The Oxford Castle and prison site has always been associated with a number of ghost stories. Here are just a few:

**THE MURDERESS MARY BLANDY: This young Henley girl killed her father when he refused her permission to marry her soldier lover. She was tried and hanged at Oxford in 1752. Her ghost is said to haunt the scene of her death, walking the area of the Castle Mound with a number of other unidentified individuals.

**THE1970s SEANCE: A group of inmates are reported to have held a seance in a cell in the modern block, sparking an outbreak of poltergeist activity - a type of haunting in which objects are moved or thrown about by unseen forces - and a priest visiting to conduct an exorcism.

**THE FLYING MIST: The first recent incident Mike White has been able to trace involved two guards on duty one night when the prison was still in use. From their office they watched in horror as a white misty shape rose up a flight of steps towards them before fading away before their eyes.

**THE FILM SET HAUNTINGS: After the prison became a movie set, one young girl sorting props was startled to hear voices shouting from empty cells. On another occasion, a group of film extras heard unidentifiable shouts and screams echoing around the main buildings. On at least two occasions there has been unexplained physical damage to various items stored at the prison - technical equipment belonging to a film crew was tampered with and a notice board set up for a heritage weekend was completely destroyed. No-one was present in either case.

**THE MEN IN BLACK: Security guards have long been uneasy doing the rounds at night and their dogs growl for no discernible reason and are unwilling to pass certain areas. The most terrifying apparition was spotted by one guard and his dog on a nightly patrol. The first sign that anything amiss was when the dog stopped and growled as if in pain. Looking up, his master saw two black figures in front of him and was about to call out to them when they turned in his direction. They seemed to have no arms or legs and were floating in the air. As he watched, the figures faded away. The dog died a few days later.

**THE FLOATING BIN BAG: The most dramatic events in the prison have been reported by one of the cleaning team. The unidentified woman, known simply as L, and her colleagues have come into contact with a number of strange phenomena. In one instance they heard a voice screaming "Help, let me out!" echoing around the empty cells. Another time she watched as a perfectly ordinary bucket began to tip and spin around for no apparent reason. On fleeing outside she was astounded to see a bin bag lift itself into the air! The woman now refuses to enter the prison on her own under any circumstances.