In Netflix’s new drama Lockwood & Co, London is overrun with ghosts, whereas in reality the capital is… also overrun with ghosts. Holiday-makers or day-trippers looking for that little frisson of fear can find haunting experiences on almost every street corner in London’s historic heart. While the twist in Lockwood is that only children can see the thousands of spirits causing the plot’s ectoplasmic epidemic – which is why Lockwood & Co is a ghosthunting agency run by three kids – in real-life London anyone can find a spooky spot if they know where to look. Dozens of ghost tours are available, of course, but everything’s scarier when you set out on your own, so here are seven of London’s most supernatural sites. Feeling brave?
THE THEATRE
THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE
Apparitions aren’t normally welcomed with open arms, but the one who haunts the Upper Circle of this 200-year-old playhouse in Covent Garden is considered lucky by actors, as his appearance apparently presages a successful run. That’s particularly weird, as the wall he likes to disappear behind was found during renovations to conceal a hidden room with not-so-crowd-pleasing skeletal remains. (Guided tours available daily: lwtheatres.co. uk/theatres/theatre-royal-drury-lane)
THE CASTLE
TOWER OF LONDON, TOWER HILL
You can tick off ten ghosts in one go at Britain’s most haunted building, but look out in particular for Anne Boleyn, beheaded here on the orders of her husband, King Henry VIII, and now said to be roaming the place ScoobyDoo-style with her head tucked under her arm. Among the other nine regulars are Guy Fawkes, Sir Walter Raleigh, Lady Jane Grey, Henry VI and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, who refused to go quietly to the chopping block in 1541, and had her struggles rewarded with a clumsy and drawnout hacking rather than a neat severing of head from neck. (hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london)
THE PUB
THE SPANIARDS INN, HAMPSTEAD HEATH
A boozer with this much history is sure to serve more than one kind of spirit. Built in 1585, the Spaniards Inn features in Dickens’s Pickwick Papers, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is said to be where Keats wrote Ode to a Nightingale and was once home and hideout to Dick Turpin while his father was the pub’s landlord. Naturally, the highwayman still hangs out there – although you might also bump into him on Hampstead Heath and at Heathrow Airport! You’ll know it’s him by his hot breath on your neck and howl of anguish, apparently – though we’ve all felt that way at Terminal 2 occasionally. (thespaniardshampstead.co.uk)
THE ART GALLERY
QUEEN’S HOUSE, GREENWICH
Funny how there are no photos of any of these phantoms, isn’t it? But at Queen’s House, the Thameside palace built for the wife of James I around 1620, the resident ghost has been caught on camera. The “Reverend Hardy photo” (left) was taken by a retired Canadian clergyman in 1966, shows a shrouded figure, and has never been successfully debunked despite the attentions of many sceptics. (There was even an additional 2002 sighting by gallery staff.) Whether you’re convinced or not, Queen’s House – part of the Royal Museums Greenwich – has a wonderful art collection. (rmg.co.uk/queens-house)
TUBE STATION
BANK, THREADNEEDLE STREET
What could be more disturbing than the Northern Line on a Monday morning? Jostling at Bank Tube station with “the Black Nun” Sarah Whitehead, whose brother Philip worked at the Bank of England until he was executed for forgery in 1812. Driven mad, she came to the Bank every day for the rest of her life asking for him – dressed in dark mourning clothes. (The Bank has a surprisingly fun museum: bankofengland.co.uk/museum)
THE CATHEDRAL
ST PAUL’S, LUDGATE HILL
Kneeling women in the nave, crying babies in the crypt… St Paul’s has wraiths for every taste. But the star of the show – spotted by hundreds of visitors over the years – is “Whistler’s Ghost” who starts his timeworn walk in the Kitchener Chapel. Accompanied by a distinct lowering of the ambient temperature, he glides across the chapel – serenading himself with a soft, sad, whistled tune – before disappearing into a wall to the right of its gates. Excavations, inevitably, revealed a hitherto unknown winding staircase behind that spot, leading to a secret room… (stpauls.co.uk)
THE HOTEL
LOST PROPERTY, ST PAUL’S
Several London hotels list phantasms among their facilities, but who really wants their sleep disturbed? Better to stay somewhere near the action but rather more restful – and Lost Property (a new hotel from Hilton’s appealingly quirky Curio collection) fits the bill perfectly. Within a banshee’s shriek of St Paul’s and the City’s myriad other revenants (as well as Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and the rest), it offers calm, comfortable rooms and just the right amount of eccentricity: one-off artworks, an intriguing menu at its Found restaurant, and deliciously imaginative cocktails rooted in local history. It is, dare one say it, spookily good… (Rooms from £170 a night; lostpropertyhotel.com)
In Netflix’s new drama Lockwood & Co, London is overrun with ghosts, whereas in reality the capital is… also overrun with ghosts. Holiday-makers or day-trippers looking for that little frisson of fear can find haunting experiences on almost every street corner in London’s historic heart. While the twist in Lockwood is that only children can see the thousands of spirits causing the plot’s ectoplasmic epidemic – which is why Lockwood & Co is a ghosthunting agency run by three kids – in real-life London anyone can find a spooky spot if they know where to look. Dozens of ghost tours are available, of course, but everything’s scarier when you set out on your own, so here are seven of London’s most supernatural sites. Feeling brave?
THE THEATRE
THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY LANE
Apparitions aren’t normally welcomed with open arms, but the one who haunts the Upper Circle of this 200-year-old playhouse in Covent Garden is considered lucky by actors, as his appearance apparently presages a successful run. That’s particularly weird, as the wall he likes to disappear behind was found during renovations to conceal a hidden room with not-so-crowd-pleasing skeletal remains. (Guided tours available daily: lwtheatres.co. uk/theatres/theatre-royal-drury-lane)
THE CASTLE
TOWER OF LONDON, TOWER HILL
You can tick off ten ghosts in one go at Britain’s most haunted building, but look out in particular for Anne Boleyn, beheaded here on the orders of her husband, King Henry VIII, and now said to be roaming the place ScoobyDoo-style with her head tucked under her arm. Among the other nine regulars are Guy Fawkes, Sir Walter Raleigh, Lady Jane Grey, Henry VI and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, who refused to go quietly to the chopping block in 1541, and had her struggles rewarded with a clumsy and drawnout hacking rather than a neat severing of head from neck. (hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london)
THE PUB
THE SPANIARDS INN, HAMPSTEAD HEATH
A boozer with this much history is sure to serve more than one kind of spirit. Built in 1585, the Spaniards Inn features in Dickens’s Pickwick Papers, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, is said to be where Keats wrote Ode to a Nightingale and was once home and hideout to Dick Turpin while his father was the pub’s landlord. Naturally, the highwayman still hangs out there – although you might also bump into him on Hampstead Heath and at Heathrow Airport! You’ll know it’s him by his hot breath on your neck and howl of anguish, apparently – though we’ve all felt that way at Terminal 2 occasionally. (thespaniardshampstead.co.uk)
THE ART GALLERY
QUEEN’S HOUSE, GREENWICH
Funny how there are no photos of any of these phantoms, isn’t it? But at Queen’s House, the Thameside palace built for the wife of James I around 1620, the resident ghost has been caught on camera. The “Reverend Hardy photo” (left) was taken by a retired Canadian clergyman in 1966, shows a shrouded figure, and has never been successfully debunked despite the attentions of many sceptics. (There was even an additional 2002 sighting by gallery staff.) Whether you’re convinced or not, Queen’s House – part of the Royal Museums Greenwich – has a wonderful art collection. (rmg.co.uk/queens-house)
TUBE STATION
BANK, THREADNEEDLE STREET
What could be more disturbing than the Northern Line on a Monday morning? Jostling at Bank Tube station with “the Black Nun” Sarah Whitehead, whose brother Philip worked at the Bank of England until he was executed for forgery in 1812. Driven mad, she came to the Bank every day for the rest of her life asking for him – dressed in dark mourning clothes. (The Bank has a surprisingly fun museum: bankofengland.co.uk/museum)
THE CATHEDRAL
ST PAUL’S, LUDGATE HILL
Kneeling women in the nave, crying babies in the crypt… St Paul’s has wraiths for every taste. But the star of the show – spotted by hundreds of visitors over the years – is “Whistler’s Ghost” who starts his timeworn walk in the Kitchener Chapel. Accompanied by a distinct lowering of the ambient temperature, he glides across the chapel – serenading himself with a soft, sad, whistled tune – before disappearing into a wall to the right of its gates. Excavations, inevitably, revealed a hitherto unknown winding staircase behind that spot, leading to a secret room… (stpauls.co.uk)
THE HOTEL
LOST PROPERTY, ST PAUL’S
Several London hotels list phantasms among their facilities, but who really wants their sleep disturbed? Better to stay somewhere near the action but rather more restful – and Lost Property (a new hotel from Hilton’s appealingly quirky Curio collection) fits the bill perfectly. Within a banshee’s shriek of St Paul’s and the City’s myriad other revenants (as well as Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe and the rest), it offers calm, comfortable rooms and just the right amount of eccentricity: one-off artworks, an intriguing menu at its Found restaurant, and deliciously imaginative cocktails rooted in local history. It is, dare one say it, spookily good… (Rooms from £170 a night; lostpropertyhotel.com)
ED GRENBY