Crichton Castle

Crichton Castle rises from the gentle hills of Midlothian, its massive ruins displaying an architectural evolution from medieval fortress to Renaissance palace. The castle’s most distinctive feature is its Italian-style façade, added by Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, in the late 16th century after his travels to Italy. But it is this same earl—known to history as “the wicked Earl of Bothwell”—whose dark reputation and alleged practice of witchcraft created the paranormal legacy that haunts Crichton to this day. The castle’s ghosts include phantom horsemen, the earl himself, and the victims of the violence and dark rituals that allegedly took place within its walls.

Francis Stewart, Earl of Bothwell, was a dangerous and controversial figure in the court of James VI. He was accused of witchcraft, conspiring with witches to raise storms against the king’s ship, and practicing dark magic within Crichton Castle. In 1591, during the North Berwick witch trials, several accused witches testified that Bothwell had led them in devil worship and attempted regicide through supernatural means. Though he escaped serious punishment multiple times through audacity and rebellion, he was eventually forced into exile, dying in poverty in Italy. But before his downfall, Crichton Castle served as his base for political intrigue, possible occult practices, and the gathering of armed retainers who terrorized the surrounding countryside.

The most dramatic paranormal manifestation at Crichton is the phantom cavalry—a group of horsemen in late 16th-century armor and dress, riding at full gallop through the castle courtyard and across the surrounding fields. Witnesses describe hearing the thunder of hooves, the jingle of harnesses, and men shouting in Scots, followed by the sight of mounted soldiers appearing suddenly and then vanishing as they ride through walls or into mist. These phantom horsemen are believed to be Bothwell’s retainers, the armed men he used to raid rivals and defy royal authority, forever repeating their violent raids through the countryside.

The earl himself appears within the castle proper, particularly in the great hall and in the chambers beneath the Italian façade. He manifests as a tall, elegantly dressed man with a commanding presence and an aura of menace. Some witnesses describe feeling watched by malevolent eyes from empty windows, while others report encountering a dark figure in Renaissance-era clothing moving through the ruins with purpose and authority. The atmosphere in certain chambers becomes oppressively heavy, and some visitors experience sudden feelings of dread or paranoia, as if the earl’s dark practices left a psychic stain on the stones themselves.

The castle’s cellars and lower chambers, possibly sites of the alleged dark rituals, experience particularly intense paranormal activity. Temperature anomalies, shadow figures darting in peripheral vision, and the sensation of being touched by invisible hands have all been reported. Some visitors have described hearing chanting or whispering voices speaking in languages they don’t recognize. One investigator reported feeling “a presence of concentrated evil” in a lower chamber and refused to continue the investigation alone.

Additional phenomena include the smell of burning herbs or incense in areas where no fire has burned for centuries, phantom screams echoing through the ruins at night, and objects that appear to move by themselves. The castle’s chapel, though largely ruined, occasionally hosts the apparition of a priest or monk who appears to be performing exorcism rites, perhaps attempting even in death to cleanse the castle of Bothwell’s dark influence. Historic Environment Scotland, which manages the site, notes the castle’s haunted reputation while emphasizing its architectural significance. But for those who have experienced its paranormal activity, Crichton remains a place where Renaissance ambition, political treachery, and alleged witchcraft created a supernatural legacy that refuses to fade.