Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Specific Location: City of Westminster

Apparitions / Hauntings

Dr Donne, Drury Lane (Early 17th Century)

Dr John Donne (Born 1573 – Died 1631) was a Dean of St Paul’s and a poet, who had a strange experience which could be considered a crisis apparition. The following account of this experience was published in ‘The Haunted Homes and Family Traditions of Great Britain’ (1897) by John Ingram.

Hauntings

Baker Street Underground Station

The Baker Street Underground station was opened on 10 January 1863. In the North bound tunnel between the Baker Street and St John’s Wood underground stations, there is talk of a ghostly workman who had died there. Early this century one of the undergrounds track walkers is said to have reported hearing footsteps coming toward him whilst he was sat having a break.

Apparitions / Hauntings

Apsley House

The Grade I listed Apsley House or Number One, London, is the former home of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (Born 1 May 1769 – Died 14 September 1852) and is now a museum managed by English Heritage.

Hauntings / Poltergiests

9 Earl Street, Westminster (1825)

In his book ‘Poltergeist Over England: Three Centuries of Mischievous Ghosts’, Harry Price refers to a case at 9 Earl Street, Westminster where the ringing of the bells in the house was ‘so loud and persistent that it sent one of the maidservants into convulsions!’  But was this a poltergeist?

Apparitions / Hauntings

James Street, Covent Garden

In 1696 the antiquarian John Aubrey (12 March 1626 – 7 June 1697) published his Miscellanies which included the following account of an apparition being seen in a house on James Street, Covent Garden.

Apparitions / Hauntings / Poltergiests

50 Berkeley Square

During the Victorian era 50 Berkeley Square was popularly believed to be the most haunted building in London. Now occupied by the famous antiquarian book dealers, Maggs Bros, there is no evidence that haunting like experiences persist but the case of the haunting of 50 Berkeley Square, which has probably developed into a kind of urban legend has become infamous.

Apparitions / Hauntings / Sarah Siddons / Usual Suspects

27 Upper Baker Street

The famous 18th century actress Sarah Siddons (born 5 July 1755) bought 27 Upper Baker Street in 1817 and it was here that she died on 8 June 1831. Because of its connections with Sarah, in 1876 the house became the first building to receive a nationally recognised memorial plaque for a woman.