The ghostly figure of a woman who leaped to her death from the tower of a Shropshire castle is featured in a major new study of paranormal sightings in the UK released today.

According to folklore, Marion de la Bruyere’s ghostly figure still creeps through the medieval ruins of Ludlow Castle and the claim is part of a host of unexplained phenomena revealed in the 25-year study.

There have also been reports of screams being heard – almost 900 years after the suicide.

Legend suggests that, in the 1100s, Marion had a secret suitor called Arnold de Lys who got into the castle by a rope that Marion lowered over the battlements.

One night he betrayed her by leaving the rope available to his soldiers who entered the castle secretly and began murdering the inhabitants.

Realising how badly she was betrayed, Marion leapt out of bed, grabbed her treacherous lover’s sword and killed him with it.

Screams

Then she leapt to her death from the top of the Pendover Tower, where her ghost is reportedly seen and her screams are heard.

Stories vary somewhat regarding the ghost itself. Some say it is this death dive that her ghost re-enacts, and you can hear her scream as she falls to the rocks below.

Others say she used to be seen wandering around the base of the tower itself.

The ruin sits on a rocky outcrop overlooking the River Teme, consisting of a rectangular outer bailey.

The new study, by paranormal researcher Lionel Fanthorpe, 74, from Cardiff, provides a breakdown of Britain’s spookiest places and focuses upon unexplained incidents reported to the police and leading paranormal organisations since the 1980s.

UFOs have been the most widely reported cases of paranormal activity with 109 reports across the UK.

Second most reported are general phantoms, which are also defined as ghosts or apparitions, with 50 reports including seven ghosts of policemen, a phantom monk, as well as a number of ghostly human shapes and medieval figures.

A total of 21 werewolf sightings have also been made.

Mr Fanthorpe said: “The highest form of investigation was never to regard something as so firmly proved that we don’t need to look at it again neither should we laugh out of court anything that seems so ridiculous that it isn’t worth investigating.”

SPOOKINESS SEEN MOST OFTEN

1. UFOs
2. General phantoms (also defined as ghosts or apparitions)
3. Werewolf sightings, with the Cannock Chase werewolf in Staffordshire being the most renowned
4. Road phantoms
5. Strange sounds
6. Crop circles
7. Poltergeists
8. Big cats

By Sophie Bignall