Next to Chester-Le-Street is Lumley Castle. Once owned by Sir Ralph Lumley, he
lived there with his wife Lily during the 14th Century. The Lumley’s were
followers of John Wycliffe, the church reformer, and one night when Sir Ralph
was away from the castle two priests came calling. Their intention was to lure
Lily back to the Catholic fold but she resisted, so in order to “save her soul”
the priests killed her and threw her body down the castle well. Realising that
they would now be in a lot of trouble, they made a plan. In a neighbouring
village they found a very ill young woman, and took her to a nearby convent.
When the woman subsequently died, the priests told Sir Ralph that the woman was
Lily, and that she had left him to become a nun. Sir Ralph seems to have
believed this without any question. What is not known is how the crime actually
came to light, or what happened to the so-called priests. Lily’s ghost is now
said to float up from the well where her body was thrown, to haunt the castle.
As the castle is now a luxury hotel, many guests claim to have seen her spirit.
