THE HIDDEN HORRORS OF HAUNTED LONDON
A GHASTLY GHOST WALK.
MEETING POINT: OUTSIDE THE LORD RAGLAN PUB ON ST. MARTIN LE GRAND.
THIS IS SITUATED 2 MINUTES FROM ST PAUL'S UNDERGROUND STATION.
This truly atmospheric walk explores the hidden and ghostly places of the city as darkness falls. It begins amidst the ruins of Roman London, where crumbling stone towers and ancient walls are the spectral haunt of long ago Legionnaires.
From this evocative
start we walk by an ancient plague mound to hear tales of the horrors of the
Great Plague that swept London in 1665.
This
is a truly creepy spot, made even creepier by the tumbledown tombstones that
cling tenaciously to its overgrown summit. One of the city's grandest buildings
looks down on this bygone remnant of London's sinister past, and it was to this
building that the bodies of executed criminals were once brought. Your guide
will tell you gruesome and strange tales about this magnificent institution. Of
the portrait of Henry V111 the eyes of which have been known to follow many an
unwary visitor around. Of the dead man who suddenly came back to life. Of the
poltergeist activity that followed when one of the buildings greatest treasure
was removed.
Having chilled your marrow with these macabre tales, you will move on for a wander into some of London's most atmospheric back streets. Thoroughfares that have changed little in over a hundred years. Places where long dead citizens are still known to put in the occasional appearance and where you can sense the eyes of former residents watching your every move.
Moving on you come to an ancient plague pit that dates from 1348. You will hear of the paranormal dare that was once given to new pupils at a neighbouring school. They had to lie on the ground at midnight, with their ears pressed to the grass, and they would have to listen for the moans, groans and whispers of the plague victims buried beneath them. We even ask for volunteers who are willing to keep this tradition alive!
Right next to this
plague pit there stands a time capsule of bygone London - a Tudor manor house no
less. Its dark windows reflect past ages of history
and tragedy. You will hear about monks who were hanged, drawn and quartered, but
whose spirits returned to urge their brethren
to stay true to their faith. You will learn of the Prior whose arms were nailed
to the old gates that you will gaze upon. You will hear of the nobleman who
backed the wrong queen, lost his head and whose restless wraith is still seen
inside this old building.
Onwards past a blood drenched market of ancient origins, and forward via a dark and sinister passage with a less than salubrious past, you find yourself blinking in disbelief at a 15th century gatehouse that Shakespeare visited.
Across from it stands a church where London's most famous sequence of ghostly happenings reached an inglorious conclusion. Next to that is the site of the house of the poor man who died of fright when he thought he'd seen a ghost. Then, stepping through a creaking iron gate, you stand beside the grave of a family whose murder sent a wave of revulsion through 19th century London. It is a grisly tale, made creepier by the knowledge that the perpetrator may still lie buried beneath a nearby junction with a stake through his heart.
Leaving
the burial ground behind, we stand on the site
of one of London's most infamous haunted locations, the House of Detention. Long
since closed to the public, it is, nonetheless,
still down there, and although
we don't actually go into it, your guide once knew it inside out and can chill
you with stories of the ghostly goings on at this place. The strange thing is
that the streets beneath which it stretches, always have an eerie and chilly
feel about them.
Our final haunted building, on a night that is crammed with them, is the former courthouse, now in use as a Masonic hall, inside which ghosts aplenty are known to wander.
At the end of our evening we find our way to one of London's tiniest, yet most atmospheric old pubs. Its ambience is truly fantastic, it offer a huge range of beers, and it is unlike any other pub in London. It makes the perfect place in which to unwind and discuss the tales and goings on that you have heard of and, who knows, even witnessed?
So join us for a tour that is packed with history and haunting. A tour that will be both chilling and entertaining. A tour that will keep you on edge, casting nervous backwards glances, ever wary of who, or what, might be shadowing your footsteps on the hidden horrors of haunted London ghastly ghost walk.
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