Dunster Castle is situated high on a hill, overlooking the medieval town of Dunster and is on the north east boundary of Exmoor National Park in Somerset. The castle's history spans over a 1,000 years so as you may imagine, it has had some very spooky experiences happen within its walls. The castle and grounds are now run by the National Trust and there are also ghost walks in which tell some of these spooky tales and some of the horrific history of the castle. Here are just a few of those ghostly experiences-
One of the cleaners who worked in the castle, was stopped in her tracks by seeing a ghostly figure of a man wearing a strange and very old fashioned military uniform. The area, called The Leather Gallery, was later found to have been the dormitory where the Royalist soldiers slept. The castle had been conquered by the Royalists during the civil war and set up inside the castle.
A man, dressed all in green, has been seen many times walking through what is now the National Trust shop but then he just disappears. The building was once a stable block, which was built in the 17th century. Also in the shop, a strange green light is also seen, which has been reported as just ‘bobbing along’- makes me wonder if the man in green and green light are the same entity?
A rather strange experience was when someone was working in the Blue Kitchen ( a 1960s kitchen within the castle) and when this person glanced down towards the floor, he saw a disembodied human foot!
There is an oubliette where a male skeleton was found. His skeleton was in the position in which he died, with his wrists and ankles manacled to the wall, probably left to starve to death. The notable aspect of this was that the man had been over 7 feet tall!
An excavation was made in the 17th century in which this skeleton was discovered and the remains were just left there. Another excavation was made in the 19th century, confirming the extremely tall skeleton. Rumour has it that the skeleton still remains in situ and the oubliette was covered over. The oubliette is by the gatehouse, in one of the towers and it’s in this area that cries and screaming of both men and women are heard.
Another note of interest is that on the castle grounds there is a working water mill. There is a theory that running water can be an element to any paranormal activity that occurs to buildings near to it.
If you’ve had a paranormal experience in Dunster Castle then I’d love to hear about it. Please send your account here Contact me
