Category: haunted UK
-
Ghastly Appearance of a Headless Woman
Many popular Victorian newspapers regularly printed reports of spectral sightings and ghostly visitations, and one British publication that did this with particular gusto was the Illustrated Police News.
In January 1898, it was reported that a mysterious figure with
“the ghastly appearance of a headless woman” was haunting an isolated crossroad outside of Buckingham. The phantom was first witnessed by a well-known local farmer and his companion who had the misfortune of encountering the wraith while driving his “horse and trap.” “The night was well advanced and dark,” when suddenly the farmer saw standing a few yards in front of him a black object near a weather beaten hand-post at the corner of the cross-roads. He called out as the figure was blocking his path but there was no answer and the figure remained motionless.As he got closer, he noticed the other worldly appearance of the woman and his horse began to “tremble like a leaf.” In shock, he called out again, “What do you do there? Move on, please.” Again, he was met with no response. The horse panicked and backed into a ditch, forcing the farmer’s companion to jump down to seize the reigns. Suddenly, “the queer visitant disappeared,” but, as the pair got back in the trap to flee, the “black sombre figure” appeared again “in the same motionless position as before.”
“Their situation was now getting positively serious. The farmer whose presence of mind had stood him in good stead, now finding his nerve on the point of giving way, asked the apparition in the name of God to speak. Then it was that the spectra slowly drifted away, and appeared to float through the thick set bordered hedge.”
Numerous others later claimed to witness the ghost and the reporter commented that it was “not a little surprising that the spot referred to has been less frequented of late.”
Read other Victorian reports of ghosts at Ghosts of the Past: Historic News Reports of Victorian Hauntings
-
Haunted UK: Windsor Castle, Britain
Windsor Castle is perhaps the most haunted of all the royal British residences, with as many as 25 ghosts reported. The ghost of Elizabeth I has been seen by several members of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret. Often seen in the library, her footsteps can be heard on the bare floorboards, before her striking presence appears. The ghost of George III has been witnessed, looking longingly out of the room beneath the library, where he was confined during his several periods of madness. Henry VIII is said to haunt the deanery cloisters, often heard hobbling around, the sound of his ulcerated leg thudding on the floor as he walks. On the grounds in Windsor Great Park, the ghost of Herne has been reported. He was a huntsman for King Richard III. If you see his ghost anywhere in the park beware, as legend has it that you’ll be struck by misfortune.
Read about other haunted royal British residences at Ghosts of the past: 5 haunted royal residences.
-
Haunted UK: Tulip Staircase Ghost
“Rev. Ralph Hardy, a retired clergyman from White Rock, British Columbia, took this now-famous photograph in 1966. He intended merely to photograph the elegant spiral staircase, known as the “Tulip Staircase”, in the Queen’s House section of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. Upon development, however, the photo revealed a shrouded figure climbing the stairs, seeming to hold the railing with both hands. Experts, including some from Kodak, who examined the original negative concluded that it had not been tampered with. It’s been said that unexplained figures have been seen on occasion in the vicinity of the staircase, and unexplained footsteps have also been heard.
“This photo isn’t the only evidence of ghostly activity at the Queen’s House. The 400-year-old building is credited with several other apparitions and phantom footsteps even today. A few years ago, a gallery assistant was discussing a tea break with two colleagues when he saw one of the doors to the bridge room close by itself. At first, he thought it was one of the lecturers.
“Other ghostly goings-on include the unexplained choral chanting of children, the figure of a pale woman frantically mopping blood at the bottom of the Tulip Staircase (it’s said that 300 years ago a maid was thrown from the highest banister, plunging 50 feet to her death), slamming doors, and even tourists being pinched by unseen fingers.”
-
Haunted UK: Roman Soldier Ghosts
With it being the month named after Mars, I decided to look up ghost stories about Roman soldiers. I found the story of a sighting of Roman soldier ghosts in York, Britain. The mix of history and storytelling in the story is fascinating.
Here, a tour guide tells the story of the ghost sighting, which happened back in 1953:
For those who prefer reading, here is a print version of the story:
The Devil's Muse 