The first mention of a castle at Dudley comes with the arrival of "a great and powerful prince of the Kingdom of Mercia" called Dudd, around 700 A.D. "who raised a strong fortress here, which remained until the Conquest." Add the suffix "ley" or "lea" (which means land) to the man's name and you get "Dudley".
There is a long history of Lords and Landowners at Dudley, but the most famous is probably John Dudley, father of Robert Dudley who was, some say, the lover of Queen Elizabeth I. John Dudley was also the father of Guilford Dudley who was (briefly) married to Lady Jane Grey. Part of the Castle was rebuilt by John Dudley and this was known as the "Sharrington Range".
The castle is now a ruin, apart from the Visitor's Centre and Undercroft. It sits imposingly on top of a hill and the grounds of Dudley Zoo now sprawl around it. It's not uncommon to be in a vigil in the pitch black and hear the roar of a Lion!
The night began with us letting the guests explore the castle alone. It soon became very dark and spooky and the undercroft seemed to have a menacing air about it.
The first vigil took place in the buttery, as a group of men said they had been pushed in back when they were in there. We called out and sure enough we heard stones thrown and a few people said they felt that had been touched. We also saw the strange figure of man looming in one of the doorways.
Then we moved on to the zodiac room in the visitors centre. Michael and I both felt the presence of the Sherriff, a man called John, who really wanted to interact with us. In the chequered room he managed to shake and tip the table and also had it walking around the room!
Glass moving was also very energetic - to the point of the glass breaking at one point. Lots of sighs and noises were heard in this room.
The last vigil took place in the undercroft with two people being very brave and lying in the coffins. Some people felt their hair being touched and one man became very shaky when standing in the circle. Lights were seen and many taps an bangs heard, and again, a loud, deep sigh.
In my opinion, Dudley Castle is one of the most truly haunted places in the UK.
If you would like to join us on a ghost hunt please follow the links to Dusk Till Dawn events.
Next week we are at the never-before-investigated Temple Meads Station in Bristol! until then, happy ghosthunting....
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