The Haunting Of The Tower Of London

Thomas A. Becket is one of the first ghosts seen in the tower. When the Inner Curtain Wall was still in construction, Thomas seemed to be very unhappy about it and reduced the wall to rubble with the strike of his cross.

The Haunting of the Tower of London

Arbella was put under house arrest at Lambeth while her husband William was sent to the tower. Arbella plotted to get William released to travel together to France. However, William missed the rendezvous.

The Bloody Tower is a place that conjures up horrible images. There is the story of the two young princes, Edward V and his brother Richard, who were declared illegitimate by Parliament and sent to the tower. They were often seen playing happily around the grounds but suddenly vanished and were never seen again.

Although there has been a lot of talk and a pervading belief that the tower is a place of death and torture, only a total of seven people were executed within the tower, a figure which is low compared to other places. The executions were commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill on the castle grounds. In 400 years, 112 executions took place on Tower Hill.

Well known as a prison, the Tower of London hosted several notable prisoners during the years that it ran. People who committed all sorts of crimes were sent to the tower, including deposed monarchs. Live Science explains that Lady Jane Grey was a prisoner there after her very brief stint on the throne.

You can see the jewels inside the tower by visiting the Jewel House vault in the Waterloo Block. The ceremonial objects and regalia were worn and used during the coronations of the kings and queens of Britain. The official Crown Jeweller cleans the jewels each January after visiting hours.

Animal ghosts are not an unusual occurrence in Britain. Even in the Tower people have attested to hearing the ghostly roar of lions and the sound of hooves pounding the cobbles. There are even other accounts of ghostly bears. For instance, in a house in Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, there were regular reports of a phantom bear stumbling around in a frenzy. This haunting could have its seed in the stories of bears savaged to death in the cruel sport of bear-baiting, popular in the seventeenth century (a bear baiting ring was in operation very near Cheyne Walk). Another theory is that it was the spirit of a black bear belonging to Dante Gabriel Rossetti who lived at number 16 in the 1860s (this bear forming part of his collection of exotic pets) [5].

So, perhaps the guard in the tower saw the face of the Devil or perhaps not. There is one last theory which if you believe in ghosts might seem the most likely and would link itself to the history of the Tower. This is the idea that the ghost was the spirit of a man or woman who had taken the form of a bear.

Last, but, certainly not least, is the Tower of London. For nearly a thousand years, the Tower of London was a prison. Arguably one of the world's most notorious. People lost their heads. A lot of people. People you may well have heard of, like Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII's second, and most well-known wife, was beheaded in the tower back in 1536. People still see her wandering around, holding her severed head by her side. Others have seen and heard all sorts of prisoners within the walls. Wailing. Wandering. As ghosts tend to do. Why not check it out and see them for yourself? And that's our list of the most haunted London locations! Got any other creepy places you'd recommend, or seen any ghosts yourselves? Let us know in the comments below. And while we have you, why not check out a London ghost tour?

The Tower of London ghosts of the two boys reputedly haunt the Bloody Tower. Guards reported hearing the sound of two children giggling, along with a bouncing noise, just outside the Bloody tower. Their apparitions are also said to be glimpsed walking holding hands.

Tales of haunting go back to around about 1240, when a monk said he encountered the ghost of Thomas Beckett clutching a crucifix, slamming the walls and grumbling at the recently built gate. In recent times, a tourist captured the image of a mysterious hand with a lacey cuff in a photograph, whilst a ghostly monk roams the area.

Elizabeth Woodville, the brothers' mother and Edward IV's widow, was with the younger brother Richard in sanctuary when Richard, Duke of Gloucester called for him to join his brother at the tower. 041b061a72