Haunted East Northants castle to feature in new book

Nestled the grounds of Barnwell Manor, the former home of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, Barnwell Castle was built in the 13th century by Berengar le Moyne.

It is now a ruin but has acquired a sinister reputation due to unexplained occurrences in the neighbourhood of the castle.

It's tumultuous history is to feature in a new book by John West called Britain's Haunted Heritage.

The book tells the tale of a historian Tom Lichfield who, in 1948, carried out a series of seances using a Quija board in an attempt to contact the spirits of those responsible for a serious of strange, unexplained incidents at the castle reported by policemen in the 1930s.

Three seances were held in total. The first two were carried out at Lichfield’s house in Barnwell, the third taking place in the ruined north-east tower of the castle. At the first attempt in 1948 and contact was made with an entity claiming to be a former Abbot of Ramsey Abbey who said the castle had been used as a court of justice and execution in the 14th century.

He told them of a mysterious chest hidden where the remnants of a ‘ruined life’ resided

During the third seance in the castle grounds, a crack of a whip or gun was heard and the upper body and head of a monk appeared, causing the men to run home.

He died in 1985, deeply regretting the use of the Ouija board and wishing to his dying day that the horror it had revealed to him could be forever erased from his mind.

You can read all the details of the Lichfield seances in the book available for £11.99 from Amazon.