Ghosts of England - Greater London and London (6 of 6)

Geographical location of the Greater London region (Source - modified file)

Around a few years ago, we went on a family holiday and with friends to London where the adults enjoyed the mornings going sightseeing while they sent the children to English classes... what a plan, right? At that time, I was fourteen or fifteen years old. They had rented three apartments in the same building in Paddington and we were split up. Since we got the small straw of the trip, at least we were allowed to choose our room first since some of my friends and cousins wanted to be all together. Well, it turns out we had to choose the worst of all: things seemed to move places, we heard a lot of noises, and on top of that, there was a sensor in the little patio which you could see from the living room and it went off all the time, even though no one had gone out or come in. The nights were horrendous, now I can laugh about it (I can't believe they let us choose that place to stay), but I highly doubt I'll ever go back there one day.

I'm telling you this because I still remember the sensation I got when I was there as if it were yesterday, however, I'm really intrigued about things which have no scientific explanation (except the things which you don't need to study hard to know that it's from a fraud or a story obviously). And I'm telling you about this last experience because we are (and we were aware) that some of the adults were the ones moving things around to have fun at our expense. But it wasn't possible that they did it to certain objects that we left in a specific place, without them being there, and after they appeared in another place. I can assure you that there was "something" which made us feel incredibly uneasy.

The stairs going up to our haunted apartment

Mattresses in the living room so we could all sleep together as we refused to sleep in the rooms

I think that that's where my interest in "inexplicable mysteries" began. Apart from "homemade" paranormal activity, I really like reading on the subject related to occult science, and I love horror tours too. Sometimes I find some to go on in different city because, on top of everything you learn, you have a great time.

About five years ago, we did a "Mystery Tour of London" which fascinated me. Maybe that was a big factor which sparked my interest in mysterious places, and in particular, in the legends of the United Kingdom. Since that trip, I started watching programmes, series and documentaries about England to delve deeper into its history. And the thing is that I would never go to certain places alone, but there are things which make me want to go and find out more. Unfortunately, the tours don't last as long as I would like when you're having fun, so I continued my own investigation and due to previous trips, I put together my own tour of gruesome London, which events and legends that really took place in spooky London in the fog.

I would like to recommend a few places, although I know that when I start to remember them, it's going to be difficult to stop, but I won't give too much information either because I think that will make you want to go and find out more about these places for yourself.

Important places in gloomy London

If you don't know, Hampton Court Palace, where Henry VIII and his numerous wives lived, in particular two of them, is now a place where lots of paranormal activity is detected. If you dare walk around and see the rooms which were silent witnesses to complete abuse of power of the king of England (and Ireland), you only have to take the train to London Waterloo and go to Hampton Court Station. For no more than 18 pounds, which is how much it costs to go inside, perhaps you'll be surprised by the unexpected and you'll understand why a few years ago, Queen Elizabeth II called a group of paranormal activity experts to find out what was going on in that place. People say that the spirits of Catherine Howard (Henry VIII's fifth wife) and Jane Seymour(his third wife) who died there whilst giving birth to their son Edward, still haven't found their way and they continue to wander around in the palace.

What would you say about the skulls decorating the arch at the entrance of St Olave's church, Hart Street? No wonder why Charles Dickens refers to this church in one of his pieces as St. Ghastly Grim. This is at number 2 Hart Street (underground statiion: Tower Hill).

Have you heard about Hardy's Tree before? And St. Pancras Old Church? The church is on Pancras Road (underground station: Kings Cross - Saint Pancras). It's really small and simple but don't miss this out on visiting it: its main corridor is made up of a row of tomb stones, literally. Just a fun fact, the entrance and graveyard were used by the Beatles during one of their photo shoots. On the other hand, the cemetery is home to an ash tree surrounded by gravestones themselves. Thomas Hardy set it up, to use the gravestones which were taken out so they could dig up the remains of bodies to send them to other cemeteries to give them more space to construct a new train line. An interesting fact is that in this cemetery lies the famous tomb of the Soanes, designed by John Soane, and it became an inspiration to the architect Gilbert Scott to design the iconic red telephone box (also known as K2).

Hardy's Tree (Source)

186 Fleet Street has been converted into an excursion because that's where the criminal barber Sweeney Todd once lived, although nowadays they still doubt whether this cruel murderer even existed.

Although almost everyone visits the popular Highgate cemetery, there are at least another two cemeteries which are really worth visiting, one is West Brompton (underground station: Fulham Broadway) which even has a catacomb (a guided tour costs 5 pounds) and another cemetery West Norwood (train station: West Norwood). You can visit the latter and go on a guided tour on the first Sunday of every month and there are also catacombs. In both cemeteries, there have been sightings of ghosts, shadows... call it whatever you like.

It's also interesting to visit the park (Postman's Park) which currently takes up the space of the old Greyfriars cemetery and the monastery: Elizabeth of France (sometimes known as the she-wolf of France) and other monarchs, Henry VIII's predecessors, are also buried under the ground and somewhere here lies the heart of Eleanor of Provence. Something to note, in the park there's also a memorial with names on blue tiles commemorating heroes who lost their lives to save others. (This memorial appears in the American film: Closer, maybe you've seen it).

Don't forget to go by the Criminal Court (or Old Bailey), where the terrible and scary Newgate Prison existed. Also go to The Viaduct Tavern, where in their basement there are the only cells which are left from the old prison. Very near, you can see the only wall which is left from Newgate Prison, right in Amen Corner. People say that this area is possessed by the spirit of one of the inmates, reincarnated into a black dog now, who was eaten by other people as an act of cannibalism.

Go to Lincoln´s Inn Fields, witness to horrible and bloody public executions, it's almost obligatory. Find a plaque which indicates the place where politician Lord Russel was decapitated. The poor man would have received various blows of the axe by the useless executioner Jack Ketch, he has a bad reputation for that. And, if you're around that area, don't forget to go inside the Sir John Soane Museum: it's free and it's home to a surprising collection of objects. In addition, it had some work done to it only a few years ago and most workers say that they had some disturbing experiences listening to steps behind them and even whispering without anyone being around them.

It's also vital to visit the ancient Saint Bartholomew Hospital, which is a museum today. Near the homonyms church, legend has it that the spirit of a monk appears on 1st July at 7 in the morning. There's another church, St' Bride, near the one where Henry VI was murdered, and according to some, his ghost appears every year on the anniversary of his death at the Wakefield Tower. Luckily, we only get to see it once a year, like the spirit of Margaret Pole. Come to think about it, I don't know how the Beefeaters at the Tower of London must feel, spending so long in the grounds and thinking about the probability of finding one of the worst ghosts: Anne Boleyn, moving around guarding her head in her arms from other spirits. They must receive a bonus in case of any "possible shock".

The last thing I want to say about London, in front of the Saint Bartholomew hospital there was a pub called The Fortune of War where centuries ago lots of bodies were piled up, bodies collected by the surgeons at the Saint Bartholomew Hospital. You can imagine why and how. But we're not going to go into the history of a pub which is no longer there, so let's go for some pints in some of the most haunted pubs in London, or some of the best pubs with some sort of mystery behind them.

Pubs you must go to in London

Approximate location of the following pubs using Google maps

The Hung, Drawn & Quartered (1), on Great Tower Street (underground station: Monument or Bank). At the entrance to the pub, it's clear to see that if you're rude, you'll be hung, drawn and quartered, there are a lot of imagines which relate to the history of the area and a memorial to remember all the victims from the executions which took place in the Tower of London (the majority of decapitations, except from those which had a higher penalty for treason against the king, were what gave the pub its name).

The Ten Bells (2), situated on Commercial Street (underground station: Aldgate East). The corner in front of the pub is directly related to the victims and prostitutes of Jack the Ripper. In addition, the body of the last woman who was murdered was found outside the pub. But, as well as this, the ghost of Annie Chapman another of Jack's victims, is said to move the pint glasses from one side to another. There are witnesses from people affirming the existence of other spirits, which backs up the legend of it being haunted. For example, they describe a man who, according to investigators, was murdered with an axe in the Swansea Cinema.

The Hand and Shears (3), on Middle Street (underground station: Barbican Station). It's easy to find, it takes up a large corner. Perhaps this pub is the last stop and the farewell pint of those who are going to be executed in Newgate. There are people who say that they have seen the ghost of a man, with different wounds to the head, wandering around the place. Also, it seems that the spirit wears a red scarf around his neck, so he won't go unnoticed if you see him when you go.

Rising Sun (4), on Cloth Fair (underground station: Barbican). People say that this pub was one of the favourites amongst "hitmen". First, they forced their prisoners to drink beer to then be able to kill them without them putting up a fight. Some of the waitresses who lived in the flat above, say they felt as if someone was pulling their duvet off in the middle of the night and many of their customers have said to have felt something strange there.

The Grenadier (7), on Wilton Road (underground station: Hyde Park Corner). Gossips say that this is the most haunted pub in London. It seems that most paranormal activity takes place in September. You hear moaning, footsteps and you see shadows fading in the doorway of the pub. It's a place which has become very famous due to the amount of Hollywood actors who go there to feed the legend. There's a story that a British soldier was caught whilst cheating in a card game and his colleagues took his life. But, did they put an end to his debt too? Things which sometimes happen in September or October: the pub continues to collect money, which they store in the roof, so that the debt of soldier Cedric can be cleared and his ghost can be freed and he can wander round free of debt.

John Snow (8), on Cannon Street (underground station: Piccadilly Circus). Apart from the popular Night Guard and current King of the North in the popular series Game of Thrones, there's another John Snow who was a doctor and he discovered the origin of the cholera epidemic which affected London centuries ago. It seems that there was an old cesspit which had filtered residual water to a well not far away; just in front of this pub, there used to be a water pump in memory of this doctor, near the same place where there was once the water which caused so many deaths (although they had taken it away because they were doing road works, I don't know if they've put it back). Legend has it that the figure of a man (which could most likely be the ghost of someone who died from cholera) sometimes appears in the corner of the pub (and they say he gives the customers and evil look!).

Replica of the water pump on Cannon Street (Source)

Morpeth Arms (9), on Millbank (underground station: Vauxhall and Pimlico). In the basement, there's a walkway which is home to mysterious cells and it connected to the old Millbank prison. In the tunnels, one of the prisoners tried to escape and he died right there. You can't visit the basement, that's where they store all the beer barrels, but the owners have set up a live camera which records those tunnels for the whole day and their customers can keep a close watch. They don't accept complaints if someone you can't see wants to grab your pint, that's what one of the waiters told us crying with laugher.

Hoop and Toy (10), on Thurloe Place (underground station: South Kensington). This is the oldest pub in the area. They say that in the wine cellar there are spirits of the bodies buried underneath the pub, dragging themselves from one side to another trying to find the road to peace.

The Volunteer (11), on Baker Street (underground station: Marylebone or Baker Street). This pub is built where a huge mansion used to be, which belonged to the powerful family Neville; this house set on fire in the 17th century and the only thing which was left in the ashes was the basement which is now actually part of the pub. The whole family burnt to death, but some people say that the spirit of Rupert Neville never left his home and, sometimes, you can hear his footsteps.

Old Queen´s Head (12), on Essex Road (underground station: Angel). On the first Sunday of the month, the figure of a woman in Tudor style clothes appears in some of the corners of the pub and then quickly disappears. Also, some customers have heard footsteps behind them without there actually being anyone around.

The World´s End (13), on Camden High Street (underground station: Camden Town). It was a place for travellers to go. The basement was used as a torture room many years ago. You could often hear screams coming from the underground, as if they tortured their victims slowly and cruelly. Here, when there's time, the waiters are very eager to tell their customers lots of stories.

The Flask (14), on Highgate West Hill (underground station: Highgate), near the terrific Highgate cemetery, in the north of Camden Town. Well, there's a story that centuries ago, a Spanish waitress fell in love with the innkeeper, but since he didn't feel the same, she hanged herself. They say that when her spirit wanders around the place, you feel cold all of a sudden and the lights flicker. Also, some customers have felt a cold air on their necks.

The Old Bull and Bush (16), on North End Day (underground station: Golders Green). This pub was reformed at the end of the last century and after having found a skeleton and surgery material which was quite old in the walls of the basement, the owners thought that they had finally woken up from their nightmare. But no, you could still hear bangs, and the silhouette of a woman which they believe could have been one of the victims of Jack the Ripper, seems to be lurking around the place (despite having given the skeleton a grave).

My list was going to end with thirteen names of pubs, but I couldn't leave it like that, no way... luckily, I remembered one more, for the Spaniards:

The Spaniard´s Inn (15), situated in Hampstead Heath, really near Highgate, on Spaniard's Road (underground station: Hampstead). The pub was owned by two Spanish brothers, in the 18th century: Juan and Francisco Porero. They fought over a woman and Juan lost. His remains were buried in the proximity of la Posada but his ghost still wanders around the pub. That's Spanish passion! Oh and, if you hear a neigh nearby and there's no horse around, don't worry: it's the spirit of Dick Turpin, the highwayman's horse. . Image of Spaniard´s Inn on the right (Source).

Now, just to finish off with, I have just thought of two of the most popular pubs in London which, although it's only for how old they are, they have still won a place in my ranking: the labyrinth Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (5), on Fleet Street (underground station: Blackfriars), and The Albert (6), on Victoria Street (underground station: St Jame's Park). If they didn't exist, they would have had to start digging to lay the foundations and, if they didn't have lots of history behind them, they would have to think about inventing something and relating it with possible ghosts dressed up in Victorian clothes, including famous writers, philosophers and other personalities from those times. For the time being, there's no legend which supports my ideas that these places must be haunted but it's never too late for a spirit to appear.

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