exploretheborders.com

Your guide to the brilliant borderlands

  • Welcome
  • Home
  • Towns
    • Hawick
    • Jedburgh
    • Selkirk
  • Active Borders
  • Historic Borders
  • Homes & Gardens
  • Coast & Countryside
  • Trips and Trails

Jim Clark Museum in the Scottish Borders

Friends of Monteath Mausoleum turn back time

Lock of Napoleon’s hair rediscovered at Abbotsford

Salmon fishing in the Scottish Borders

Ghostly goings-on at Jedburgh Castle Jail

July 7, 2020 By David Pike Leave a Comment

Ghostly goings-on at Jedburgh Castle Jail – Built on the site of a royal castle, Jedburgh Castle Jail has some fascinating tales to tell.

It was there that King Malcolm IV died in 1165 and the scene of the marriage of King Alexander III (1241-1286) to Yolande, daughter of the Duke of Dreux in France.

Legend has it that the ceremony was marred by the appearance of a ghostly apparition foretelling Alexander’s death. Within a year the prediction had come true when Alexander was killed after his horse fell from a cliff in Fife.

The castle’s strategic position made it a target for invading English armies during the Wars of Independence and it regularly changes hands. Edward 1 – the Hammer of the Scots – is thought to have visited Jedburgh at least once.

It was demolished in 1409 and became the site for the town’s gallows until in 1820 work started on building a model prison following the principles of penal reformer John Howard.

A walk round the Castle Jail gives visitors a taste of what life was like as a prisoner together with displays of the history of the town and travelling exhibitions.

Castle Jail fact file
* Closed in 1868, it was restored and opened to the public as a museum almost a century later

* The Jail is said to be haunted by the ghost of violent inmate Edwin McArthur, a prisoner who was executed there in 1855. 

* Visitors can view three prison blocks, as well as the jailer’s house and exercise yard but the most spooky area is said to be the infamous Cell 18 where only the bravest will venture alone.

* A media frenzy erupted there in 2005 when a paranormal investigation team said they’d experienced poltergeist activity first-hand.

Since then Jedburgh Castle Jail has become a magnet for ghost hunters and mediums and the subject of regular requests for overnight visits.

Living TV’s Most Haunted team, led by presenter Yvette Fielding found plenty to interest them at the jail.

A number of unexplained phenomena were recorded; including stone throwing, heavy breathing and furniture that mysteriously moved around the cells.  Some of the film crew reported that the cells and the top floor of the jail were some of the scariest places they’d visited for a long time.

It was on the top floor that the team’s camera equipment shut down of its own accord and would not start working again – in almost exactly the same spot that one of the team’s researchers had paid an earlier visit to the jail and his camera failed too. A restless spirit or just coincidence?

The jail’s curator, Shona Sinclair, said: “We were pleased to welcome the Most Haunted team to the Jail. They were very professional and respectful of the fact that the building is an important historic monument as well as a site of possible paranormal activity. In recent years, there has been growing interest in the more gruesome aspects of the site’s history.”   

Filed Under: Historic Borders, Jedburgh Tagged With: Jedburgh, Jedburgh Castle Jail, Living TV Most Haunted, Scottish Borders

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

two × 1 =

Welcome to the brilliant borderlands

Welcome to the brilliant borderlands – Before it was finally anchored on the English side of the border with Scotland, Berwick-upon-Tweed changed hands no less than 13 times. Some 530 or so years later, the good folk of Berwick still lean to the north – by a margin of 60-40% – if local polls are […]

Havens of stone in the Scottish Borders

Havens of stone in the Scottish Borders – The number of stone keeps and peel towers scattered across the Borders landscape are testament to the turbulent times that ebbed and flowed through the region for hundreds of years. One of the best preserved is Smailholm Tower in the Scottish Borders, a defiant landmark built on […]

Step into borders history

Step into borders history – If you enjoy history and exploring times gone by you will love the Borders. Northumberland and the Scottish Borders was the most fought over land in Britain as the crossed swords marking local battlefields on maps of the region will show. From the earliest times, when Agricola marched his Roman […]

Wallace stands tall in the Scottish Borders.

Wallace stands tall in the Scottish Borders – There may be as much Hollywood as there is historical fact in Mel Gibson’s ‘Braveheart’ but it does nothing to diminish the stature of Scotland’s national hero, Sir William Wallace. To the English he was an outlaw and murderer while in Scotland he is credited with laying […]

Borderlines

Scottish Borders on track for new opportunities

Scottish Borders on track for new opportunities – The Campaign for Borders Rail has received a top level boost following a meeting with Scotland Office minister, Iain Stewart MP. He confirmed the UK Government’s support for the project and gave a commitment to drive the plans forward with his ministerial colleagues. It was revealed that […]

Scottish Borders push for a national park

Scottish Borders push for a national park – A Borders National Park could provide an important post-Covid boost for the Scottish Borders region. The campaign to create seven national parks across Scotland – including one in the Borders – is expected to take on a new urgency now that a return to normality is in […]

Recent Posts

  • Jim Clark Museum in the Scottish Borders
  • A five star cast for the Tweed Valley Hotel
  • Friends of Monteath Mausoleum turn back time
  • Sir Walter Scott’s historic home re-opens
  • Salmon fishing in the Scottish Borders
  • Pirn House a welcome stop for first class food
  • Welcome to the brilliant borderlands
  • Havens of stone in the Scottish Borders
  • Step into borders history
  • Wallace stands tall in the Scottish Borders.
  • Melrose – A small town with a big history
  • The Tweed – recreation, romance and history

Copyright © 2021 · Explore The Borders - Privacy Policy