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Ghosts, Folklore and Forteana of London's EC4 District

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.


Temple Bar in London.

Sir Henry Hawkins

Location: EC4 - Temple Bar, general area
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Complete with gown, wig and an armful of paperwork, this lawman has been seen by late-working commuters as he strides along the lanes.

Woman in Bonnet

Location: EC4 - The Old Bailey
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A shadowy figure in a bonnet and the sound of footsteps along empty corridors have been two spooky manifestations reported within this courthouse.

White Lady

Location: EC4 - Wardrobe Place, Carter Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Appearing soon after the sun goes down, this pale unknown figure drifts around the courtyard.

Man in Long Coat

Location: EC4 - White Horse public house, Fetter Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: This figure, said to be connected to the coaches that were once used here, rattles bottles in the cellar.

Oliver Goldsmith

Location: EC4 - Ye Olde Cock Tavern (back door), Fleet Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1984
Further Comments: Goldsmith's smiling disembodied head appeared to a girl working here as she stood around the back of the building, her scream being heard by all in the bar.

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