The Castle Inn, is set in the quaint village of Lydford, built in 1550 the ancient inn absolutely oozes with pure atmosphere and character.
I have visited the inn on several occasions over the years and have always enjoyed my brief time spent at this impressive location. During one of my last visits I had an interesting conversation with two female members of staff and enquired if either of them had ever encountered anything supernatural within the inn. One of the barmaids explained that there is a phantom of a man that is known to haunt the upper floor rooms and has been sighted on numerous occasions. The barmaid also went onto explain that they had a number of paying guests staying at the inn a few years previously and one of the guests was a very loud and larger than life London cabbie who indeed was indeed a bit of a character and was in no way quiet and reserved but he meant no harm. Anyway back to want occurred on the third morning of the cabbie’s stay at the Inn, the cabbie and the other guests gathered at their usal seats in the restaurant area awaiting their breakfast, it was at this point the cabbie in his quiet nature piped up and asked one of the members of staff in passing to the whereabouts of the gentle man that has been sat in the shadowy corner opposite him for the past two consecutive mornings at breakfast.
The member of staff stopped and looked at the cabbie and explained that there has not been any such gentle man sitting in the said corner for the past two days, it was at this point the cabbie turned to the other guests and sat at the table and said you all saw him yesterday and the day before didn’t you, to his astonishment all three guests turn and said we don’t know who you are talking about, there hasn’t been any gentle sat in that corner. There was a very uncomfortable pause and a noticeable change to the cabbies face as the blood drain from his rosy cheeks as one of the members of staff stated that the cabbie must have seen one of the resident ghosts that haunt the Castle Inn. The cabbie slowly stood up, horror stricken and explained he knew what he had seen with his own eye’s and then proceeded to return to his room pack his bags and checkout due to his encounter with the illustrious ghost.
The barmaid also went onto recalling another time when an Egyptian gentleman who was staying at The Castle Inn for a few days. Upon his arrival at the inn he statd to the barmaid that the inn was emanating an amazing amount of psychic energy and he said that the building has the potential to be very active paranormally, the gentle was a psychic and had the ability to see, hear and sense the dead. The barmaid recommend he should pay a visit to Lydford Castle which is situated next to the inn and also take a walk down to Lydford Gauge while he spends time in the area.
The gentleman returned later that afternoon looking very much drained with a grief stricken look upon his face, he explained to the barmaid that he had just visited the abandoned ruins of Lydford Castle. The gentleman described that the castle was a horrific dark dank imposing building which was drenched in psychic energy which had been contained within the granite stone of the building. He stated that it was an imposing structure haunted by tormented souls and was a truly fearsome place to visit, even in daylight hours.
The following day the gentleman decided to visit Lydford Gauge which is within walking distance of the Castle Inn, upon his return he was ashen white with pure fear and he then anxiously explained to the barmaid of what he had experienced at Lydford Gauge. He explained that the closer he drew towards Lydford Gauge the more he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, it was then as he walked down towards the gauge he heard a number of a blood curdling screams, groans followed by the imposing feeling of pure doom.
The gentleman continued on until he saw a vision that with be etched into his mind for the remainder of his days, for what he saw at the base of the Gauge was a hideous replay of human bodies including men, woman and children whom had been incarcerated, tortured and executed at Lydford Castle centuries ago being thrown into the icy black depths of Lydford Gauge. The gentle said that the whole place needs to be cleansed, exorcised. As I sat at the bar listening to the member of staff retelling what the Egyptian man had encountered, it was very clear that the barmaid was genuinely unnerved retelling the incident, and the barmaid said she will never forget the look of the Egyptian gentleman’s eyes as he told the barmaid what he had encountered, it was as if she stated that the gentleman had come face to face with a number of Lydfords tormented souls.