Corby Castle - Cumbria
The 'Radiant Boy' of Corby Castle is probably the best known ghost of any Castle in the north-west of England. It is not fully known who the boy might have been, but this luminous apparition which does not appear often, generally takes the form of a beautiful looking boy clothed in white with shining golden hair.
Corby Castle stands on the banks of the River Eden in Cumbria and it incorporates a 14th century pele-tower.
It has long been a family seat of the Howard family. The room in which this particular ghost generally appears is known as the 'ghost room' and it can only be reached by a passageway. Its walls are eight to 10 feet thick and they are generally covered with tapestries and family portraits and strange carved wooden figures adorn the furniture. All of this contributes to giving the room a very gloomy and threatening atmosphere which makes people wary of sleeping in there.
“Soon after we went to bed, we fell asleep; it might be between one and two in the morning when I awoke. I observed that the fire was totally extinguished; but, although that was the case, and we had no light, I saw a glimmer in the centre of the room, which suddenly increased to a bright flame. I looked out, apprehending that something had caught fire, when, to my amazement, I beheld a beautiful boy, clothed in white, with bright locks resembling gold, standing by my bedside, in which position he remained some minutes, fixing his eyes upon me with a mild and benevolent expression. He then glided gently towards the side of the chimney, where it is obvious there is no possible egress, and entirely disappeared. I found myself again in total darkness, and all remained quiet until the usual hour of rising. I declare this to be a true account of what I saw at Corby Castle, upon my word as a clergyman.”
Apparently, the Rector and his wife left the Castle soon after breakfast the next day and never returned.
Tradition holds that whoever beholds the ghost of the 'Radiant Boy' will find great fame and fortune but will then suffer a violent death. This fate was not suffered by the Rector however who died peacefully in his bed - although this could be due to not being a member of the Howard family!