About a forty-minute drive north of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the county of Northumberland and on the south bank of the River Aln, is the market town of Alnwick. While it features a number of columns and towers, and a few museums and markets, the principal attraction to tourists is Alnwick Castle.
(It’s pronounced An-ick, in case you were wondering.)
You’re probably familiar with Alnwick Castle even if you aren’t consciously aware. Because of its grand and well-maintained appearance (unlike a lot of other castles that have fallen to the years) it is a popular filming location. The Black Adder, Elizabeth, and Downton Abbey have all filmed at Alnwick Castle.
Most people, however, probably know it from its role as Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films. The Outer Bailey is most recognizable from scenes such as the flying lesson and where Oliver Wood teaches Harry the basics of Quidditch.
That is but one reason people visit Alnwick Castle, but not for me. But there’s a second major reason, and that is the Alnwick Castle Garden – or to be more specific, the subsection known as The Poison Garden.
I first learned of the Poison Garden back in 2010, when I received a copy of The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood for review, which was based on a concept by Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, the creator of the modern-day Poison Garden at Alnwick itself. I was fascinated by the concept of a poison garden (not mention enjoyed the book) and so would love the chance to visit the poison garden at Alnwick one day.
A few years later I would learn the third reason I want to visit Alnwick, and the reason it’s on my Voyages with Vampires list.
Yes, Alnwick Castle has a vampire story.
William of Newburgh, a collector of stories regarding vampires, ghosts and other horrors of the night, wrote down the story told by “a very devout old priest of high authority and most honorable reputation”, of an awful man who had came to Alnwick from Yorkshire to stay with the lord of the castle. Despite his awfulness, he still somehow managed to find himself a wife.
When he heard rumours she was engaged in an affair, he took it upon himself to set a trap and catch her in the act. He pretended to be going away on a long journey, one of several days in length, then snuck back in to hide somewhere in the ceiling. When he saw his wife being “well-served by a lusty youth,” (direct quote!) he fell from his hiding spot in shock; the impact caused severe injuries that ultimately led to his death a few days later. I should note that his wife attempted to help him after he fell but his response was to rage at her and called her a whore. Then when the priest who related this story attempted to get him to repent his sins and receive the Blessed Sacrament, he put it off and put it off and then he was dead. So too late.
His wickedness continued after death. Despite his Christian burial, which was noted he did not deserve, he would rise from his tomb to wander the streets to attack the residents and piss off all the dogs, and causing the break out of a plague. After much consultation between the priest and other wise men of the area, a pair of brothers who had lost their father to the plague took matters into their own hands. Carrying sharp spades, they headed to the cemetery where the man-turned-monster was buried and exhumed the body. The face was flushed and the body engorged with the blood of the villagers he had drunk from; when they struck the body with the sharp edge of a spade the blood flowed freely.
The brothers dragged this creature (known as a sanguisuga) outside the town and burning it on a pyre. They informed the townsfolk who rushed to witness the destruction of the haunting thing. With that, the plague lifted, and the air cleansed, and the suffering of the town ended.
The account of the Alnwick vampire ends there, although some may note it shares elements with other tales of vampires. The creature was a wicked person who died unnaturally and didn’t receive salvation from the church. Their body, when exhumed, was in an unnaturally good state but filled with stolen blood.
Today Harry Potter, the Poison Garden, and other events at the castle overshadow the story of the Alnwick Vampire. But don’t let that keep you from joining the few visitors who dare to take an after dark tour around Halloween and experience history… or something darker.
Further reading
- Alnwick Castle official site
- The Secrets Of Alnwick Castle’s Haunting Past – AlnwickCastle.com
- Poison Garden – AlnwickGarden.com
- Summers, Montague. (2016) ‘The Vampire In England And Ireland, And Some Latin Lands’, in The Vampire in Europe. London: Routledge.
