Welcome to Groton

It was mid-July when my friend Michaela texted about visiting Massachusetts. My roommates and I would take turns hosting her. Michaela had told us she wanted to see where we went to high school, and the town we all spent time in.

“What’s interesting about Groton?” I asked confusedly. “What would we even do?”

“Maybe we could hike up to the castle,” my roommate Abigail suggested.

Bancroft Castle is a structure that was built on top of Gibbet Hill, which faces our high school in Groton, MA. Many students have often made the trek to the top. The estate was built by a general as a retirement home for him and his wife, but he ran out of money and never finished. It was later converted into a hospital for tuberculosis patients.

Abigail had instructed me to park at the high school. I pulled into my old spot in the “senior” parking lot on Saturday morning. Michaela, Abigail, and our other roommate Richnie had texted saying they were going to be late, so I had to hang out for a few minutes.

“I hope I don’t see anyone I know,” I thought to myself. Luckily, my friends arrived a few moments later.

It was a swelteringly hot day in Groton. I wiped away sweat that was already forming at my brow. When we got to the base of Gibbet Hill, memories flashed through my mind. I took out my phone and began recording a Snapchat.

“Remember doing wind sprints up this hill?” I said to the camera, speaking to my friend Travis.

“It was both of your faults for running cross-country,” Abigail laughed as she jumped in the frame of the video. I chuckled, before hitting send and putting my phone away.

“Are we there yet?” Richnie asked, batting a fly away from her face.

The sun beat down on the four of us as we climbed the dirt path that lead to the castle.

I could hear Michaela’s gasp as the structure came into view.

“This is so cool!” She exclaimed.

The stone tower rose up two stories, but it was only a skeleton of gothic stone. The inside was entirely empty, save for a partially built fireplace. It l because you could see exactly where they stopped building. The remnants of the castle have certainly stood the test of time, making it something of a hidden jewel in the little town of Groton, MA.