Say hello to Jedburgh Castle on the Scottish borders.

Although to call it a castle is a slight misnomer, it was when it was originally built by King David in the 12^th century, but it was destroyed in 1409 by Sir James Douglas of Balvenie after the Wars of Scottish Independence. The land was not redeveloped until 1820 when building work commenced on a new Jail for Jedburgh, this was to be modelled under the more reformed and sympathetic John Howard system. Designed by local architect Archibald Elliot it took three years to build and opened for “business” in 1823. It was formed into three blocks, being able to hold both male and female prisoners, debtors (albeit you men only) and younger offenders. The Jailors house was in the centre of the whole establishment. One of Howard’s biggest beliefs was the old penal system of everyone being thrown in together, was detrimental to their moral wellbeing and by separating into genders and also “types” of crime was intrinsic to their growth as individuals.

Over the next forty five years it was modified in 1847 and then closed as a prison in 1868.  There were surprisingly few executions there during its time as a custodial facility, only two from the period 1823 to 1868, but more of that shortly.  To understand why these places seem so dark, one has to be cognisant of the fact that prisons as punishment (let alone rehabilitation) were not yet widespread, the reformation of dealing with criminality being very new.  Prior to these changes, the whole function of a prison had been mere detainment of the offender until penalty was ready to be carried out. Whether the sentence was corporal punishment, transportation or death, prisoners would wait in their dingy cold cells to be called forth.

That’s not to say that execution was forgotten and being banged up would mean you escaped the noose, far from it, death penalties were still handed out.   The site of Jedburgh Castle Jail had been where the local gallows was erected in the time before it was a Prison.  Looking through the Encyclopedia of Scottish Executions by Alex F Young, the most common reason for hanging seemed to be theft of some description, whether that be horses, sheep or pure old robbery, there was only one murderer hanged there before it became a Jail.  Interestingly it was a woman named Margaret Minna, who met the hangman on 22^nd May 1753. Looking into her case the details are very scant, but it appears it was infanticide and in her court hearing she admitted to the murder and would not declare who the father was.

You may wonder why a prison that was built to such a high standard was abandoned less than fifty years from when it opened; this was due to many things but predominantly that there were more people being incarcerated and not enough room (or money) to extend some of the smaller facilities.  After the Prisons Act of 1877 where the whole system was nationalised, favour fell more onto super sized city facilities as opposed to slightly smaller local lock ups.

But what of the resident ghosts at Jedburgh? I am afraid I may be about to cast doubt on one of them. Many accounts of the prison (although I have not read a first hand one) mention a somewhat nasty former prisoner by the name of Edwin MacArthur/McArthur, who is believed to have been executed at the jail in 1855.  Being the intrepid researcher that I am I thought I would track this hanging down…but I could not, nothing in newspapers from the time, nothing on Scottish census or birth and death records of an Edwin McArthur (or any variation there of).  I even went through every single execution which took place in Scotland from 1801 to 1965, nothing.

So either this Edwin is a figment of someone’s imagination or he’s lying about his name…what do you think?

Book Your ghost Hunt to Jedburgh Castle Jail with Haunted Houses Events

Penny Griffiths – Morgan, is a paranormal researcher, investigator, historian, radio presenter, blog writer and author of several books on the paranormal. Follow Penny on her facebook group Haunted Histories

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In a small, but full of historical information, coastal town in  the top eastern corner of Essex, overlooking the estuary and facing the enormous Landguard Fort stands a small circular structure known as Harwich Redoubt.

If you can imagine an invading force in the 19^th century trying to find a way into England, the more vulnerable areas of Kent and Essex provided a comparatively easy route into the country. This Achilles heel, made my home county of Essex an incredibly important part of any military strategy.

Now, before we start, I am going to admit to a particular bugbear of mine relating to the redoubt at Harwich. Are you ready? Have you taken cover? Please please stop calling it Harwich Redoubt Fort…a redoubt is a type of fort, there is actually a place called The Redoubt Fort which is on the Isle of Wight, but you can call our small 250 man 1810 fortification simply Harwich Redoubt.

We ok? Good…

As we know, war with France never materialised and the fort at Harwich was taken off alert, that was until 1861 when concerns started to re-ignite, and the Palmerston forts were developed. Some names you may have heard of, Fort Horsted, Fort Borstal, Coalhouse Fort to name but three. It was during this time that Harwich had a facelift, being armed with more modern guns, but science and warfare marches on and within ten years, those weapons were now obsolete and rather than move them away, they were heaved over the wall into the dry moat beneath – where they were to lie until one was discovered in 1969.  What is interesting is that many people report a feeling of disorientation in this area (this writer included), and there is a strong belief that there is another huge gun still buried beneath.

Fast forward another twenty five years or so, and Harwich is once again in the thick of it, but this time fending off aerial bombardment from German airships, but the fort was also a prison for Conscientious Objectors.  There were two types of “conchies”, those who refused to fight but were happy to tend to the injured and undertake supporting roles in the field of battle, and then those who wanted no part of war in any shape or form, they were known as Absolutists.

The way these men were treated was nothing short of inhumane.  They would be herded into cells, twelve at a time, rations would be bread and water and if they refused to drill? Hours in irons as punishment. Many of them were shipped off to France – in chains if needed  – and if they refused to obey any orders given to them, they faced a court martial. Whilst there were many different methods of field punishments, a court martial could mean the ultimate penalty, being shot by a firing squad.

For hundreds of years – in 1543 Henry VIII had chosen Harwich as a royal port, in the 1600s hundreds of ships took refuge there due to fear of the privateers of Dunkirk and even the mooring of a knackered old frigate called HMS Winchester in 1745 to act as a floating battery should it be required – Harwich has been pivotal in the defence of the Island that so many of us call home.

Is it any wonder then that this stone built cylinder holds so many stories?  If you want to read more, grab a copy of my new book, A Haunted Experiment, as I cover Harwich Redoubt in a lot more depth.

If you are intered in visiting Harwich Fort Redoubt for an intriguing ghost hunt – Visit our dedicated page HERE

Penny Griffiths Morgan is the author of A Haunted Experiment and My Haunted Histories, she has co authored The Book of Parasearch and presents Haunted Histories

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For a place whose name roughly translates to “Dragons Mound”, it is perhaps not surprising that it has seen its fair share of weirdness and loss. Picture a place that is more akin to a labyrinth of confusing tunnels, strange looking rooms that could have been anything from a canteen, to an X ray room to an office belonging to middle management.

May I introduce to you Drakelow Tunnels near Kidderminster, one of possibly my favourite locations which I have ever visited.

If you would like to read more about my experiences in this underground complex, then please get hold of a copy of my book, My Haunted History, available HERE, but for this piece, I will be focusing on the background and why this huge construction came to be.

Back in November of 1940, England was in the midst of heavy bombing attacks from the Germans and one of these campaigns had decimated the city of Coventry and the Government realised that with so many of their factories in one place, this could really hinder production of aircraft parts and other vital components to the war effort.  To counter this, they proposed shadow factories that would run alongside their larger counterparts and be ready to be powered into action if a bomb was to render the main building inoperable.

Sadly Drakelow never saw fulfilment of its destiny as a manufacturer for Rover aircraft engine parts as the construction was beset with problems. The most traumatic of these incidents was when a roof collapsed in late October 1941, killing three of the workers.

3 killed in tunnel roof collapse A MARRIED man with 14 x children, believed to come from Wolverhampton, and who only started work with the firm to-day, is one of three feared killed when the rock roof of a tunnel on a factory estate near Kidderminster collapsed to-day. Several other men working in the tunnel were injured and taken to hospital.

Evening Dispatch 1^st November 1941

These were not the only deaths to happen in the 3 and half miles of tunnels sadly, although none were as a result of enemy shelling and whilst the factory was still used for the manufacture of engines for the Bristol Aeroplane Company  and then following the end of the Second World War, to produce engines for tanks rather than aircraft, its days in industry were numbered.

After its use as a factory was to become redundant, it was re purposed as a nuclear bunker and shared its Regional Headquarters duties for the Midlands with nearby Swynnerton, a former WW2 Royal Ordnance Filling Factory. If history is your thing, there are a few incredibly informative books which explain many of the nuclear installations dotted around the UK, their different uses and purpose in the event of the button being pressed. The plan for sites like Drakelow (and Kelvedon Hatch in Essex for example) was as regional headquarters, authorisation from London would be automatically granted to local government, each ensconced in their bunkers, accompanied by some military protection and representatives from all the different arms of society needed for the smooth running of a country the Post Office, Oil, Gas and the suchlike.

Us mere mortals would be left to survive on the outside. and listen to their broadcasts giving instructions as to how exactly to do that and keep morale up.

If this blog which merely touches on the events that the stone of Drakelow has seen is enough to entice you to want to visit, would it interest you even further to know that there are still parts of the structure which are bricked up and even the volunteers are reluctant to break into…..

You can catch Penny every week on Parasearch Radio podcast with her show “Haunted Histories”

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