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London is a contender for one of the spookier cities in Europe, with such a gruesome history. As we get in the spirit of the spooky season, we wanted to explore some of the best ghost stories in the city.
The Langham hotel in Marylebone, at a glance is certainly one of the more luxurious hotels with a guest list including the likes of Diana, Princess of Wales, Oscar Wilde and Charles de Gaulle. The Langham is complete with Lavish Suites, a state-of-the-art spa with a swimming pool and dining experiences including Afternoon tea, Tavern style restaurant and Cocktail Bars.
Reportedly, the hotel also includes some long-term residents with Room 333 being the centre of much of the action, we are getting some serious American Horror Story: Hotel vibes.
- A doctor frequents Room 333, who killed his wife during their honeymoon and the committed suicide. The most famous sighting of this man, in Victorian dress, is James Alexander Gordon, a BBC news announcer in 1973.
- Another celebrity spook, Emperor Napoleon III, considered the last monarch of France, lived out his final days in exile in the Langham. He tends to enjoy the basement.
- The most sighted is a German Prince, also in room 333, wearing military attire, who committed suicide by jumping out of a fourth floor window. He has been seen walking through doors at night, and he even once shook the bed so hard, the guests left in the middle of the night.
- The other residents include, a Butler with a gaping would in his face, a fluorescent ball of light that takes the form of a person and a footman in holey socks.
Would you dare stay in Room 333? I’m not so sure.
Featuring the most notable of ghostly visits has got to be the Tower of London, hardly surprising given the gruesome stories surrounding it. In reality the tower was the stronghold for prisoners of noble blood or high ranking, and many spent there imprisonment in luxury.
- Anne Boleyn is one of the more famous and frequent ghosts to be spotted, usually on Tower Green, the place she was executed. The creepiest story happened in the 19th century, when a soldier staying within the tower say a light coming from the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula. He climbed up to the window to peer inside and witnessed a procession of knights and ladies being led by Anne Boleyn’s headless body. Anne has quite the social calendar and has also been reported as haunting Hever Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Salle Church and many more.
- Another Queen to walk the Tower is Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen. She has been spotted multiple times, usually on or the anniversary of her death, as a shimmering, white, misty figure strolling along the Tower Green and Battlements.
- The princes in the tower, that big unexplained mystery, the 12-year-old Edward V and his brother Richard were sent to the tower by their uncle, later Richard III. Richard declared the children illegitimate and took the throne for himself and the boys were never seen again. According to a beefeater who lives in the Tower, his grandchildren were visiting and playing on the green for the evening. They were called back inside, the children turned back and waved back towards the green. When asked who they were waving at they said ‘The two boys over there, we made some new friends’ and off they went.
To name all the ghosts who have made an appearance with the Tower of London walls, would have us here all day. Alongside all of the royals, traitors and faceless spirits, they also have the ghost of a bear who sometimes appears outside the Jewel Room, I guess the crown jewels may be protected in more ways then we know.
Would you brave the tower?
Greenwich Foot Tunnel
The Greenwich foot tunnel has been a public walkway running 370 metres long under the River Thames for over a century. Witnesses have reported seeing a couple in Victorian clothes, holding hands and taking a stroll through the tunnel, before disappearing into thin air.
Alongside the ghostly sightings, people have reported uneasy feelings, temperature drops and hearing footsteps.
Is it haunted or is it just a creepy old tunnel, full of cracked tiles, a leaky ceiling, dim lights and the River Thames running overhead?
The year was 1665, the plague was terrorising the city, with up to 7000 people in London dying a week. The plague pits were dug for the bodies of the dead or sometimes even the unconscious found their way in. The pits were then covered over, and the next pit dug out.
The pits lie below the London Tombs, while above it sits London Bridge, where a few centuries ago it would have been decorated with head of traitors on pike.
It’s a lot to unpick, so unsurprisingly one for the ghostly activities. When the London Tombs experience was being built, many builders refused to work in the tombs due to the strange noises, voices, and shadows. I assume it didn’t help that they were finding skulls everywhere they dug.
They have a ghost named Emily, who is often mistaken for one of the actors stalking the tombs, although when the guests try to interact with her she ignores them, sparking a few complaints.
Spitalfields
A few of Jack the Rippers victims have been known to visit the Spitalfields area.
The busiest of which being Annie Chapman, she was seen multiple times walking down a passageway towards the alley she was murdered with a man and she has also been seen standing on the spot she died.
Usually, you will find her in the Ten Bells pub, previously named ‘The Jack the Ripper’, the landlord said that Annie, had possessed the building. People have also reported seeing ghosts in the walls including an elderly man and the previous landlord, alongside poltergeist activities such as tables flying across the room and chairs moving.
The pub also had links to another Ripper victim, Mary Kelley, who used to conduct business in the area, living nearby. She was seen for months in the area, most notably the day following her death, many people reported having seen her and having had a conversation with her.
In nearby Mitre Square, it is said that Catherine Eddowes, could be seen lying on the corner she passed away in September, and on the date of her death the sport would glow red. This area has been redeveloped in the last few years and the cobblestones removed, since she has not yet made an appearance.
I don’t believe there is a theatre in the west end, that doesn’t have special visitors. So much so there is even a musical about the beloved Phantoms. The most infamous of them all must be the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, with frequent cameo performances from many of its past stars.
- Dressed in a Victorian travelling cape, the ‘Man in Grey’, who the cast and crew all hope to see grace the rehearsals patrolling the upper circle, as it is a good omen in the theatre that the show will be successful. When the theatre was being renovated, a skeleton of a man wearing grey clothes was found bricked up in a wall.
- Joe Grimaldi was an Actor and Dancer, performing in various shows in the 1880’s, until he became ill. After Grimaldi passed away, he has since become a mainstay in the theatre. The staff have reported seeing him watching performances and actors say he helps them give a good performance.
- Then there is Dan Leno, who performed in many a pantomime in his day. He visits from time to time, causing trouble with antics such as pushing actors from the stage, he seems to be the Peeves of the theatre world.
- Actor, Charles Macklin who accidently killed another member of his cast in a fight over a wig for a play, has been seen roaming the auditorium from time to time.
London Underground
The London Underground is home to countless ghosts, I’m sure if the walls could talk the stories, they would be able to tell.
- Tragedy struck at Bethnal Green during World War 2, when many of the tube stations were used as shelters. During one air raid, the people of London were in such a panic to get to safety there became a crush, causing 173 people to be trampled in the chaos. It is said that there screams can still be heard today.
- Covent Garden plays host to an actor, William Terriss, murdered at the Adelphi theatre. Terriss is also know to make appearances at the Lyceum theatre and a local bakery, being mistaken for a member of the public.
- Bank station had a bomb dropped on it during an air raid in the blitz, killing 50 people, whose cries are still reportedly heard to this day. Although, I do wonder if that is just people trying to find the northern line.
- The Kennington Loop, is a tunnel the trains follow when the Northern line terminates and needs to turn around. Some drivers refuse to drive the loop, due the ghost of a London Underground worker who was electrocuted on the tracks slamming all the doors throughout the tube on the journey.
With Halloween upon us, there are plenty of spooky activities to get your toes curling. Check out some of our favourites.
