Presence

I am often asked if the castle is haunted and whilst it isn’t in a conventional sense, there are a few people who seem to appear from time to time to be with us. Generally, I try to think of this in a positive way but at this time of year, when the darkness is enveloping us for ever longer each day, both imagination and senses can escalate very quickly from sitting quietly to a state of anxiety. 

With fewer lights on, the castle seems even bigger. Things creak and settle and doors move or just adjust depending on ones’ own state and feelings. Everything becomes a little louder and a bit more unexpected. We have some good stories for winter nights and after all, that is what we all love to do – tell and share stories around a crackling winter fire, as the audiences’ eyes get bigger and everyone sits a little closer.  Even today with all our ‘mod cons’ we still love listening to or watching, stories that scare us a little. 

I'm not the only one who sees or feels other people being around. Quite recently John Gundill, the castle manager, was turning the lights off along one corridor on the first floor. He thought someone was coming towards him, so he moved to one side of quite a narrow space and bumped his head on a wall light.

Halloween was two days ago whilst yesterday was All Hallows' Eve, a day to honour saints, martyrs, and departed souls. In England, parades used to be held on All Souls’ Day during which poorer citizens would go around to beg for food - soul cake - in return for promising to pray for the families' dead relatives. 

Perhaps in the past it might have been a more reassuring time and an opportunity to make peace with departed souls. Today, with a modern commercialised culture and the advent of ghouls, vampires and zombies, it is a chance to shop for extraordinary outfits and indulge in scary films which I cannot watch … (Can you see the witches mark on the beam?)

At this time of year, the ancient heritage of Highclere evokes the imagination and ghost lore. Underneath the fallen walls of the old Anglo-Saxon church on the north side of the castle are a number of burial vaults. The current cemetery is just outside the castle gates towards the village, and all the bodies were moved when the new church was built. I always hope that no one's been left behind to still occupy the old vaults there and when they were moved, they were entirely happy with their new home. Anyone who is still buried here from all those centuries ago, I hope lies quietly amongst the old rustling yew trees as I have no desire to meet them. 

There are probably also the remains of our ancestors buried in the Bronze Age tumuli, and there may well have been some battles around the Iron Age fort, so perhaps those are places to avoid at this time of year as well, and just leave them to the sheep to graze and keep peaceful.

Meanwhile Caitlin and I do our best to represent this time of year on Instagram, to come up with mad ideas and have crawling characters along the floor. Equally we try to make our own staff jump by hiding behind corners which due to our giggling rarely works. It is however the most enormous amount of fun and a necessary part of the work ethic here.

I’ve explored some of these stories in my book “A year at Highclere” – so do enjoy it as either a good present for yourself or something for others this Christmas.