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After 350 years, he's back! Last time William Cavendish, Earl of Newcastle, paid a visit to Bradford it was June 1643, the country was divided in a bitter Civil War and Bradford was under siege. The Earl, commander of the King's army andÌýhell-bent on victory, decided to spend the night with Royalist supporters in Bolling Hall. The fate of Bradford appeared to be sealed but by morning something seemed to have changed the Earl's mind? What was it? In 2007 we caught up with 'the Earl' at Bolling Hall to find out more.

The Bradford Boar!

He told us: "I'm here in Bolling Hall playing the Earl of Newcastle during the Civil War, a time when counties, and towns and even families were divided and torn apart, whether they supported the King or whether they supported Oliver Cromwell, but I'm supporting the Earl of Newcastle who was indeed the general of the royalist forces and therefore a King's man. A soldier, fearless, and yet in this very room it is said I was visited by a woman in white who asked me 'to pity poor Bradford'."

Actor Chris Cade, who has created plays for museums across the world, has once again taken up residence in the house as the Earl of Newcastle. Those lucky enough to be at the museum at the right time and manage to get in to see a performance met 'the Earl' (and, who knows, what else?) in the so-called Ghost Room.

Chris urged people to see the play if they wanted to discover why the Earl decided to spare Bradford: "You can find out why William was in a safe house and why he looked back on victories and defeats...Without giving away too much of the story I think what my character is trying to say to the people of Bradford is that the woman in white was needed as an explanation of his behaviour more than him actually experiencing the presence of the ghost."

But what isd it like to visit Bolling Hall as an actor? Chris said: "It's a great privilege to visit such wonderful places but to tie [the drama] down to one room where a supposed incident took place and to relive it is frightening, as well as it being a great responsibility to portray an important part of Bradford's history."

Meet the Earl!

In 2007 it was Bradford Museum's education officer Janet Davidson's to make history come to life at Bolling Hall. She told us stories like this still have a lot of meaning today: "One of the reasons why we decided to put on this play was that when children visit in school groups a lot of them will say, 'Granny told us there's a ghost at Bolling Hall.' I think people in the city do still talk about traditional stories like the siege of Bradford. I think it's part of the folk history of the city."

The 'Earl of Newcastle' will be telling the story from the 'Ghost' bedroom at Bolling Hall on Sunday 9th November, 16th November and 23th November at 1.30pm, 2.30pm and 3.30pm.