The story begins with Myles Philipson, a Justice of the Peace in sixteenth-century Cumbria, who coveted the farmstead of Kraster Cook and his wife Dorothy. Unable to persuade the Cooks to sell, Philipson invited them to Christmas dinner, had a silver cup concealed in their belongings, and then arranged for soldiers to search their home and 'discover' the stolen article. As Philipson was also the judge in the ensuing trial, conviction was certain. Dorothy Cook delivered a curse from the scaffold, swearing that the Philipson family would never prosper, that she and her husband would never leave the hall, and that two screaming skulls would haunt the house until the family was gone.
The story
The morning after the execution, two skulls were found in a niche on the staircase at Calgarth Hall. Every attempt to remove them failed: they were thrown into Windermere, burned, powdered and interred, limed and scattered, yet they reappeared each time on the staircase, accompanied by unearthly screaming. The Philipson family's fortunes duly declined — they sold the estate and the last of the line died in 1705 — and tradition holds that the skulls were never seen again once the family was gone.
The tale is distinct from the better-known Screaming Skull of Bettiscombe in Dorset: it has its own full narrative of injustice, curse, and fulfilment rooted in the Lake District. The legend was widely recorded by the mid-eighteenth century, and later attracted the attention of several Cumbrian folklore collectors. Historical scrutiny has not identified a Myles Philipson as Calgarth's owner in the relevant period, suggesting the narrative may have accreted around the site over time — a pattern typical of English haunted-house legend. Historic England lists Calgarth Hall as a scheduled monument.