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| The facade of Herstmonceux Castle |
(By Brian Raine - Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 generic license)
Herstmonceux Castle, in East Sussex, has had a chequered existence and like many of England’s it has it ghosts.
Sir
Roger Fiennes, Treasurer of the Household of Henry VI, started building
the castle in 1441. It was one of the first major brick buildings and
today is the oldest brick building of any note still standing in
England.
By
1700 the last Lord Dacre, Earl of Sussex was forced to sell the castle
and by the end of the century most of it had been demolished. By the
early 1900s it had become a ruin before being reconstructed. In 1946 the
estate was sold to the Admiralty and it became the home of the Royal
Greenwich Observatory. In 1993 Herstmonceux Castle was acquired by The
Queen’s University of Canada; it is now an International Study Centre.
The
most famous Herstmonceux ghost is the nine-foot tall Phantom Drummer
who frequents the ramparts at night. Some accounts say he was killed at
the Battle of Agincourt and ever since his death tattoo can be heard
accompanied by showers of blue light from his drum sticks.
Other
versions say the drummer is the ghost of an old Lord Dacre who lived
secretly in the castle and beat his drum to ward off lovers of his young
wife. He applied phosphorous to his face, clothes and drum and appeared
round the castle in a drummer’s uniform. His wife became so annoyed she
locked him in and left him to die. Unfortunately for her, the sound of
his drum could still be heard, frightening her lovers away.
The
spectral White Lady seen swimming across the moat at night and standing
nearby wringing her hands in torment is believed to be the wraith of a
girl from the village. One of Sir Roger's sons had forced his attentions
upon the girl; she escaped his clutches by leaping into the moat. Her
attacker caught her and dragged her back into the castle. He then
assaulted and murdered her.
Visitors
to Herstmonceux Castle are now invited take part in a guided tour and
become familiar with the stories of the resident ghosts.
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| Aerial View of Herstmonceux Castle |
(By Welshie - Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 unported license)
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