Apparently, around half of all adults in the Britain believe that ghosts exist, so it might not be too surprising to find that there are many locations where the locals are proud to tell you all about their more ‘permanent’ residents.
We could have picked from 100’s of pubs and historic houses, but to qualify as one of the top 10 the building or area needs to have a lot of history of ghostly goings on, and this selection certainly have that.
- We start off with Highgate Cemetery in London, which during the day is one of the most visited in the country. They run tours to show off the flora and fauna, and the Gothic architecture. There are a number of well known burials at the cemetery including Karl Marx, George Elliott and Douglas Adams.
The crooked ancient gravestones of Highgate Cemetery especially in the older East Highgate Cemetery probably give rise to the majority of fleeting glimpses of figures amongst the tome-stones, but given it’s age who knows what figures might occupy those dark grass covered pathways of the Circle of Lebanon and Egyptian Avenue when the gates close at night…
- The 400 year old Red Lion in Avebury (Wiltshire) certainly has plenty of reasons to be haunted as it sits inside the Avebury stone circle – a World Heritage site – giving the whole area a unique atmosphere. The thatched roof and oak beams of the pub just add to the whole arena making the claim to be one of the most haunted pubs in Britain very plausible.
- Glamis Castle in Angus is one of Scotland’s most impressive castles, with it’s spires, turrets, towers and statues, the castle also features over 600 years of royal interest. The castle naturally has plenty of ancient residents, although the most famous is said to be known as “The Monster of Glamis” – claimed to be a a hideously deformed child who was kept locked up in a hidden room his entire life.
- Llancaiach Fawr Manor in Caerphilly is a peaceful location now, but there are said to be plenty of spectors still wandering around the manor following the bloody civil war that took place around the manor. All sorts of strange events have take place, along with a number of unexplained smells including regular occurances of violets and lavender wafting through the corridors.
- Berry Pomeroy Castle near Totness in Devon dates from the 14th-century and has a more traditional selection of ghosts. The main two are the White Lady, said to be the ghost of Margaret Pomeroy who was staved to death by her jealous sister; and the mysterious blue lady the identify of which isn’t clear. Local advice is that is would be a bad idea to follow the blue lady into the more ancient parts of the ruins, although the exact reasons are in themselves uncertain.
[Part 2 of Most Haunted Places in Britain]
A few useful extra links:
Hotels all around the UK
Visitor attractions around the UK (many haunted).
One Trackback
[...] part 1 of our most haunted places in Britain series, we saw locations from cemeteries to castles right across the country. Now we conclude with the [...]