12 Buckingham Street, Strand, London.
Samuel Pepys
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - 12 Buckingham Street, Strand
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1953
Further Comments: Number twelve Buckingham Street was the home of Pepys, and his blurred, smiling phantom has been reported near the staircase of the building.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-08-23
Last updated: 2002-08-23
ID: #2256
14 Buckingham Street, Strand, London.
Dashing Woman
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - 14 Buckingham Street, Strand
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Number Fourteen is home to a female ghost, described as 'pretty', who is said to dash into the house as if late for an appointment.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2006-12-31
Last updated: 2006-12-31
ID: #7091
William Terriss
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Adelphi Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Although William Terriss was murdered in 1897, several thespians have since heard or seen William walking about the building or playing around with lights and props. Other people name the ghost as that of Edmund Kean, another famous actor of yester-year. The vaults under the theatre are also said to be haunted by a naked female form, likely the ghost of a girl found strangled and concealed under a pile of rubbish.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-25
Last updated: 2025-09-09
ID: #1472
Albery Theatre, St Martin's Lane, London.
Sir Charles Wyndham
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Albery Theatre, St Martin's Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Sir Charles built the Albery, and his grey haired shade now walks between its walls, normally lurking near the dressing rooms.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2002-08-21
Last updated: 2002-08-21
ID: #2246
Suicide
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Aldine House, Maiden Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1972
Further Comments: The owners of the building reported hearing strange banging and scraping from the floor above them - the sounds were attributed to the ghost of a man who had committed suicide there a few years previous.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-12-20
Last updated: 2026-06-06
ID: #4766
Displaced Actress
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Aldwych Underground Station (no longer operational)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Built where the Royal Strand Theatre once stood, it is thought the female ghost seen standing on the tracks migrated from the original building to the station shortly after it became operational. She is normally reported by cleaning staff working the night shift.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2002-08-25
Last updated: 2002-08-25
ID: #2282
Climbing Footsteps
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Bell Yard
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000s
Further Comments: Mentioned in Dickens's Bleak House, this building is reputedly haunted by phantom footsteps that move around on the staircase heading towards the legal chambers.
Source:
User Submission
First added: 2008-08-24
Last updated: 2008-08-24
ID: #8761
Woman
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Bow Street Magistrates' Court (no longer operating as a court)
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1970s onwards?
Further Comments: This building was said to be haunted by a woman who would suddenly vanish when seen.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2008-08-10
Last updated: 2008-08-10
ID: #8720
The Man in a Tricorn Hat
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - British Optical Association Museum, Craven Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 13 March 2006
Further Comments: While engaging in redecoration of the building, one of the decorators encountered a crouching figure of an old man. Another ghostly figure was spotted a couple of days later, this time of a middle aged man wearing a dark blue coat with a tricorn hat, who asked the witness 'Where's Mary? I can't find Mary'.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2006-03-25
Last updated: 2006-03-25
ID: #6809
Fruity
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Cheshire Cheese public house, Little Essex Street
Type: Poltergeist
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: The spirit at work in this pub is reputed to move the fruit machine.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2009-09-12
Last updated: 2009-09-12
ID: #9677
Human Foot
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Christ's Hospital (no longer standing)
Type: Legend
Date / Time: Pre-1902
Further Comments: A human footprint was once visible in the stonework of this hospital. It was said to have been created when a ghostly beadle's wife stamped her foot in response to a disrespectful human.
Source:
Historical Record
First added: 2020-02-19
Last updated: 2020-02-19
ID: #13574
Cleopatra's Needle, Embankment, London.
Tall, Dark Stranger
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Cleopatra's Needle, Embankment
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: A tall, dark, male figure leaps over the edge of the embankment wall here, but the sound of him hitting the water is never heard. The man is thought to have committed suicide, and one of several entities found along the Thames who took their own lives. There are also reports of laughing coming from the area, the source of which cannot be discovered.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-08-23
Last updated: 2002-08-23
ID: #2257
Coliseum theatre, St Martin's Lane, London.
Trench Trooper
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Coliseum, St Martin's Lane
Type: Post-Mortem Manifestation
Date / Time: 03 October 1918
Further Comments: A small group of friends out for an evening's entertainment observed a man they knew walking down an aisle of the theatre, but he quickly disappeared. They later discovered that he had been killed in trench warfare around the time they saw him. He has been seen in the same area periodically since.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-11-14
Last updated: 2002-11-14
ID: #3210
Kids
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Courtts Bank
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 25 December (reoccurring)
Further Comments: Once a Mecca for toy sellers and buyers, the sounds of joyous children can be heard briefly once a year. Another entity, claiming to be an Elizabethan nobleman, was exorcised during the early 1990s - he was thought to be either the Earl of Essex (executed in 1601) or Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-12-21
Last updated: 2003-12-21
ID: #4778
Legless Woman
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Covent Garden Piazza
Type: Unknown Ghost Type
Date / Time: 31 December 1989
Further Comments: A photograph taken by Mr Webb of his young daughter shows a woman dressed in black floating legless in the background. While it is possible that the woman's legs are concealed behind a post, the angle at which she leans does create doubt that the lady is corporeal.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2008-01-06
Last updated: 2008-01-06
ID: #8129
The Piccadilly Line of Covent Garden Station, London.
William Terriss
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Covent Garden Station, Piccadilly Line
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Around midnight, winter months (reoccurring). Last seen 1972?
Further Comments: An actor, Mr Terriss was stabbed to death in December 1897 at a nearby theatre. His ghost, tall in stature, has been seen dressed in a grey suit with white gloves, standing on the platform late at night.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-02
Last updated: 2002-06-02
ID: #1021
Drury Lane Theatre Royal, London.
Man in Grey
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Drury Lane Theatre Royal
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Prior to a long running show (grey man)
Further Comments: Seeing this ghost, dressed in a long grey coat with a Tricorn hat, is considered a good omen; if it appears either in the morning or afternoon during rehearsals, the performance will go on to be a great success. King Charles II is also supposed to haunt the building (he was a great theatre lover), as does the shade of Joe Grimaldi who helps anyone struggling with their lines. The backstage corridors are home to the wraith of Charles Macklin, a murderer never found guilty, and now walks the scene of his crime. Finally, actors have been known to experience a chill and simultaneously catch a whiff of lavender while on stage, the sensations blamed on a ghost.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-06-25
Last updated: 2023-05-13
ID: #1471
Duke of York's Theatre, St Martin's Lane, London.
Violet Melnotte
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Duke of York's Theatre, St Martin's Lane
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1967 (Violet), 04 May 1948 (jacket)
Further Comments: The builder of the theatre, Violet was known to watch the performances from her own personal box. After her death in 1935, a presence could be heard from within her seating area, and her phantom spotted in the green room in 1967. A door was said to have been heard to often slam, surprising as it has been bricked up for many decades. During the 1940s, Thora Hird complained that a Victorian jacket she wore during performances gave her a choking feeling. The manager held a seance on stage, during which mediums claimed the jacket had been worn by a lady named Edith Meryweather who had been strangled by a man.
Source:
Published Media, User Submission
First added: 2003-09-13
Last updated: 2026-06-06
ID: #4589
Anne Boleyn
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Durham House (no longer standing) Durham House Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: This building held Anne during her last days, and while the house no longer stands, its basement remains, and it is here the ghost still resides.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-12-24
Last updated: 2003-12-24
ID: #4790
Oppressive Feeling
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Embankment Station - Page's Walk
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 2000
Further Comments: Staff who walk along the long dark tunnel known as Page's Walk complain of cold winds, doors which open and slam shut, and an oppressive feeling.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2006-11-23
Last updated: 2006-11-23
ID: #7048
Unlucky Place to Drink
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Fleece Inn Tavern (demolished 1820, thought to have stood on Catherine Street), Covent Garden
Type: Other
Date / Time: Pre-1820
Further Comments: After a string of murders on the property, the site gained a reputation of being unlucky until it was demolished.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2018-05-10
Last updated: 2018-05-10
ID: #12823
Billie Carleton
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Former BBC HQ, Savoy Hill
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Carleton died in the former home of the BBC just after their 1918 Victory broadcast, and even now the presence is said to remain.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2003-12-24
Last updated: 2003-12-24
ID: #4791
Grey Woman
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Fortune Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: 1990s onwards
Further Comments: Home to the stage play The Woman in Black, the theatre is ironically also haunted by a grey lady spotted in a lower box. Two shadowy figures have also been observed standing to the right of the stage.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2008-04-29
Last updated: 2008-04-29
ID: #8438
Nell Gwynne
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Gargoyle Club, 69 Dean Street
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Twentieth century
Further Comments: Another haunting blamed on Nell Gwynne, this building is said to have been her home. The ghost is said to resemble a grey shadow, accompanied by an overpowering smell of flowers. A duel is also thought to be re-enacted on the roof, between the Captain of the Guards and a group of men sent by King Charles II to kill him.
Source:
Historical Record, Published Media
First added: 2002-08-14
Last updated: 2002-08-14
ID: #2173
Garrick Theatre, London.
Arthur Bourchier
Location: WC2 (Greater London) - Garrick Theatre
Type: Haunting Manifestation
Date / Time: Unknown
Further Comments: Known for his dislike of critics, Bourchier now haunts the rear of the theatre, often appearing just after a performance, or making his presence known by tapping people on their backs.
Source:
Published Media
First added: 2002-08-26
Last updated: 2002-08-26
ID: #2316
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