Malmaison Oxford

A thousand years of prisoners

Oxford Castle held prisoners for most of its 900-year history, first as a Norman fortress and later as the county gaol and HM Prison Oxford. Executions were carried out here for centuries. Ghost writers call it one of the most haunted places in the country, and the hotel's guests sleep in the old prison cells.

The shadow man of Room 212

In 2016 a guest staying for a TV project at the Ashmolean Museum, who says they had never believed in ghosts, posted a detailed account of two nights in Room 212. On the first night they were woken at around 3am by "the strong smell of urine" and saw a dark figure standing by the wardrobe, visible only "from the knee down", in woollen trousers and thick shoes. They described the presence as giving off "very evil" vibes. The smell vanished after ten minutes.

The next night, at the same time, the room suddenly became "extremely cold. Like ice", on a hot August night with no air conditioning, again for about ten minutes. The guest's key card was in the wall slot, and they were sure no one could have come in.

Late nights in the House of Correction

When the guest contacted the hotel, Malmaison replied that it had no other reports from that room. It added that in the House of Correction building, across the courtyard, "some of the staff have said they don't like being in the corridors late at night but not actually seen anything."

Empress Matilda

The castle's best-known ghost is said to be Empress Matilda. In 1142, besieged by King Stephen, she escaped across the frozen countryside dressed in white so she couldn't be seen against the snow. A figure in white has been reported many times on the castle stairs and in the grounds, and in 2024 a photo said to show a ghostly figure standing in the castle in broad daylight was widely shared.

Mary Blandy on the mound

In 1752 Mary Blandy was hanged at Oxford for poisoning her father with arsenic, a case that caused a sensation at the time. Her ghost is said to appear at several places, and at Oxford visitors describe a woman in 18th-century dress on the castle mound.

Monks and cells

Local ghost guides also tell of monks heard swearing in the castle, and visitors on night-time ghost hunts describe an oppressive atmosphere in the old prison buildings.

Oxford Castle was built in 1071, soon after the Norman Conquest, by Robert D'Oyly. Its great mound and St George's Tower still stand, along with a crypt beneath the castle. In 1142, during the civil war known as the Anarchy, Empress Matilda was besieged here by King Stephen and escaped in the snow.

From castle to gaol

As the castle lost its military role it became a prison. During the Civil War, when Oxford was King Charles I's capital, it held Parliamentarian prisoners in notoriously harsh conditions. A new county gaol was built on the site in the late 18th century and enlarged in the 19th, becoming HM Prison Oxford, which held prisoners until it closed in 1996.

Malmaison

The site was handed back to Oxfordshire County Council and redeveloped, and the Oxford Castle heritage quarter opened in 2006 with Malmaison inside the old prison. Its bedrooms are made from converted cells, most combining three cells into one room, and keep the original doors, brickwork and high windows. The medieval remains, including the mound, St George's Tower and the crypt, are Grade I listed and a Scheduled Monument.

• Ask for a cell room. Not every room is a converted cell, so request one when you book.
• Room 212, just off A Wing, is the room from the guest's ghost story.
• Oxford Castle & Prison, next door, runs guided tours of St George's Tower and the crypt, and occasional evening ghost tours.
• Climb the castle mound for views over Oxford, and for Mary Blandy.