, geese honking, dogs barking, and hysterical laughter, they searched around the campsite and neither man nor beast could be found.
Irton Hall
The restaurant at Irton Hall is called "The Grey Lady" who the grey lady is, is not known. However there is also a lady in black which is said to be Ann Lamplugh, wife of John Irton. The story goes that when Henry VI fled after the Battle Of Hexham during the War Of The Roses, he arrived at Irton Hall and asked John Irton for sanctuary. Irton refused and Henry was forced to hide in the oak tree, now known as the Kings Tree, during the night Ann took pity on Henry and took food to him. When John Irton heard of this he was furious and locked his wife in the Pele Tower, it is not known whether she starved to death or she lived out the rest of her days there, but she now haunts the tower and is seen on the stairs and battlements.