Muncaster Castle
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Muncaster Castle is a privately owned castle overlooking the Esk river, about a mile south of the west-coastal town of Ravenglass in Cumbria, England.
Built on foundations dating to the Roman era, the site was originally selected by the Romans as the place from which to guard the Esk River ("Muncaster" contains the Latin word castra, meaning "encampment", or "fort").[1] It is currently owned by the Pennington family, who have lived at Muncaster for at least 800 years, the land being granted to Alan de Penitone in 1208. The oldest parts of the castle include the Great Hall and the 14th Century pele tower, a type of watch-tower fortification unique to the English-Scottish border region.
The castle was extended and enlarged on a number of occasions over the course of the centuries. Recent historical research (in the early 2000s) has uncovered records which indicate that in 1678 the castle had 14 chimneys; while a document relating to payment of Window Tax in 1746 recorded at that date it had 103 windows and 55 rooms and corridors.
However, by the time of the ownership of Sir Joseph Pennington in the 1770s, the castle had fallen into serious decay. His son, Sir John Pennington, arriving to live at the castle after his wedding in 1778, wrote with despair of how a part of building collapsed even as he was inspecting it. The preservation of the castle to this day is due to the efforts of Sir John Pennington to rebuild and restore it; surviving records indicate that this cost him some six thousand pounds, an enormous sum of money for the late 18th Century.
The recent historical research project mentioned on the Castle's official website has also revealed that the castle's north tower (which complements the pele tower to provide a symmetry to the castle's appearance) was constructed in the 1830s. Some previous literature on the north tower mistakenly attributes its construction to the architect Anthony Salvin, who was engaged to refurbish the castle by the fourth Lord Muncaster in 1862.
The castle contains a wealth of architectural features and artefacts from a wide span of English history, including a rare portrait of king Henry VI, an Elizabethan banqueting table, and also an impressive library containing approximately 6,000 books.
In August 2005, some archaeologcial investigation was conducted in the castle grounds and an Architectural Heritage Report was produced. It is planned to conduct a full architectural survey in the future, to examine the different phases of the building's construction.
Muncaster Castle has also acquired a reputation for being one of the most haunted houses in Britain. Purportedly the ghosts of Tom Fool as well as Mary Bragg make many unscheduled appearances. Guests may book a tour of the castle and an all-night vigil in a haunted bedroom known as the Tapestry Room, where guest reports of paranormal phenomena include: hearing footsteps, seeing the door open of its own accord, hearing a crying child and/or a singing woman, having their digital cameras turn off and on inexplicably, feeling themselves patted, experiencing changes of room temperature, chest pains, and even being inexplicably tossed out of the bed. Jason Braithwaite, a cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist from the University of Birmingham has been studying the phenomena at the castle for some 15 years, and has suggested one possibile explanation as being "strange and anomalous magnetic fields" in the areas of the hauntings, which might affect certain people with a tendency towards "more erratic" brain function, such as those who suffer from migraine headaches or epilepsy, for example.
Muncaster Castle estate in the early 20th Century was around 23,000 acres in size. Today, the castle is surrounded by 77 acres of woodland gardens in a park of some 1,800 acres. The gardens contain many rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas, and the castle's Plant Centre offers the largest collection of rhododendrons in the north of England.
The castle is not only the residence of the current owners, Peter Frost Pennington & family, it operates as a function centre and a site where civil weddings may be held, has bookable accommodation for 24 guests, and is also the location of the headquarters of the World Owl Trust, a registered UK charity dedicated to the preservation of owls and their habitats.
The estate is situated in sparsely populated and scenic countryside, between the Irish Sea and Hardknott Pass, near England's tallest mountain, Scafell Pike.
[edit] Tom Fool
Tom Fool (real name Tom Skelton) was a jester in the castle at the end of the 1500's. He created much mischief both dead and alive.
Legend has it that when passerbys would stop at the castle for directions to London, Tom would decide if he liked them or not. If he didn't, he would point them in the direction of the quicksand rather than the ford. If they went to the quicksand (or marshy ground), the happless victims would then never be seen again.
Tom may have been a jester, but the local carpenter certainly wasn't laughing. Under the orders of Sir Ferdinand Pennington, Tom chopped the carpenter's head off as a punishment for falling in love with Helwise, Sir Pennington's daughter.
Present owners of Muncaster, Phyllada and Patrick Gordon-Duff-Pennington, believe Tom still keeps a watchful eye on the castle, and occasionally gets up to more sinister mischief. Most of the ghostly goings on are attributed to this fiendish fool!
His portrait still hangs in the Castle. Tom Fool died around 1600.
The castle still has a special day called 'Tom Fool's day', which is a fun day for all the family with various attractions. [[2]]
