Blog

• History

The Murder Act of 1751

3rd Apr 2025

The Bloody Code and the Butcher’s Knife: How 18th Century Justice Turned Murderers into Medical Specimens

Record-setting Ghost Fest draws Spooktacular crowds to Oxford

4th Dec 2024

We have enjoyed one of our biggest spooky seasons on record with sell-out experiences and even an unexpected appearance from one of our ghostly residents.

• History

Three months when Oxford Castle became home to the real-life Rhaenyra Targaryen

11th Jun 2024

An historian says she’s certain that Empress Matilda, an English princess of the Middle Ages, was the inspiration behind George R. R. Martin’s Rhaenyra Targaryen – and she lived in the modern day Oxford Castle & Prison.

• History

Ducking: A Witch’s Punishment from Days of Old…

12th Mar 2024

Former Castle & Prison Guide Becca Colmer investigates the unpleasant history of the ducking stool.

• History

Hangman’s Hill and the Hangmen who Hanged Here

11th Mar 2024

For almost 1000 years, our Castle mound has loomed over the Oxford skyline, a monument to our Norman roots. However, the castle mound has another name; Hangman’s Hill, a much more disturbing label….