Beeston Castle in Cheshire has been voted one of English Heritage’s ten spookiest sites by members of staff across the charity’s 400 plus castles and abbeys, historic houses and palaces.

From opening up these sites in the early, sometimes eerie hours of the morning to closing them in the dead of night, English Heritage site staff are uniquely attuned to the sometimes strange and spooky atmosphere of their properties, from creaking doors to unexplained noises to even finding objects inexplicably moved.

Immersed too in the history of their sites, the team are keenly aware of the legends of ghosts and stories of hauntings associated with certain properties.

Ahead of its programme of events for Halloween half term, English Heritage asked its 1,800 staff to rate their individual sites on a special spooky scale.

Beeston Castle in Cheshire, known as the Castle on the Rock due to its dramatic position in Cheshire’s sandstone hills, boasts 4,000 years of history and a 40-acre woodland park.

Beeston Castle

Responding to the survey, members of staff reported sightings of a shadowy figure standing by the inner ward gates, lights flickering on and off and hearing knocking on the walls.

The castle’s sandstone caves have drawn some particularly odd stories with visitors claiming to have seen light in their depths and a woman on a rocking chair barring them entry.

This half term, Beeston Castle is hosting a range of Autumn Adventures from October 21-November 5 with a scarecrow trail through the castle’s atmospheric autumnal woodland grounds, spooky stories in the castle grounds, have-a-go-crafts and a Halloween themed children’s fancy dress each day at 3pm.

The rest of the top 10 spookiest English Heritage sites are: Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire; Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire; Carisbrooke Castle, Isle of Wight; Pendennis Castle, Cornwall; Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire; Dover Castle, Kent; Framlingham Castle, Suffolk; Clifford’s Tower, North Yorkshire; Home of Charles Darwin – Down House, Kent.

English Heritage are also holding a series of After Dark Events 2017 to explore historic sites after hours to discover spine-tingling tales of ghostly apparitions, dastardly deeds and ghoulish goings-on. Visit www.english-heritage.org.uk for details.