Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, UK, is said to be the UK’s most haunted castle and unsurprisingly, the castle is home to dark dungeons and ghoulish torture chambers. This ancient fortress dates back to 1246, when the Earl Gray lords built this remarkable building and where Earl Gray ancestors have resided for centuries.

The castle is currently the home of Sir Humphry Wakefield Bt., His wife, H.E. Lady Wakefield and her family. The family claims that it is the most haunted castle due to the many ghosts that frequently haunt their home.

The most notable ghostly apparition is the ‘blue boy’ (or ‘radiant boy’) who is said to haunt the castle’s Pink Room. Many guests, while occupying the room, have heard terrifying wailing that will soon be followed by a halo of blue light appearing above their bed.

Although that particular unease ended when a gruesome discovery during renovation work revealed the bones of a boy and a man that had been bricked up inside a wall. No one was ever intended to hear his pitiful cries for help, as the wall was 10 feet thick.

This was not the end of the Chillingham Castle apparitions. The owners have also witnessed a much more sinister energy roaming the halls … the terrifying specter of the once evil torturer: John Sage.

JOHN SAGE – A GHOST FROM EVIL PAST

When night falls around Chillingham Castle, one of the most feared sounds heard at times is that of ‘something’ slowly dragging its foot as it wanders through the corridors. It is believed to be the spirit of the former lieutenant, John Sage, who earned the nickname ‘dragfoot’, when in life, his leg was wounded by a spear during his final battle in the ongoing wars with his Scottish neighbors.

After his injury, he was desperate for a job and was proud that castle owner Edward Longshanks (1200 AD) gave him the title of Chillingham Castle torturer. Sage was a monster of a man and his hideous job would give him immense satisfaction for the next 3 years, where he would continue to torture at least 50 of his Scottish enemies per week.

Sage would be delighted when the Scots were captured and thrown into the castle dungeons. These poor souls wish they had perished on the battlefield, as Sage was famous for carrying out the most horrible tortures in history. A torture device came to be known as one of the most feared … ‘the cage’. This device would catch its victim and then be placed over a blazing fire, roasting the captive for hours, while Sage studied his enemy, writhing and screaming for death.

Sage’s insatiable thirst for torture would eventually lead to his downfall, when one day his lover Elizabeth Charlton visited him. During their sexual relationship, Sage decided to place Elizabeth in one of his other torture devices: ‘the colt’. Sage then began strangling her during the height of his sexual pleasure, but he went too far and accidentally killed her.

Elizabeth’s father (a Border Reiver, clan leader and outlaw), upon learning of his daughter’s death, warned Longshanks, now almost penniless, that if he did not kill Sage he would join an allied attack with the Scots. against the Castle.

Longshanks’ dwindling resources due to the war and the fact that the Border Reivers were a powerful force gave him no choice but to kill Sage. He was hanged on the castle grounds on ‘Devil’s Mile’ (also known as Devil’s Walk) before a crowd of mocking onlookers.

While Sage’s body was still twisting with life, the crowd gathered around him, slicing off pieces of his body, including his nose, toes, and testicles. Quite a ‘cutting’ fate, some may say, for one whose greatest ecstasy was the vision of an ungodly end.

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