The imperious 14th-century Lumley Castle has occupied the County Durham landscape for many years and overlooks the River Wear and County cricket club…
The quadrangular castle was aptly named after its inspirational creator, Sir Ralph Lumley who decided to earn a few quid by converting the family home into a castle following a trip to Bonny Scotland in 1939.
Unfortunately his luck ran out after being part of a conspiracy to overthrow Henry IV for which he was given a jail sentence and duly executed.
While the property still belongs to Lord Scarbrough, the haunted castle was taken over in 1976 by ‘No Ordinary Hotels’ and remains a 73-bedroomed hotel with a loyal and affluent clientele base.
It’s documented that a woman called Lily Lumley was thrown head first down a well within the castle’s grounds by a couple of disgruntled priests who disliked her stance against Catholicism. Her body is said to haunt the castle and it’s rooms…
