The approach road is black shale and pot-holed – you instantly know this is not a prettified National Trust or English Heritage property. Parked at the end of the long drive is a green Austin bus dating from the 1950s – in dark green with gold lettering, it proudly displays the castle emblem. Inevitably it is a bat. Count Orlok would feel at home here but the castle is more Gormenghast than Transylvania. It is haunted by a variety of not entirely benign characters.
This is Border Reiver country, just fifteen miles south of Scotland, lands which have been fought over for hundreds of years. It is a classic Border stronghold which has been occupied for nearly a millennium. The castle was abandoned in the 1930s and Sir Humphry Wakefield has spent over forty years returning it to its former glories. The castle was the ancestral seat of the Gray family, the Earls of the Tankervilles; Sir Humphry is related by marriage.
The Castle guide is not the glossy over-priced brochure so beloved of the National Trust, but forty-two pages of closely printed text, over-flowing with the history of the Castle and stories about it’s occupants and their possessions, written by Sir Humphry. I have never been good at absorbing facts and figures but some things stand out because I can make a connection, usually automotive – not something to be expected from Chillingham. In the Plaque Room Library there is a portrait of Lord Wakefield of Hythe – Lord Mayor of London in his day, his armorial chairs are in the Great Hall and his medals in the showcase below him. He gave a solid gold coin, marked “Well Hit” to any gunner who shot down a German Zeppelin Balloon as they threatened to destroy London. Wakefield gave famous awards for speed trials, aviation and for the war effort as well as inventing Castrol Oil. He sponsored Campbell’s Bluebird land speed record clocking more than 300mph way back in the 1930s. I take delight in knowing that one of Sir Humphry’s predecessors was directly responsible for creating one of the best smells known to man – Castrol R.
A studied tour could take days – there are nineteen separate rooms open to the public, every one of them overflowing with possessions, accumulated from well-lived lives. Nothing is tied down and security is lax because you are watched over by the Spanish Witch in the Still Room – she casts her spell and curses those who steal from the Castle. Wandering the dimly lit corridors and spiral staircases, it feels like a film set. Not surprisingly it has been used for various minor TV series and the 1998 British biographical period drama, Elizabeth, directed by Shekhar Kapur and starring Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth I of England, with Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston and Joseph Fiennes. Some of the props remain – the chimney pieces in the Great Hall are made of that well known medieval material, fibreglass. Tap them and they ring hollow – they cover vast Baroque white marble carvings from the huge Wanstead House, a mighty palace built for the Child banking family by the French King, Louis Philippe. I do not think they are suited to the early look of the castle, but future owners may think differently. The chimney pieces from the film first appear in the video at 2 minutes, 35 seconds.
It is the perfect location for any number of horror films and it is perhaps surprising that Hammer Films never thought to call. The torture chamber contains all the necessary props – the iron rack, thumb screws, a wood-block scaffold, an iron maiden, the scold’s bridle, an impaler’s spike; the list goes on and on. It is fitting to end with more words from Sir Humphry – it is difficult to imagine a National Trust or English Heritage guide containing such observations: There are many ways to hurt. All of them so carefully considered by clever men today and yesterday, and constructed by skilled and educated craftsmen. Guantanamo Bay Prison, in Cuba, illustrates those skills currently in action and presents arguments for and against torture used to this day, maybe for the safety of mankind. Does the occasional saving of mass slaughter justify pain to a few with just some of them innocent? The respected Bayer Aspirin Company supplied gasses for the German Concentration Camps but now saves pain for us all. Civilised minds take such different views on all these things.
northumbrian : light 
I like the notion of the authenticity of this castle – the fact that it has not been Disney-fied. Your video is excellent, the photographic angles you’ve employed, the music, your editing. Thank you for sharing this post. Best, Babsje
Many thanks for your generous comments, very kind. Pleased you enjoyed it.
What a place! Thanks for the tour
A pleasure, glad you enjoyed it. Hope you are ok – I managed to catch Covid which laid me up for 4 weeks. Not to be recommended. All the best, R
Oh, bad luck. I would be knocked out, I am quite sure of that
National Trust it certainly is not! What an amazing place, and a great video. I certainly wouldn’t want to be locked in there overnight!
Me neither – there are overnight ghost tours but even in good company I wouldn’t fancy it. Some visitors were talking about spirits latching onto you – I am fairly sceptical but I won’t be testing my disbelief any time soon 😉
Same here!
A perfect post for the season. I prefer these kinds of unpolished places. I couldn’t watch much of the video because it made my head swim. Great to see a post from you again, Robin. Happy Halloween.
Thanks Julie, sorry to make you seasick – I can now justify a gimbal 😉 I thought you might have been here on your Scottish tour but maybe you were further west. It’s good to be back and firing on all cylinders again – not so much golf but plenty of energising miles on motorbikes. Happy Halloween too – where does the time go! All the best, R
That must be an amazing place.
It’s very special – we will return.
Really like the look of this place, really tempts me to visit. It seems so personal, and somehow idiosyncratic – great. Thanks for the video.
Thanks Cara – I highly recommend. We will be going back, there is so much, it deserves more than one visit.
I used to sell my Alphabet Cards to Chillingham Castle, but we have never visited. Will set this up for next spring, it looks so interesting.
Hi Cara – sorry for the late reply. I recommend a trip to Chillingham, I am sure you will love it.
All the best for Christmas and 2022.
Nice
Thanks
This was wonderful. I just completed a book on Thomas Gray of Heaton (father of the chronicler) and Chillingham makes a guest appearance. :-). I love your atmospheric video. Thank you for sharing.
Many thanks for the kind words and glad you enjoyed it. A remarkable castle, we will return later this year. The best of luck with your publication.