The Paranormal Database

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.

Thomas's Tower within the Tower of London.

Thomas a'Becket

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Thomas's Tower
Type: Legend
Date / Time: 1240s
Further Comments: One legend says that the tower collapsed twice during construction, on consecutive Saint George's Days. Henry III was told that the ghost of Becket was seen on the days of the collapse; the king named the tower after the ghost that had caused the disruption to appease the entity. Twentieth century ghost reports from this tower have been more conventional, with the sight and sounds of a ghostly monk being detected.

Margaret's Execution

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Tower Green
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 27 May (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Refusing to kneel before the axeman, Margaret Pole was chased around the area and hacked to death by him instead. This horrid scene has been witnessed several times, as have the spirits of Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey.

Figures

Location: EC3 - Tower of London, Water Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late 1960s, or 1970
Further Comments: A shocked sentry was found repeating 'Man in Cloak' - after he regained his senses, the guard claimed to have been approached by a headless cloaked figure, the sight of which caused the sentry to panic and run to find help.

Raleigh

Location: EC3 - Tower of London: 7 Tower Green
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Sir Walter Raleigh is reputed to haunt this Beefeater home and is said to have been heard walking through the building.

The Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London.

Beckett

Location: EC3 - Tower of London: Traitor's Gate
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Becket circa AD 1240, monk unknown, hand in 1995
Further Comments: Traitor's Gate, Tower of London. Around AD 1240, the phantom of Sir Thomas Becket was observed by a monk, who claimed the ghost held a crucifix while hitting the walls and protesting the newly constructed gate. The story goes that the ghost became placated when the building attached to the gate was named after Becket. The area remains haunted though - the ghost of a monk is reported to walk this area of the tower, while a tourist who photographed the gate in 1995 found a strange hand dressed in a lace cuff on his image, thought to belong to a yeoman.

Bad Atmosphere

Location: EC3R - The Monument
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1750s-1842
Further Comments: Elliott. O'Donnell wrote that something lurked at the top of the monument which compelled certain people to jump. The suicides ceased after a cage was placed around the top of the monument.

Cursed Building

Location: EC4 - 71 Queen Victoria Street
Type: Curse
Date / Time: 1990 onwards
Further Comments: After several unconnected and violent deaths of people who worked at 71 Queen Victoria Street, the company which was based at the address closed.

Amen Corner, Ludgate Hill, London.

Wall Crawler

Location: EC4 - Amen Corner, Ludgate Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: A black shape has been spotted crawling along the wall that backs onto the location where people executed at Newgate prison were once buried.

Escaping Prisoner

Location: EC4 - Amen Court, Warwick Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The faint grey figure seen on a nearby wall is thought to be that of a convict who escaped (but was caught again and executed) when this place was Newgate Prison.

Tall Clergyman

Location: EC4 - Church of St Sepulchre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1950s
Further Comments: A former vicar was said to stand in the Sanctuary; other than his paleness, the phantom was said to look quite real.

Passenger

Location: EC4 - Corner of Water Lane and Fleet Street
Type: Other
Date / Time: 31 October 1684
Further Comments: A Hackney carriage driver picked up a dark figure who wanted to go to Lower Church Yard. The horses, whoever, refused to move, and when the driver asked the passenger to leave, released that the figure had transformed into a bear with flaming eyes that quickly vanished in a flash.

Dead Prisoners

Location: EC4 - Former site of Newgate Prison
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late nineteenth / early twentieth century
Further Comments: Newgate was haunted by several ghosts. Footsteps were reported along Dead Man's Walk late at night, one warden reported seeing the face of a decaying, hanged man in a cell, while others reported seeing an aging female form in the yard.

Cavalier

Location: EC4 - George Tavern, Strand
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Late twentieth century
Further Comments: This figure is said to have appeared several times in the cellar, spotted when staff have been changing the gas for the beer.

Isabella and Hungerford Fight

Location: EC4 - Greyfriars Churchyard and ruins, Newgate Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Queen Isabella and Lady Alice Hungerford are said to engage in a bout of fisticuffs in this churchyard, both jealous of each other's beauty. A small ghostly greyhound is reported to run between the gravestones, while on occasion, groans and odd lights were reported to emerge from the land. Finally, a female figure in white with hateful eyes once lurked floating around the churchyard.

Cat

Location: EC4 - House of Mr Edward Pitts, Puddle Dock
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1674
Further Comments: A phantom cat seen in this house was said to be the size of a mastiff hound, but it had no legs. The family were also subjected to a poltergeist outbreak, which opened doors, moved items around and lit candles.

Ludgate Hill, London.

King Lud

Location: EC4 - Ludgate Hill
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present?
Further Comments: Ludgate Hill has been named as the settlement where King Lud laid the foundations of what is now London. The King's body was said to have been buried in the area.

Ashen-faced Girl

Location: EC4 - Northern Line into St Paul's tube station
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: On four consecutive days, a commuter on an early train sat opposite a girl whose long black hair covered her face, with only the tip of her nose visible. On the fourth day, as the commuter left the carriage, he realised that the ashen-faced girl was looking straight at him. The commuter never saw the girl again but was convinced that she was a ghost.

London Stone

Location: EC4 - Opposite Cannon Street station, in the wall of 111 Cannon Street (as of 2016, moved to Museum of London)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: The London Stone is reputed to be the location from where the Romans calculated all distances in Britannia. Some believe that the stone is part of an altar constructed by Brutus as he founded London, and it is said: 'so long as the stone of Brutus is safe, so long shall London flourish'.

Sir Edmundbury Godfrey

Location: EC4 - Primrose Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Murdered on the hill by persons unknown, Godfrey's shade remained for many years after his death.

Woman and Small Boy

Location: EC4 - Private residence, Primrose Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2020s
Further Comments: Sharleen Spiteri, vocalist in the group Texas, claimed her home was haunted by a woman and a little boy. Spiteri would often see the female entity sitting at the end of her kitchen table, occasionally joined by the child.

Gabriel

Location: EC4 - St Andrew by the Wardrobe, Queen Victoria Street
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Still present
Further Comments: Gabriel, one of the bells in the church and once at home in Avenbury (Herefordshire), is reported to ring when death strikes the Rector of its old parish.

St Paul's Cathedral, London.

Clergyman

Location: EC4 - St Paul's Cathedral
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century (sounds), December 2019 (transept figure)
Further Comments: Haunting the All Soul's chapel area, the holy man is wears archaic clothing, thought to be hundreds of years old. His whistling is known to be so loud it upsets people who have come to the church to find peace. There are also reports of children crying which sounds as if it comes from the far east section of the crypt, and the sound of footsteps in various parts of the building, heard when there should be no visitors to the site. In 2019, a staff member working in the North Transept reported a figure or figures on the South Transept walking along behind the iron barrier, fifty feet from the cathedral floor. The figure(s) appeared holographic, slightly luminous and were not fully formed, and moved from west to east twice within five minutes. St Paul's is also home to the bell Great Tom, which is said to strike incorrectly prior to the death of a royal.