London's Most Haunted Building, 50 Berkeley Square

Now a business property but once a private home to Prime Minister George Canning, No. 50 is now known as the most haunted house in London.

June 22, 2015
50 Berkeley Square
50 Berkeley Square
This page is more than nine years old and was last updated in February 2017.
Now a business property but once a private home to Prime Minister George Canning, No. 50 is now known as the most haunted house in London.

The building, believed to be the oldest unaltered building in London, has been in the hands of antique book dealers, Maggs Bros since the 30s.

The four-storey town house dates back to 1827, the first ghastly tale to come from the house is that of a young woman who committed suicide there, she jump from a top floor windows after being abused by her uncle.

The first ghostly reports came from George Canning during his tenancy, until his death in 1827. Canning claimed to have heard strange noises and have experienced psychic phenomenon.

The next tenant, Mr. Myers decorated the house in preparation of his pending marriage and starting a family, but he was jilted by his fiancee and became a recluse. He spent his time living alone in the attic slowly going mad, while the rest of the house fell in to disrepair.

In 1872, Lord Lyttleton was challenged to stay a night in the attic, he took a shotgun with him and during the night fired at an apparition. The next morning he attempted to find evidence of what he had shot but could not even find the gun's cartridges.

Others who stayed in the attic weren't so lucky, in 1879 a night in the attic drove a maid mad, she died in an asylum the next day. The next night a curious man took up the challenge to spend a night in the room and went on to become the first person to be recorded dead in the house, the coroner's verdict was "death of fright."

The second reported death at 50 Berkeley Square was a sailor from HMS Penelope in 1887, several sailors stayed the night, the next morning one was found dead, having tripped as he tried to run from the house. The other sailor reported seeing an agressive ghost of Myers.

Most haunting from the house describe either a young woman, believed to be the girl who took her life or a spirit in the form of a brown mist.

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