Lumley Castle
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Lumley Castle is a 14th century quadrangular castle at Chester-le-Street in the North of England, near to the city of Durham and a property of the Earl of Scarbrough. It is a Grade I listed building.[1]
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[edit] History
It is named for its original creator, Sir Ralph Lumley, who converted his family manor house into a castle in 1389 after returning from wars in Scotland. However, after being implicated in a plot to overthrow Henry IV he was imprisoned and ultimately executed, forfeiting his lands to the Earl of Somerset. In 1421 the ownership of the Castle reverted to Sir Ralph Lumley's grandson, Thomas.
By the nineteenth century, the castle had become the residence of the Bishop of Durham, after Bishop Van Mildert gave his residence of Durham Castle to the newly founded University of Durham.
[edit] Lumley Run
Later, the castle became a hall of residence for University College, Durham. Castlemen, as the students of University College, Durham were known, spent their first year at Lumley Castle and subsequent years in the Castle at Durham. Undergraduates housed at Lumley Castle had an eight mile journey to reach the University each morning, and more relevant to this discussion, there was the eight miles back in the evening. At the time there were twenty-three pubs along the route, passing among some coal mines of which there is no trace whatsoever today, and the villages that adjoined them. It became a matter of "honour" for some to consume a pint of beer at each of these establishments. So came into being the legendary Lumley Run. In those days almost nobody had a car. You could walk, you could run, or you could ride the bus, but to complete the "run" you had to drink. Needless to say, it was very rare that the Lumley Run was successfully completed by anyone. Most students were able to complete a "half Lumley" which was more realistic.
The “Lumley Run” was inaugurated in 1956/7 by David Wilkinson, a classics scholar from Bradford Grammar School, and Terence Maddern, a geography student from Greenford Grammar School in Middlesex. The run was started at exactly seven o’clock in the evening in the Black Horse public house in Chester-le-Street with a pint of beer and was continued, using the local buses, into Durham City getting off to drink a half pint in each pub along the route. There was, of course, an umpire to ensure that all the requisite glasses of beer were fully consumed. The location of the pubs meant that sometimes two or three could be visited in one stop before re-boarding the next bus to continue along the route. It was as much a feat of logistics as drinking to ensure that the time taken to drink the beer matched the bus timetable. From the outskirts of Durham City, one continued on foot via the remaining pubs along the main street to the Castle side of Framwellgate Bridge and thence up the steep path alongside the River Wear to Palace Green where one finished the Run in the University College Bar with a final pint before the Cathedral clock struck ten, which was the bar closing time. Dave Wilkinson and Terry Maddern successfully completed the Run at the first attempt and also did it later in the opposite direction. They came up with a tie with a motif of interlinked tankards with crenellated tops to represent both the head on the beer and the Lumley Castle to Durham Castle nature of the feat. The Run was subsequently completed by several fellow Castlemen in one direction or the other.
[edit] Hauntings
As with any historic location, Lumley Castle has its resident ghost. Lady Lily Lumley, the wife of Sir Ralph is said to walk the corridors of her former home where she was murdered by local priests and her body dumped in the well, which you can still see today.
In 2005, the touring Australian cricket team was said to have been haunted during their stay at Lumley Castle. Shane Watson got so spooked that he slept on the floor of teammate Brett Lee's room. Even the Australia media officer Belinda Dennett said: "Several of the players were uneasy although a lot of them in the morning said they were fine."
Australia are not the only cricket team to be spooked by the spectre. In 2000, three members of the West Indian cricket team, including captain Jimmy Adams, checked out of the same hotel because they were scared. These days the medieval atmosphere is enhanced by the staff dressing in period costume.
[edit] Today
In 1976, management of the castle was handed over to No Ordinary Hotels (although the property is still in the possession of Lord Scarbrough), who had the castle turned into the 59-bedroomed hotel it is today. It is also a picturesque backdrop for Durham County Cricket Club's Riverside Ground, which was first used in 1995.
