The ghost of Doctor Michael Hudson haunts Woodcroft Castle, which was built in the small town of Helpston, to the north east of Peterborough. It was besieged by Colonel Woodhead in 1648, after Dr Hudson had led many successful military sorties against The Roundheads, who were supporters of Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentary Party during the English Civil War (1642 to 1649.)
The Doctor, surrounded on all sides by the charging troops, fled to the roof of the castle. With nowhere left to run, he stepped too close to the edge and fell from the top, just managing to hang on to the ramparts with his fingertips. One of the approaching Roundheads sliced through his fingers with a sword, and he fell to the ground. Terribly wounded from this fall, he was captured, tortured and killed where he lay. His ghost still appears where he died, and is accompanied by the sound of the clashing of steel and his cries for mercy. |
