You probably know that castles are usually found in Europe and in some parts of Asia like Japan and Korea, but have you ever heard of a castle in South East Asia, and of all places in Malaysia? What’s more, this particular castle has all the stereotypical trappings of old castles like secret passages and tunnels, and ghostly hauntings.
Located just outside of Ipoh town in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia lies Kellie’s Castle. Although its called a castle its actually more like a mansion, since it doesn’t have defensive walls and fortifications. It was also once used as a movie set for the 1999 movie “Anna and The King”. Its popularity grew after that movie came out, but back then it was a dilapidated ruin with overgrown grass. However, in recent years, the local government has decided to restore the castle and its surroundings for tourism.
If you are thinking of going to Kellie’s Castle you should try renting a car as it lies off the highway and is surrounded by palm plantations and jungle. Otherwise you probably have to rely on a Grab ride, that’s if they are willing to go out there to pick you.
The history of Kellie’s Castle is a sad one of unfulfilled dreams:
A Scottish guy named William Kellie-Smith came to Malaya in 1890 as a civil engineer. He worked for a survey company which had won concessions from the state government to clear 9,000 hectares of forest in Batu Gajah, Perak. Having made substantial profits from this venture, he used the money to buy 1,000 hectares of land, started a rubber plantation on it, and also invested in tin mining. After making his fortune, in 1903 he returned back to Scotland to see his dying mother. After her death, he returned to Malaya and met his future wife, Agnes, on board the ship. They fell in love almost immediately and were soon married. They had a daughter, Helen in 1904 and a son, Anthony in 1915.
William and Agnes lived on his estate in Batu Gajah in a wooden bungalow. A brick extension was added later and the ruins can be seen today. Being socialites, William wanted to build a castle to enhance his family’s status. He designed the castle to have Scottish, Moorish and Tamilvanan features which we can see today. It was to have a 6 story tower with an elevator (the first in Malaya), an indoor tennis court and a rooftop courtyard for entertaining guests. More than 70 craftsmen from India were brought over to work on the castle, including the bricks and marble for the castle.
Work on the castle started immediately after Anthony was born. But William ran into financial troubles soon after, as well as, a lot of bad luck. World War I broke out in 1914-1918 which blocked the flow of materials and money for construction. Soon after, the Spanish Flu pandemic struck Malaya and killed off almost all of his workers who were building the castle. His Indian workers asked him to build a temple to honor the deity Mariamman and stop the sickness, which William readily agreed. In gratitude the workers built a statue of a white man in colonial clothes on top of the temple to represent William. This is a rare honor since Indian temples only feature Hindu gods and deities on their walls and roofs.
By the time his son Anthony was old enough to go to boarding school, Agnes accompanied Anthony to England and stayed on to look after him. In 1928 William travelled back to England with Helen to visit Agnes and Anthony. On the way back to Malaya, he stopped in Lisbon, Portugal to collect the elevator that he had commissioned for the castle. However, while in Lisbon, William contracted pneumonia and died at the age of 56. Agnes was heartbroken and never went back to Malaya. She sold off her interest in the estate and castle to a British company, Harrisons & Crosfield. However, the company considered the castle a waste of money and never completed it. It was left to waste and reclaimed by the jungle. The wooden bungalow was destroyed by Japanese bombing during World War II and only the ruins of the brick house and uncompleted castle are left.
Agnes lived out her life in London in a well appointed apartment near Harrods. Her son, Anthony became a pilot but was killed in World War II. Anthony did have a son who carried on the family name. Surprisingly, there is no information on what happened to Helen.
Kellie’s Castle has long thought to be haunted with the ghost of Kellie himself rumored to haunt the second floor. But he died in Lisbon, so its a very long way for his ghost to come back to Malaysia. Anyway, hauntings and ghostly tales add to the mystery of the place.
There are many secret passages and tunnels in the castle. In many of the rooms you can see narrow doorways inside which lead to hidden stairwells, and these served as escape paths for guests. Remember the Indian temple that William helped build? There is a secret tunnel that runs from the castle to the temple 1.5km away. So far 2 secret tunnels have been found under the castle, and for some reason they are not opened to the public.
So would you like to visit this haunted castle in the middle of the Malaysian jungle? Who knows what secrets you might unearth here. If you do visit, I recommend that you do it in the morning. We arrived here at 11am and half an hour later tourists were arriving by the busloads. Instead of ghosts, we had an army of tourists climbing all over the castle. I read that they also conduct night tours and this might be best time to see the castle in all it’s spookiness.
Beyond the Little Red Dot 
Wow, definitely did not expect to see a castle like this in Malaysia!
Yup. It’s a lesser known attraction.
This is so surprising ~ and now makes me want to go visit 🙂 Great photos and introduction, I like the history and it is something special and different. Cheers to a great post.
Yes, this place certainly has an interesting past. It was a fascinating story for me while looking for information on it and making my visit even more relatable to its history.