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Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana of London's EC3 District

Old Woman

Location: EC3 - Aldgate Underground Station
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Mid-to-late-twentieth century
Further Comments: This old woman was seen by an engineer as it stroked his friend's hair, seconds before the co-worker touched a live wire which sent 20,000 volts through his body. Remarkably, he survived. Phantom footfalls have also been reported coming from down the tunnel, abruptly finishing.

Persian Cat

Location: EC3 - All Hallows by the Tower, Great Tower Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Pre-1940
Further Comments: This phantom feline haunted the original church prior to its destruction by German bombers during the Second World War. In one story, a small group rehearsing Christmas carols claimed to have seen a phantom woman sitting on a chair. The figure disappeared and was replaced by a black cat which also vanished soon after.

Coughing

Location: EC3 - Alley linking St Mary At Hill and Lovat Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 03 November 2003
Further Comments: A person walking through the alley heard footsteps following behind and a loud cough - they spun around, but no one could be seen. They retraced their steps and looked up and down St Mary At Hill but still no one could be seen.


George and Vulture public house, St Michael's Alley, London.

Grey Lady

Location: EC3 - George and Vulture public house, St Michael's Alley
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The upper floor of this established public house is home to a phantom woman who drifts along its corridors.

Silhouette

Location: EC3 - King William Tunnel, Under London Bridge (disused underground tunnel)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s?
Further Comments: An image taken by a photographer shows what appears to be a silhouetted figure along this tunnel, though no one else was there at the time. A medium called to the location claimed that the ghost was that of a man who died while breaking up a fight.

Jewish Cries

Location: EC3 - Old London Bridge
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This area of the river under the bridge is thought to be the location where dozens of people with Jewish faith drowned in 1210, when a ship removing them from the country sank. Their screams and cries have been reported in the area.

Priest with Black Hair

Location: EC3 - St Magnus the Martyr Church, Fish Street Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This holy man has been observed standing over the tomb of a former bishop, maybe paying his last respects? A headless figure has been reported at least once in the building.

Alice Hackney

Location: EC3 - St Mary at Hill church, off lower Thames Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Alice's body was moved during restoration work on the church in the late nineteenth century and reburied away from its original location. She has since been seen moving around, looking for the spot where she once lay with her husband. More recently, a witness using the alleyway connecting Lovat Lane to St Mary at Hill reported the air thick with cigarette smoke and hearing a cough, though the alley was deserted.

Stormy Beast

Location: EC3 - St Michael's Church, Cornhill
Type: Other
Date / Time: Creature visit date unknown, Father Ellison spotted 1990s
Further Comments: In the dim and distance past, St Michael's was visited by a creature during a storm - it entered via the south window, and left claw marks in the stone. During the late twentieth century, a clergyman was seen moving towards the vestry, only to quickly vanish when approached. He was identified as Rev John Henry Joshua Ellison, a former rector who had died a few years previous.

Smothering Action

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, as of 2009, armour on display in the White Tower
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The area in which Henry VIII's armour is normally stored has an evil reputation; several stories exist of guards being either attacked or feeling threatened by an unknown force. The armour is now on display in the White Tower, and it is not known whether this force has relocated.

Lord Dudley

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Beauchamp Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Lord Guildford Dudley is said to appear in this tower, tears running down his face. There are also reports of light poltergeist activity and soft gasps. One set of battlements connected to this tower are known as Elizabeth's Walk and haunted by the ghost of a Cavalier.


The Bloody Tower at the Tower of London.

The Two Princes

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Bloody Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Princes possibly heard in 1990, Raleigh unknown, female phantom seen August 1970
Further Comments: Believed to have been killed on the instruction of Richard III, the two young princes have been seen holding hands, cowering in various rooms of the tower. In 1990, two Coldstream Guards heard two young children giggling just outside the tower, accompanied by a bouncing sound. The Bloody Tower is also home to the ghost of Sir Walter Raleigh, who wanders around the area and along the battlements now known as Raleigh's Walk. One visitor reported seeing a phantom woman in a long black dress standing by a window; the witness had time to see the figure was wearing a white cap and a gold pendant before the figure melted away.

Guy Fawkes

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Council Chamber
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Post-1606
Further Comments: For years after his execution, Fawkes' screams and cries could be heard coming from the room where he was prepared for the end.

White Mount

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, general area
Type: Legend
Date / Time: NA
Further Comments: The Tower of London was once known as the White Mount, and it was said Bran the Blessed head was buried beneath the structure to ensure Britain was never invaded. One story says that Arthur removed the head, as he alone wished to be the country's saviour.

Bear

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Jewel House (now known as Martin Tower)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: January 1816
Further Comments: After seeing a large bear approaching him, a guard tried to bayonet the creature; the weapon passed straight through the ghost, and it continued to move towards the soldier. The soldier collapsed and died a few days later.


The main entrance of the Tower of London.

Stretcher

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, main entrance
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: During Second World War
Further Comments: A guard on duty reported seeing a group of people in old uniforms walking towards the entrance to the Tower carrying a stretcher containing a headless body. The figures faded away just before they reached the soldier.


Martin Tower at the Tower of London.

Bubbling Column

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Martin Tower
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: October 1817
Further Comments: Edmund Swifte, Keeper of the Crown Jewels, lived in the tower with his family. One Saturday as Edmund and his family sat down for dinner, they were terrified by a tall, strange column of what looked like liquid, which drifted through their room. Edmund wrote that it resembled a glass tube, about the width of his arm. It hovered in the air before moving behind Swifte's wife, who screamed it had tried to grab her. Swifte picked up a chair and lashed out at the column - the chair passed clean through without impact, although it did cause the strange entity to vanish.

Henry Percy

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Martin Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: While Percy was released from the tower after being held there for sixteen years, his ghost has been reported along the battlements at Martin Tower. Some say he attempts to push visitors and guards down the steps by the tower.

Pacing

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Middle Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1977
Further Comments: Two decorators at work reported hearing footsteps walking on the roof above them, even though the tower was empty. They summoned help and searched the area, but no intruder could be found.

Grey Lady

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Queen's House
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Date of Grey Lady unknown, medieval man seen 1970s, chanting heard 1978
Further Comments: A phantom grey lady who haunts the Queen's House is said to only make her presence known to women. A phantom man, thought to be medieval, has been reported drifting along corridors in the upper part of the building, and is also held accountable for the ghostly footsteps on a rear staircase. In 1978, a guest in the house reported hearing faint plainchant late at night, though later she found out that no one else had heard anything.

Figures

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Sally Port
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1968
Further Comments: A Scots Guard was found quaking in this area, claiming that several ghostly figures had emerged from the Sally Gate and started to follow him.


Salt Tower at the Tower of London.

Lady Jane

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Salt Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 12 February (reoccurring), but least seen 1957
Further Comments: The phantom of Lady Jane Grey once haunted this tower, though it is now over fifty years since last being spotted standing on the roof.


St Peter ad Vincula church within the Tower of London.

Procession

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, St Peter ad Vincula church
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth century?
Further Comments: The bodies of the executed were placed under the floor of this building during the Tutor period. In 1876, Queen Victoria instructed the flagstones be lifted and all bodies removed, identified, and given a correct burial - the remains over two hundred were discovered, though identification was nigh impossible. Soon after this, an officer on patrol reported looking into the church late at night and seeing many people in period costume apparently walking around, following a woman who looked like Anne Boleyn. After a few minutes, the scene faded away.


The Wakefield Tower within the Tower of London.

Henry VI

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, the Wakefield Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 21 May, midnight (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Murdered in the tower in 1471, Henry's spirit appears a few minutes before midnight, walking around the area in which he died.


The White Tower within the Tower of London.

Lady in White

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, the White Tower
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Perfume unknown, tapping on 27 May 2013
Further Comments: Her identity unknown, this ghostly woman's perfume is said to be overpowering, and has made many people gag around St John's Chapel. One visitor felt tapping on her shoulder, although could not see who could have been responsible. When they mentioned it to a guide, the guide said it could have been 'Daniel', who people have seen wearing a black cloak.

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