HISTORIC HAUNTS

The centuries-old streets of London are full of ghost stories. We take a spine-tingling walk round some of the capital’s most haunted places

WORDS CHRIS FAUTLEY

Previous page, left to right: Kensington Palace; the auditorium at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane This image: Buckingham Palace, St James’ Park

When night fell in Whitechapel on Friday 31 August 1888 it must have felt like any other late summer’s evening. The first delicate nip of an early autumn may have been hanging in the air. But by its end, a positive chill had descended when the body of Mary Ann Nichols was discovered in Buck’s Row. The manner of her demise was meticulous and recognisable – she was an early victim of Jack the Ripper who added, with similar precision, four more women to his tally. (There was possibly a fifth.) At least one of his victims, perhaps others, patronised the Ten Bells pub in Commercial Street immediately prior to her death. And, just maybe, Jack stalked his victims there.

Today, Whitechapel has changed beyond recognition. Yet it is hard to wander its streets without sparing a thought for those who met such a violent end all those years ago. In ghostly terms, Jack’s victims generally keep a low profile – although ‘presences’ have been felt at the Ten Bells. Jack, meanwhile, is said to appear at midnight each New Year’s Eve on Westminster Bridge. Tradition says it was from here, on that date in 1888, that he threw himself to his death.

Other murder victims, however, have been less shy in manifesting themselves. In St James’ Park, The Headless Lady of the Lake has a history stretching back to the earliest years of the 19th century. She is reputedly the murdered – beheaded – wife of an 18th-century soldier. Clad in red, she is occasionally seen strolling along Birdcage Walk or emerging from the park’s lake.

The Tower of London is traditionally England’s most haunted building. Many have ended their days in this forboding fortress: the great, the good, and the not-sogood. Among them were Princes Richard and Edward, sent there in 1483 by their uncle, soon to become Richard III. It is believed he had them murdered here (hence the “Bloody Tower”), although their precise fate is unknown. Their spirits are occasionally seen, drifting aimlessly. Other royalty said to stalk the Tower include Lady Jane Grey and Anne Boleyn – both imprisoned here prior to execution.

Mayfair’s 50 Berkeley Square once laid claim to being London’s most haunted house. It dates from the 1740s and was originally a grand home. Ghostly goings-on commenced in Victorian times: tales of its haunted top-floor bedroom are legion. Some heard mysterious sounds; others saw a kilted girl. A maidservant reputedly went mad, having witnessed… well, nobody knows – she was never able to say.

Clockwise, from top left: The Ten Bells pub, famous for its connection to serial killer Jack the Ripper; the auditorium at The Royal Albert Hall; 50 Berkeley Square in Mayfair; The Bank of England on Threadneedle Street

This image: The Tower of London, England’s most haunted building

Inevitably, there were sceptics who were happy to use the room – including one who took a hand bell with him that he would ring, he said, in an emergency. He did just that. And was found dead. Two sailors who later broke into the then abandoned house were similarly confronted by something terrible that has variously described as a ghostly presence or an oleaginous shape. One ran screaming to summon help – and returned to find his friend skewered on the railings outside. These days, all is quiet at No 50; the spirit is, for now, at peace.

If all the world’s a stage, then it is hardly surprising that London’s theatres offer a fine variety of spectral

spectacles. The recently restored Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is said to be home to “the man in grey”. He would appear to have good reason to be there: when the theatre was being renovated in 1840, the skeleton of a man with a knife through In 1840, the skeleton of a man his ribs was found behind with a knife through his ribs was an old wall. The ghost (presumably his ghost) found behind an old wall generally appears in the circle – matinees apparently being much-favoured. He then disappears, slipping through the aforesaid wall. The Royal Albert Hall, meanwhile, is haunted by the ghost of Henry Willis, builder of its enormous organ. At 150 tons, with almost 10,000 pipes and requiring a steam engine to operate the bellows, it was the world’s

largest. Small wonder that he occasionally feels the need to return and see that all is well. Of slightly more dubious provenance are two ghostly ‘ladies of the night’ who are said to wander the building during November: it was reputedly built on the site of a brothel.

Kensington Palace, a tiara’s glint west, also has more than one supernatural resident, most famously the ghost of George II, who spent his final days there forlornly staring at the weathervane. “Why don’t they come?” he intoned, as he awaited messengers bearing news of his troops in the Seven Years’ War. His ghostly form is still seen here and there, repeating the same message.

There have also been multiple ghost sightings at the apartment where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge live with their three children; the nursery is said to be haunted by the ghost of a ‘wild boy’ named Peter, discovered naked and alone in a German forest in 1725 and brought to live as a ‘human pet’ for George I.

Additionally, the ghost of Princess Sophia – one of Queen Victoria’s aunts – is often seen sitting at her spinning wheel, something she regularly did during the many days she spent here.

London’s financial centre, the City, has a goodly share of ghosts too – not least at the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, the Bank of England. It is, nevertheless, another old lady who has returned to haunt it. During the early 19th century, her brother was executed for forgery. Unable to come to terms with both his guilt and his death, she regularly returned to the bank, asking after him. To this day, she is reportedly seen wandering the neighbourhood, still enquiring whether anybody has seen her brother.

This image: Postman’s Park near St Paul’s Cathedral

ALAN WILSON/ALAMY © PHOTOS:

Unsurprisingly, some ghosts have been pure fiction – the most famous hoax being the Cock Lane ghost in the City. In 1762, a girl living at No 33 claimed that knocking noises were coming from the premises. According to her father, they were surely from the ghost of his sister-in-law who had fallen victim to smallpox. Reputedly, he could even predict when next the noises might be heard.

No 33 soon became a great crowd-puller, the writers Samuel Johnson and Horace Walpole being among those drawn there. Curiously, though, the noises ceased whenever the young girl was not on the premises. And thus was exposed one of the greatest hoaxes of the age. For, although the noises were real enough, it was the girl who was making them.

Other places simply have a deathly feel about them. Close to St Paul’s Cathedral, Postman’s Park is particularly noted for the Victorian obsession with death. A memorial, in the form of ceramic tiles mounted in a public shelter, records the untimely, and occasionally grisly, demise of dozens of ordinary citizens who sacrificed their lives to save

others: “Walter Peart, driver, Harry Dean, fireman, of the Windsor express 18 July 1898. Whilst being scalded and burnt sacrificed their lives in saving the train.” There are no known ghosts here. But even in the warmth of a summer’s day, as the fountains dance in the sunlight and trees cast their dappled shade across the gardens, there is a marked chill in the air. Dyed-in-the-wool sceptics might prefer deathly encounters of a more tangible variety. London happily obliges, not least at the City church of St James Garlickhythe where a mummified body used to be on display. In recent years, however, “Jimmy Garlick” has been kept locked away – although several visitors have reportedly seen him in ghostly form. During the Second World War a 500lb bomb fell on the church, but failed to explode; it then had a serious encounter with death-watch beetles. And finally, in 1991, a crane toppled from an adjacent building site. FRIGHTFULLY GOOD TOURS Maybe such good fortune is due to divine intervention; An array of operators offer guided tours of haunted perhaps Jimmy is keeping London. Try London Walks (www.walks.com), London an eye on things too. Ghost Walks (www.london-ghost-tour.com) and the Jack the Ripper Tour (www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com). For more on historic London, see www.britain-magazine.com