Muncaster Castle goes online in search of spooky evidence

A Lake District castle is logging onto the social networking site Facebook to get more evidence about whether or not it really is haunted.

The owners of Muncaster Castle near Ravenglass are hoping that the popular Internet site will help them gather more information about people’s experiences at the Castle.  Facebook currently has over 47 million users around the world.

Muncaster Castle is reputedly one of Britain’s most haunted buildings.  Scientists have been researching the Muncaster’s ‘ghosts’ since 1992 but are still unable to explain some of the strange occurrences reported there.

The Haunted Muncaster group on Facebook has been set up to give people the chance to record their own experiences online.  There is also a link to a webcam inside the Tapestry Room where the largest number of spooky encounters have taken place.

Peter Frost Pennington, whose family have lived at Muncaster for nearly 800 years, says: “We’ve always supported proper research into the ghostly things that many people say go on at Muncaster.  We’d genuinely like to know if the Castle really is haunted or whether there is a more scientific explanation.

“So we hope people will join the Haunted Muncaster group to tell us about their own experiences at the Castle or just to give us their views about what might explain the things people see, hear or feel here.  And by logging on to the Tapestry Room webcam people all over the world will be able to join our search for the truth about Muncaster’s ‘ghosts’.”

To join the group you simply need to register at www.facebook.com and then search for Haunted Muncaster.  It also possible to see the Tapestry Room webcam on Muncaster’s own website at www.muncaster.co.uk.  

Some visitors to the Tapestry Room at Muncaster have complained of disturbed nights, heard footsteps outside the room, seen the door handle turning and the door opening although nobody is there. A child is sometimes heard crying towards the window end of the room, and a lady has been heard singing, comforting a sick child.

Many of the "ghostly" tales at Muncaster revolve around Tom Fool, the Castle’s former jester. Tom is rarely seen, but some people believe his spirit continues to play tricks on people at the Castle.

Other stories concern the 'Muncaster Boggle' or White Lady who is said to haunt the gardens and roadways around Muncaster. She is supposedly the ghost of Mary Bragg, a young girl murdered in the early 1800s on the road near the Main Gate.   

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