Mysterious Britain & Ireland

Monthly Archive: January 2010

Apparitions / Haunted Pubs / Hauntings

The Spaniards Inn

Dating from 1585 the Spaniards Inn on Spaniards Road is a listed building and was built to accompany a tollhouse on the boundary of the Bishop of London’s estate. It is said the father of famous highwayman Richard (Dick) Turpin (1705 – 7 April 1739) was landlord of The Spaniards Inn and that Dick spent much time here, probably watching the road for potential coaches to rob.

Apparitions / Hauntings / WWII Hauntings

RAF Scampton

RAF Scampton reopened in 1936 (originally having opened as Home Defence Flight Station Brattleby in 1916, renamed Scampton in 1917 and closed in 1919) and at the outbreak of World War II it was transferred to Bomber Commands No. 5 Group, being the base for 83 Squadron, 49 Squadron, 57 Squadron and 617 Squadron (the Dambusters).

Apparitions / Hauntings

Keats House

Keats House is a museum based in a building that was originally two semi detached houses known as ‘Wentworth Place’.

Apparitions / Haunted Pubs / Hauntings

The Thomas a Beckett Public House

The Thomas a Beckett Public House at 320 Old Kent Road is no longer open for business (now the Nolias Art Gallery) but the building still remains and it ihas  a rare and rich heritage, even without the ghosts.  Old Kent Road partially follows the route of what was Watling Street (the Roman road).  The pub got its name due to it being so close to what was St Thomas-a-W

Haunted Pubs / Hauntings

Lost Society Bar

Based in what was a sixteenth century barn, the Lost Society bar restaurant on Wandsworth Road is reputed to be haunted by a murdered flower seller named Rose Deveraux. The barn was once part of the Clapham Manor Estate and who’s main house was once the venue for a banquet in honour of Queen Elizabeth I.

Apparitions / Hauntings

British Museum Underground Railway Station

Opened on 30 July 1900, British Museum Station at Bury Place served the Central Line on London’s underground rail network. The station was closed on 25 September 1933 when platforms for the Central Line opened at the nearby Holborn Station.

Other Mysteries

British Museum and the Unlucky Mummy

Established in 1753 and opened to the public on 15 January 1759, the British Museum has over seven million artifacts mapping human history and culture from all around the globe, spanning from the earliest civilizations to present day. One of those artefacts though has become entwined with the story of a curse, which although being fictional does persist and continues to draw attention.

Apparitions / Civil War Hauntings / Hauntings

Red Lion Square

Laid out in 1698, Red Lion Square is on the boundary between Holborn and Bloomsbury and was named after the Red Lion Inn that used to be on the site. Red Lion Square is reputedly haunted by the regicides Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton.

Hauntings / Photographed Ghosts

St Botolph’s Church without Bishopgate

In 1982 Chris Brackley took a famous photograph whilst he was in St Botolph’s Church. The photograph was of the interior of the church, taking in the aisle, altar and main stain glass window. In the upper right hand side of picture there appears to be ghostly image of a figure dressed in period costume in the Choir Loft.

Apparitions / Hauntings

Aldgate Underground Railway Station

Aldgate Railway Station which serves the Circle Line and Metropolitan Line opened on 18 November 1876 and is said to have been built on a Plague Pit where hundreds of victims of the Bubonic Plague of 1665 were buried. Daniel Dafoe mentions this ‘terrible pit’ in the churchyard of the Parish of Aldgate in his ‘A Journal of the Plague Year’ published 1722*.