Haunted Yorkshire

The story goes that there's supposedly a tunnel leading between Richmond Castle & Easby Abbey, & the troops sent the drummer boy down the tunnel at the Castle to see if it did indeed lead to the Abbey. The drummer was supposed to walk the tunnel & beat his drum all the way along so that the troops could follow the sound & track the direction of the tunnel. A little way along, the drumming faded & stopped, & the drummer boy disappeared completely. It is thought that the drummer boy could have fallen in a hole the some of the roof had caved in on him.

Quite a lot of people still claim you can hear drumming around the Abbey/Castle sometimes.

The Bridge over the River Swale dates from 1687 and was an important crossing point on the 16 mile Corpse Way from Muker to the Churchyard at Grinton, which was once the only consecrated burial ground in the dale.

Along the Copse Way were identified resting stops for the men carrying the bodies which were normally entombed in wicker baskets. When the men stopped overnight the bodies were placed in building called a ‘Dead House’, such as can be found at the Punchbowl Inn at Feetham, but for shorter breaks the pall bearers would place the body upon a coffin stone whilst they took a rest. One of these coffin stones is on the north side of Ivelet Bridge.

A headless dog is reputed to haunt the Ivelet Bridge. It silently runs up the bridge before jumping over the wall and diving into the River Swale below. This phantom is considered locally to be an ill omen and a portent of death.

Ghostly goings-on at the hall are reported to include footsteps and sobbing and crying in a drawing room, a Victorian woman seen walking the staircase and a 1940s airman in the kitchen. Many visitors and volunteers have also smelled pipe smoke in an old kitchen and a hint of cologne has been detected in another drawing room.