Tulloch Castle is said to be one of Scotland’s most haunted hotels, with guests even taking to Tripadvisor to relay their spooky experiences after staying the night, says CHRISTINE MILLER
A Brief Introduction to Tulloch Castle
Tulloch Castle is a four star hotel in Dingwall, not far from Inverness in Scotland. Parts of the castle date back to the 12th century but it wasn’t until 1507 that the castle became known as Tulloch Castle.
Perhaps the hotel’s biggest USP has (besides its spooks!) is its vast variety of interesting features for visitors to behold – original ceilings and beautifully panelled rooms, as well as an impressive variety of original antique furniture.
The castle has its own cemetery where the one-time owners, the Davidson family, lie. Although now overgrown and surrounded by a large metal fence, it is still possible to gain a glimpse of some of the old, crumbling headstones.
There was even once an old tunnel that ran from the Tulloch to the village of Dingwall and further out still, to the site where Dingwall Castle itself used to sit. Although now inaccessible due to its collapse, part of the tunnel can be viewed through an air vent on Tulloch Castle’s grounds.
Although by all accounts a very cosy place to stay, the hotel boasts more than its fair share of unnerving paranormal activity, which we will learn about shortly…
A Tragic Accident Leads To a 250 Year Haunting
Probably the most famous owner of Tulloch (for reasons which will soon become clear), Duncan Davidson purchased the castle in 1762. One day he was accidentally found in a rather compromising position with one of the family maids by his shocked teenage daughter, Lady Elizabeth Davidson, in what is now room 10. The young Elizabeth, by now utterly panic-stricken, fled, but before she could reach her room – now room 15 – she tragically fell and broke her neck, dying instantly.
Her ghost is now known as The Green Lady, and it is she who is said to walk the creaking corridors of the hotel to this day: that is, if the numerous eyewitness accounts are to be believed.
There is said to be quite the number of ghosts at Tulloch, but the Green Lady is the most often seen and felt through the castle – so much so that the bar is named after her, and her portrait adorns the Great Hall, with many visitors noting how the portrait’s eyes eerily follow you around the large hall.
The other most notable spirit is that of a maid who has been witnessed in the Great Hall as well as the Pink Room – she frantically paces as if deeply troubled. Could this be the same woman who was caught having a dalliance with the master of the house?
More generally, people repeatedly report ice cold chills throughout the building. Balls of light, as well as loud crashing bangs accompanied by sudden and distinct temperature drops have been witnessed in many areas of the castle.
But there is one particular room at Tulloch Castle that has an abnormally large amount of paranormal activity…
Paranormal Night time Encounters at the Castle
Room 8 is by far the most supposedly paranormally active area in the hotel. One guest in the room reported that he awoke in the middle of the night, having a great deal of difficulty breathing. To his horror, he claimed two young girls were sitting on his chest in a deliberate attempt to curb his air supply. This coincides with a chilling account on Tripadvisor, where another male had an eerily similar account in the very same room.
In the Tripadvisor account, the gentleman staying in room 8 stated that despite the room being three stories up, there was a consistent knocking on the room window throughout their stay, and mentioned that, rather disturbingly, his cousin with whom he was sharing the room awoke with the intense feeling that something heavy and invisible was weighing on his chest.
Others on Tripadvisor have said that they have been aware of some form of entity moving throughout their room and resting themselves on the bottom of the bed, all in the middle of the night, when the poor unsuspecting guests were tucked up in the bed!
The Green Lady – Caught on Camera?
In 2012, a teenage boy captured on camera what he believes is the ghost of the Green Lady descending the staircase. You can check out the photo for yourself here.
Thanks to Paul Campbell for permission to use his photographs for this article.
Have you visited Tulloch Castle and had an experience that you cannot explain? Let us know in the comments section below.
