1 Nov 2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/valeriedenny/2015/10/31/the-most-haunted-places-in-london/
The Most Haunted Places In London
I cover the London luxury market through an American lens.
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Looking for a few genuine thrills on Halloween? In a city that’s nearly 2000 years old, there’s more than a few treacherous tales and ghastly apparitions reported to be haunting various pubs, castles and inns to give you your fill. Here are a few of the most notorious.
10 Bells Pub in London (credit: Bob Walker/Flickr)
1. Ten Bells Pub
Previously named after Jack the Ripper, this East End pub is said to be haunted by one of his victims, Annie Chapman, who was murdered and mutilated in 1888 by Jack and was said to have had a drink at the pub right before her murder. Staff have reported Poltergeist activity and inexplicable gusts of wind.
2. 50 Berkley Square
This tony Mayfair townhouse in one of London’s poshest neighborhoods was built in the 1700s and by the 1900s was declared “The Most Haunted House in London” by Peter Underwood in his book Haunted London. The attic is rumored to be haunted by the spirit of a young woman who committed suicide in the house and whose spirit takes the form of brown mist and is capable of frightening people to death. Two people died shortly after staying in the attic bedroom. In 1879, a local newspaper reported a maid stayed in the room overnight and died the next day after being committed to an asylum. In 1887, two sailors on the HMS Penelope spent the night in the house and one died as he tripped running away from the house. The house now functions as the headquarters for Maggs Bros. bookseller.
3. The Spaniards Inn
This quaint oak-panelled pub is located on the edge of Hampstead Heath and it’s lovely garden and cozy fireplaces contrast with its grisly past. The Spaniard Inn was founded by Francesco and Juan Porero who duelled each other over a woman. Juan was killed in the duel and buried in the garden. His ghost is said to haunt the inn. And his ghost is not alone. The pub’s regulars included Dickens, Keats and Dick Turpin, the Highwayman, whose ghost is said to haunt the road outside the pub and one of his victims is said to haunt the pub garden. Bram Stoker used a ghost story about the pub for the plot of “Dracula”.
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