The Ghosts of Pontefract Castle
The Ghosts of Pontefract Castle
Pontefract Castle now stands as a ruined castle in the historic market town of Pontefract in West Yorkshire, England. The name Pontefract is from the Latin, ponte fractus, meaning broken bridge. Pontefract wasn't mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 but was first recorded only four years later as Pontefracto. The castle was recorded in the Domesday Book as Ilbert’s Castle, named after the Norman Ilbert de Lacy who built the Castle on land that was granted to him by William the Conqueror for his support during the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Ilbert’s son, Robert de Lacy had the Castle taken off him for not supporting King Henry the 1st during his struggle against his brother Robert in the 12th century. Roger de Lacy paid 3000 marks to King Richard the 1st for the Honour of Pontefract, but he kept the castle. The castle was finally returned to the de Lacy family in 1199 after King John took over the throne after Richard’s death.
The de Lacy’s lived in the Castle until 1311 when it was passed to the House of Lancaster when Alice de Lacy married Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster. Six days after the defeat at the Battle of Boroughbridge, Thomas was sentenced to death by King Edward the second, he was beheaded outside the Castle walls. His tomb soon became a shrine at Pontefract Priory and Thomas became a martyr. The castle was then passed onto Henry, 3rd Duke of Lancaster and then to John of Gaunt, the son of King Edward the 3rd.
Towards the end of the 14th century, King Richard the 2nd banished John of Gaunt’s son, Henry Bolingbroke from England after he was involved in the 1388 revolt of Lords Appellant against Richard. After John of Gaunt died in 1399, King Richard took everything that was left to Henry Bolingbroke by his father and shared it between his favourites, including Pontefract Castle. In August 1399, Bolingbroke returned to England to claim what was rightfully his and overthrew Richard and imprisoned him in the Tower of London and took the crown for himself as King Henry the 4th. Later in the year, Richard was moved and imprisoned to Pontefract until his death.
William Shakespeare mentions this incident in his play Richard the 3rd:
“Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prison, fatal and ominous to noble peers! Within the guilty closure of they walls Richard the 2nd here was hack'd to death; And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, we give thee up our childless blood to drink".
Many historians believe that Richard was starved to death by his captors, some suggesting that he starved himself and others have suggested that he was hacked to death.
Two of Elizabeth Woodville’s relatives, her son, Sir Richard Grey, and her brother, Anthony Woodville were beheaded at Pontefract on to the 25th of June 1483 by Richard the 3rd.
In 1536, a rebellion was started called the Pilgrimage of Grace against King Henry the 8th’s break from the Catholic Church. Pontefract Castles guardian, Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy, handed the Castle over to the leaders. The King saw this as an act of treason and had Lord Darcy executed.
King Henry the 8th arrived at Pontefract on the 23rd of August 1541. It was during his stay at the Castle when he accused his 5th wife, Catherine Howard of adultery with Thomas Culpeper. She was taken to the Tower of London and beheaded without trial.
On the 19th of April 1603, King James the 1st of England visited the castle, as it was included in jointure property of his wife, Anne of Denmark.
During the English Civil War, the Royalist Castle was attacked three times. The first siege was in December 1644 and it finally came to an end in March 1645 when Marmaduke Longdale, 1st Baron Longdale of Holme took reinforcements of Royalist troops which forced the Parliamentarians to retreat. During this siege, the Piper Tower was destroyed from mining and artillery damage. The 2nd siege started in the same month on the 21st of March. This time the garrison surrendered in July after hearing of the defeat of Charles the 1st at the Battle of Naseby. The Parliamentarians took over the Castle until June in 1648 when Royalists took control of the Castle by sneaking in. The final siege of the Parliamentarians was led by Oliver Cromwell in November 1648. King Charles the 1st was executed on the 30th of January 1649 outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall and the Castle was handed over to the Parliamentarians once again on the 24th of March 1649. The townspeople of Pontefract, the grand jury at York and Major General Lambert requested that the Castle should be demolished and on the 27 of March 1649, the order was given to pull it down and sell off the materials.
From the 17th century, the people of Pontefract have grown liquorice as it was used as a medicine for horses and people. The liquorice was made into pastilles that would be dissolved in water. Pontefract Castle was used by the Dunhill family to grow liquorice for over a hundred years. George Dunhill was an apothecary who added sugar to his medicines, which led to the invention of the famous Pontefract Cakes. This started a confectionery industry in the town which still continues to this day, the big company being Haribo.
GHOSTS
There have been many ghost sightings in Pontefract Castle, from monks that wonder the grounds, children playing, soldiers still walking the battlements and many more.
The ghost of a woman wearing a grey or white hooded cloak has been seen many times near the old entrance to the west of the castle. A security guard reported that he saw the figure many times. He reported that the hooded figure seemed to follow him towards the gate when he was closing up at night.
One day, a woman who was visiting the Castle asked staff if there was an event being held that day as she saw a Lady rushing towards the gate. Then said that she wasn’t sure if was her imagination but she seemed to evaporate after she turned and waved at her. She described her as wearing a hooded cloak and carrying a lantern.
The figure of a large man carrying an axe is said to wander around the Castle. He is said to have a menacing presence and terrifies people.
One afternoon in the 1990s, a family were visiting the Castle and their eldest son, who was 9 years old, shouted that they needed to run because a man was coming and he was scary. The boy ran off into the visitors centre. They caught up with him and he was crying, so terrified that he wanted to go home. The boys father decided to carry on walking around the rest of the Castle alone. As he approached the area where the boy was scared, he felt a dark presence. He reported that it felt like everything was going dark and that he never felt so terrified in his life but he stayed around to see what was going on. As he looked around, a tall man carrying an axe rushed towards him, causing the boys father to move quickly out of the way and stumble. After standing back up, he looked around and there was no one to be seen.
Near the Gascoigne Tower, there have been many sightings of two little girls wearing what have been described as old fashioned clothes.
During an event, a previous employee took her two young daughters along who both dressed up in 17th century style clothes to be part of the event. They were playing by the Gascoigne Tower for around 30 minutes, when they went running to their mother telling her that they couldn’t play with the other girls anymore because their father came out of the wall and told them that they needed to go back, which they did, through the wall.
The sound of a girl crying has been reported many times in the ladies toilet area. It’s also been known that the lights flicker when she is heard.
The area was once used as a temporary mortuary when during World War Two, a bomber crashed into some houses in the Darrington area of Pontefract, killing 20 people. People believe that the girl heard crying is the daughter of two of the victims.
The area was known as the Barn, and people had been hearing the ghostly cries for many years.
When the toilets were being built in 1988, the builders reported the sound of crying almost on a daily basis.
After the Castle has closed up, the security guards check all over to make sure that everyone has left and that the lights have been turned off. Many times they have checked the toilet area only to find later that the lights had been turned back on.
The magazine was originally used as a wine cellar, a gunpowder storage area and a prison during the War of the Roses and the English Civil War. Many people have said that they’ve seen the ghosts of Cavaliers walking up the steps of the magazine.
At the end of a guided tour one day, a tour guide locked the door of the magazine when banging was heard on the door. Thinking that he must have left a visitor in there, he opened the door and there was no one there.
A ghostly monk dressed in a black habit reputedly walks from the kitchen area of the Castle to the Queens Tower everyday in winter at 5pm, he is never seen returning. Many believe that he could be the restless spirit of a monk who was hanged in the 15th century for the sexual abuse and murder of a young girl. The location of the execution is believed to be at 30 East Drive in Pontefract, the location of the famous poltergeist haunting during the 1960s and 70s known as the Black Monk of Pontefract, made popular from the film When the Lights Went Out.
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