Guest Author - Karyn Johnson

No trip to England would be complete without at least one visit to a castle. Each one has a story to tell of such things as intrigues, love affairs, murders and battles. I know I associate castles with medieval history, picturing knights in chain mail carrying tokens from their ladies fair. There is a certain romanticism and mystique associated with castles, which is why we still find them so captivating.

There is one English castle in particular that I got well acquainted with, having spent the night there on a ghost hunt (link to that article is below). Warwick Castle is not only, apparently, full of ghosts, but it has a lot of fascinating history.

Warwick Castle prides itself on being "Britain's Greatest Mediaeval Experience," and visitors today can participate in many events that give them a taste of an earlier time. And in the case of Warwick Castle, it is a time that spans over one thousand years.

A lot can happen in a thousand years. But what particularly captured my interest was the gruesome dungeon, a place where we spent a lot of time during the ghost hunt. It is, understandably, a creepy place. The only light in the room comes from a small shaft high up on the wall, and a small window behind an iron grill where the guards would observe the prisoners. The only sanitation was an open drain in the middle of the floor. But worst of all was the oubliette, marked by a small trapdoor in the floor that led to a smaller chamber, a space only large enough for a prisoner to lie down and face death by starvation.

The dungeon was built in the 14th century, as part of the Caesar's Tower. During the Hundred Years War, in 1356, several French soldiers were held for ransom in the dank dungeon. They were among the first prisoners. The dungeon primarily saw the presence of Englishmen and Royalists who were captured during the Civil War in the mid-17th century. During this time, a Royalist held in the dungeon scratched a message on the wall, which can still be seen today.

For a brief time in 1469, King Edward IV was imprisoned by Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, during the War of the Roses. He is the most prominent prisoner at Warwick.

While unpleasant, the dungeon wasn't the worst place that a prisoner could go. Those who were designated for further torture left the dungeon and went to the torture chamber to experience such horrors as the rack, the boot, thumb screws and chain hangings.

So while there are knights, and fair maidens, and battles, and murders, there is plenty of history in the castle dungeon too, and Warwick Castle's is among the most notorious. If you ever find yourself in Warwick, it's definitely worth checking out.

For information about my ghost hunt at Warwick Castle, click here.