Poppy Girl Said to Haunt Newcastle Keep as Castle Readies Halloween Ghost Tours

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND — Newcastle Castle, operated by The Heart of the City Partnership, will open its Keep after hours on 29, 30 and 31 October 2026 for Halloween Ghost Tours, according to an interview published by Spooky Isles. Sessions are advertised at 5pm and 6pm, each giving visitors an hour inside.

Becca Whittaker, the Castle's programming and partnerships manager, told the publication that the best-known tale is that of the Poppy Girl, a nameless spectre said to be a young flower-seller who worked the Castle Garth when the Keep served as a prison amid crowded slum housing.

Accounts differ as to her offence, Ms. Whittaker said. Some say a bee in one of her flowers stung an alderman; more prosaic versions hold that she was accused of pickpocketing. All agree, by her telling, that she died in the gaol. Her spirit is said to have been heard, seen and smelled by people staying overnight, with an earthy scent of poppies reported to announce her.

Ms. Whittaker also recounted a recent episode in the Black Gate. A staff member locking up found the Visitor Welcome dark and, she said, saw a small figure by the gift shop corner that appeared to be a young Victorian boy. The employee returned to colleagues pale, announcing that she had just seen a ghost.

The interview turns as well to history. Ms. Whittaker described the Newcastle Witch Trials of 1649 and 1650, in which twenty-seven people were accused and fifteen, fourteen women and one man, were hanged on the Town Moor. Jane Martin, she said, was held at the Castle. The tours, she added, aim to remember such forgotten lives. The Keep has steep stairs, and visitors are advised to contact the Castle about access before booking.