7 of Shropshire's spookiest places with reports of child ghost and screaming woman

Boasting a rich history, picturesque landscapes and a host of charming villages, beneath the scenic beauty of Shropshire is a tapestry of eerie tales and haunted locations that are sure to send shivers down your spine this spooky season.

From ancient castles and a abandoned prison to a canal bridge haunted by a monkey man, Shropshire is home to some of the spookiest places in the UK.

So we've compiled a creepy collection of some of our favourites for you to visit - if you dare.

Whittington Castle

A favourite amongst local paranormal specialists, TV ghost hunter Sean Reynolds claimed that the 13th-century castle near Oswestry is one of the most "active castles in the UK for paranormal activity".

As well as playing host to Yvette Fielding and the Most Haunted Team, the castle still regularly hosts paranormal groups, with the castle available to book for evening adventures.

Sightings at the castle include a hooded figure under the castle gateway and a phantom blacksmith in his leather apron.

But the scariest of the legends tell the tale of two children, who disappeared from the castle one day never to be seen again.

Some years later, it was reported that a chest was uncovered in a barely used room. Inside, the skeletons of two young boys were found.

It is thought that the boys had become trapped playing hide and seek and suffocated.

Visitors have reported seeing two tiny ghostly faces peering through windows and hearing the echoes of their cries for help.

Battlefield, Shrewsbury

Out past Tesco Extra and The Range, lies the site of one of the bloodiest battles on British soil.

An estimated 5,000 casualties lost their lives in the battle between Lancastrian King Henry IV and the rebel army led by Henry 'Harry Hotspur' Percy from Northumberland.

The first battle in which English archers fought each other on English soil, reaffirmed the effectiveness of the longbow.

The battle opened with a massive archery barrage. With Percy's Cheshire bowman proving generally superior, Thomas Walsingham recorded that the King's men "fell like leaves in Autumn".

Shropshire folklore expert Amy Boucher said eerie sightings were quickly being reported: "Many found themselves in a mass grave, not too far from the scene. And, a mere two years after the battle, the dead were seen again."

Battlefield Church is said to have been built over the site of the mass burial pit - although archaeological investigations have been inconclusive about that particular rumour.

"There are a number of accounts of ghostly sightings, of ethereal groups of men, women and children moving across the battlefield, only to disappear into the mists," Amy added.

"Perhaps this is an example of collective memory or manifestations of collective trauma from such a monumental event.

"However, there have also been modern day sightings of similar entities, as well as solitary apparitions still wandering that bloodstained battlefield, suggesting that though we cannot know everything about the battle, the land remembers."

Ludlow Castle