Elizabeth Castle sits on a rocky tidal island off St Helier, cut off twice a day by the sea. Work began in 1594 under the Flemish engineer Paul Ivy, and Sir Walter Raleigh, as governor, named it after the queen. It held out for the Royalists in the Civil War until Parliamentary bombardment forced its surrender, housed French prisoners during the Seven Years War, and was heavily re-fortified by German forces during the Occupation. It is now a Jersey Heritage museum.
With that history it would be surprising if it did not have ghosts, and Rick Hale's article for Spooky Isles gathers several. The most specific concerns a young girl who was staying at the castle. Late one night a noise outside woke her, and when she looked out she saw a garrison of soldiers march into the castle grounds. As they came in they faded away.
The rest are more general. Guests and staff are said to have seen a wispy white figure in the corridors, sometimes appearing in the rooms of people staying there. A baby has been heard crying, and when people have gone to look for it there has been no child. Several rooms are said to carry a heavy sense of dread, as if something terrible happened there. Hale also tells of the ghost of St Helier himself, which is covered in the separate entry for the Hermitage.
None of this comes with a name or a year, and the story of the girl is introduced simply as castle lore. Hale refers throughout to guests staying at the castle, which suggests these stories come from its use for events and overnight stays. We record them as single, unverified reports, and would welcome anything firmer.
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