The Yorkshire castle that claims to be haunted by a mischievous poltergeist

Missing treasures and furniture moved in strange circumstances have been blamed on a badly-behaved spirit at this 14th-century Yorkshire castle.
Ripley CastleRipley Castle
Ripley Castle

Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, has been the seat of the Ingilby baronets since the estate was granted to them in 1309 and is still in the family's ownership today.

The Ingilbys celebrate 700 years at Ripley Castle by discovering new historyThe castle has a grisly and fascinating history - members of the Gunpowder Plot stayed there and Oliver Cromwell turned up at the house to search for Sir William Ingilby after the Battle of Marston Moor. He was held at bay with a pistol by Sir William's sister Jane while her brother hid in the priest hole. One of the Ingilby sons, a priest named Francis, was even hung, drawn and quartered in York as a punishment for not renouncing Catholicism. King James I was a house guest just two years before the Ingilbys' associates became involved in the Gunpowder Plot to kill him.

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How Ripley's loyal staff maintain the 700-year-old castleAn undiscovered branch of the family was revealed to be living in Australia in 2009, when one of their descendants joined a guided tour of Ripley Castle. He announced himself as a relative of the Georgian baronet Sir John Ingilby, who had fathered five children with a local tenant farmer's daughter. One of the illegitimate sons was later sentenced to transportation to the colony of Australia for a minor offence, and took his mother's surname, Webster, to begin his new life.

In the 19th century, the family lost two of their children, Henry and Mary, when they were just five and three after both died of leukaemia - and is was this tragic event that is thought to have led to the building where they died being haunted by a ghostly poltergeist.

Reports of paranormal activity began in the middle of the 20th century, when the chimney in the Tower Room was unblocked. This precipitated a number of unexplained incidents, such as pictures on the walls being turned around and furniture positions altered.

The Ingilbys became used to the poltergeist's presence and the spirit was blamed for a bizarre incident in 2017 when four Georgian candlesticks re-appeared in the castle three years after vanishing.The silver treasures were 'returned' just weeks after an insurer had paid out £8,500 to purchase replacements.

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The candlesticks originally went missing from the strong room on Christmas Eve in 2014, but owner Sir Thomas Ingilby expected the poltergeist to put them back and they were not reported as stolen until May 2016, following thorough searches of the property.

“I remember saying several times that I thought the candlesticks would re-appear eventually and even held off on reporting the theft to Ecclesiastical,” said Sir Thomas.

“But we searched the castle thoroughly and, with no sign of them, we had to make the claim.”

The missing silverware was found on a shelf in the strong room, inside a bright red Christmas-themed carrier bag, in the summer of 2017.

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“They were impossible to miss! In fact, to add insult to injury, they were sitting right next to the bag containing the replacements that we had purchased with the money from Ecclesiastical.

“Three of us had searched the strong room from top to bottom and I had searched it on three separate occasions myself before making the claim, so to find them sitting there in such plain view was quite astounding.”

On a previous occasion, a dessert spoon from a set of cutlery disappeared for 18 months before miraculously re-appearing in its rightful place in the locked wooden canteen.

The family returned the pay-out to insurers Ecclesiastical after the strange discovery.