The 20 Most Haunted Houses In The UK

The Cheltenham Haunting took place in a large house called Garden Reach on Pitville Circus Road in Cheltenham between 1882 and 1886. The original occupants were the Swinhoes. Henry Swinhoe died in 1876, and his wife, Imogen, died two years later, and it's believed to be her ghost that haunts the house and its grounds in the form of a full apparition and the sound of footsteps.

One of the Despards' six daughters, Rosina, was the first to witness the apparition in the house when she was 19. She described an encounter with the figure of a tall woman dressed in soft black woollen material, holding a handkerchief to her face with her right hand. Her face was never clearly visible, but she was said to be wearing a bonnet. The apparition was eventually spotted by several other family members but died down after 1889.

However, there have been sporadic reports of sightings throughout the decades, up until the 1980s. The last recorded report of a sighting of the apparition was in 1985, when two people witnessed a woman of the same description moving along a footpath that would have once been within the grounds of the house, which by this time had been converted into flats. They were taken aback by the woman's strange, out-of-time clothing.

Luibeilt is a remote cottage in the Highlands, known in Scotland as a bothy, a building that provides shelter for walkers and climbers. The bothy is now completely abandoned and in ruins, but was brought to prominence as a haunted location in Danny Robin's paranormal podcast, 'Uncanny'.

In 1973 two young climbers planned to spend the night in the isolated bothy, upon arrival they found it had been abandoned despite being prepared for Christmas. After bedding down for the night, they experienced a series of strange noises including the sound of objects moving in the upstairs rooms, footsteps and even the clatter of objects being thrown around the room in the darkness with them. There are also reports of a strange dragging sound coming along the gravel path and into the house.

Over the years the house has fallen into a state of disrepair. At one point graffiti seemed to confirm the haunting, with phrases like "do not sleep in this house", "this house is haunted" and "this house is evil" scrawled across the wall.

One possible explanation for haunting is the suicide of John McAlpine, a dear stalker who lived in Luibeilt. The incident was reported in the Aberdeen Weekly News on April 26, 1890. It says McAlpine went out for a walk in the morning in his usual health, but later in the day his wife found in hanging from a rope tied to a cross beam.

Nearly 300 years ago this building was the home of John Flamsteed, he was a personal friend to King Charles II and he was also the first astronomer Royal. Apparently the whole house is haunted, ghostly footsteps are heard, and doors open and close on their own.

A lot of the paranormal activity, like strange noises and dark shadowy figures, seem to emanate from the attic, also known as Annie's room. She was the maid of one of the former residents who lived in the attic, which was used as the servants' quarters. She's been blamed for sightings of the dark, hazy female figure who has been seen in this area and for the house's poltergeist activity.

Built in the 1950s, Heol Fanog is a farmhouse in Wales that for six years from 1989 was the focus of a disturbing haunting and underwent more exorcisms than any other in British history, which resulted in the house being dubbed "Hellfire Farm." The family living in the home reported unsettling activity that began shortly after they moved in, which included disembodied footsteps and an exorbitant electricity bill due to what they believed to be a supernatural power drain.

Over the next few years they experienced banging and thumping, objects moving around the house, farm animals mysteriously dying, unexplained putrid smells, doors slamming in empty rooms and sudden temperature drops. The haunting also had a negative effect on the family's personalities and lifestyles. There were several reports of apparitions including sightings of dark shadowy figures, a hooded figure, a man with head injuries, and an old woman with a hooked nose, who was believed to be a former resident who had died at the property.

Clopton House is a 17th-century country mansion to the north of the town. It was here that Margaret Clopton, abandoned by her lover, ventured out into the night and drowned herself in the ancient well in the house's grounds.

It is thought that her story influenced the story of Hamlet's Ophelia, it's said that her ghostly figure is still seen kneeling by the well.

Seafield House in Westward Ho! has stunning views over the Atlantic but neighbours claim they hear strange noises coming from the property at night, and an elderly lady has been spotted sitting at the window and waving.

Charnock Hall seems like an unlikely location for a haunting, it's not a big old castle or an old remote manor house. It's a house that is said to be very paranormally active and it stands at the end of a quiet cul de sac in the outskirts of Preston.

Charnock Hall has a long history and was once owned by the royal family. In the 17th century, Robert Charnock, a Catholic priest lived here, it was around this time that Catholicism was frowned upon and many services were conducted here in secrecy. Residents have witnessed dark shadowy figures, that look remarkably like priests.

Some who have investigated the house before have reported getting locked inside the bathroom and seeing another person face transform into that of a nun. The electricity is also said to have flicked off in strange circumstances.

The first paranormal experience that the previous owner, Carol Rawlinson, had was when she first moved in to the house and had the stairs removed as part of renovation works. She heard the sound of someone walking up the stairs, despite the fact the new staircase hadn't been installed yet. She said her stereo also frequently turns itself on in the middle of the night. On another occasion, a friend waiting for Carol outside saw a boy bouncing a ball in the upstairs window.

The current owner of this small house, Vanessa Mitchell, who bought the house in 2004, had her first odd experience on the day she moved in to the house. While unpacking, she saw a dark shadow figure, on another occasion she said she was pushed by an unseen force.

The house earned its nickname due to its historical use as a holding cell for witches in the 16th century. 12 local women accused of witchcraft were locked up there, including a witch by the name of Ursula Kemp. She was one of the three women who were eventually found guilty of witch craft, she was hanged for her crimes in 1582.

Some have blamed the ghost of Ursula Kemp for the paranormal activity in the spine chilling house or think that it might be the tortured souls of the plague victims that are coming back to haunt the building. The ghost of the children could be explained by the fact that the witches' offspring would have been locked up with them in The Cage.

Others suspect that the dark energy could be a result of the former resident who took his own life a year before Vanessa moved in to The Cage. Not long after moving in, the former owner who'd hanged himself's death certificate mysteriously appeared in the kitchen while Vanessa was out.

Llancaiach Fawr Manor is a Tudor manor house near the village of Nelson, north of Cardiff. The manor has been ranked one of the top ten most haunted locations in the whole of the UK, so it's no surprise that it features in Cardiff's most haunted places.

The house is thought to have been built in around 1530 by Colonel Edward Pritchard, the colonel plays a major role in several local battles during the English Civil War. To ensure his family was always safe, he converted his home into a fortress, with walls up to four feet thick. He split the manor into to section, one for his troops and one for his family, which provided a safe haven for all. This manor house is not just famous for its ghostly inhabitants, but also for its royal connections.

The kitchen is said to be haunted by a former resident of the house, who's still seen her preparing food. Footsteps are heard on the upper floor in the great hall, sometimes they're so loud that plaster has fallen from the ceiling below. Also in the great hall, which used to be a court, the ghostly figure of a man has been seen who sits staring out of the window. In one of the bedroom, a child's cradle is said to rock on its own.

A twelve-roomed former farmhouse on the outskirts of Stratford-Upon-Avon where the wife of William Shakespeare, Anne Hathaway, lived as a child. The cottage has been in the hands of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust since 1892 and was damaged by fire in 1969. The house is now open to the public as a museum.

The house is said to have a sinister presence in one of the upstairs bedrooms and passers-by have seen what they believe to be the ghost of a female through one of the upstairs windows. The apparition was seen late at night after guests had lift and staff had locked up for the night.

An antique chair is said to move around overnight, as if being returned to its proper place, and an old Bible in the house has on many occasions opened by itself while still in its glass display case.

When Yvette Fielding and the 'Most Haunted' team visited the cottage for their live show entitled, 'The Life And Loves Of William Shakespeare' in 2004. During their investigation a cradle was seen rocking of its own accord.

The dilapidated house at 39 De Grey Street is a former family home, which now lies empty. A home that's fallen victim to poltergeist activity, occupied by tormented child spirits. The property's owner Andy Yates, who moved out of the house ten years ago, said, "before I moved into this house, I was the biggest skeptic you could find," but he says that the things he's seen at the now derelict house are "completely impossible to debunk."

Paranormal activity is said to include objects like knives moving around of their own accord and a full apparition of a girl. The ghosts of three children have been seen, but the house is said to have between 15 and 20 child spirits. There's even been reports of violent attacks in the form of scratching and even a scarf around someone's neck being tightened.

The oldest part of the Clock House was built in the 12th century, it connects via a supposedly haunted panelled corridor to the Georgian part of the house. At the back of the house is a Victorian extension, and to the side Elizabethan outbuildings.

The house was once an episode location for the 'Most Haunted' team, so clearly it has plenty of ghost stories to its name. We learnt in the episode that the current owner, Fred Batt, was followed home from the nightclub he owned by the spirit of Ruth Ellis, the last woman ever to be hanged in the UK.

In a corridor upstairs you can walk through one time of the year and you can smell roses, you walk through another time and you can smell lavender. In several rooms on the third floor there's an oppressive feeling. It is in these rooms where a couple of children died, apparently as a result of illness.

Other reported paranormal activity in the house includes the ghosts of two monks who have been seen in the ground floor corridor that joins the two parts of the house. On the upper floor ghostly footsteps have been regularly heard and a door opens and closes on its own. There's also said to be the ghost of a women wearing a bonnet.

Guests who have stayed at his house have told him they've woken up in the night, half opened their eyes and seen a figure stood near their bed wearing a distinctive hat, the type worn by a beadle. Little did his guests know that a beadle, a church official, used to live in the house.

The Old Hall sits within the grounds of Tatton Hall, in Knutsford, Cheshire. The whole park is now a tourist attractions and the 15th century Old Hall is a listed building.

In the main hall, the original 1490 part of the house, visitors and staff have reported a strangling sensations, almost as if a rope was being gradually tightened around their neck.

Witnesses have also reported hearing guttural moans, loud knocking and footsteps throughout the house and poltergeist activity is said to be commonplace, especially in the old Victorian dining room.

The building is said to be haunted by a number of female spirits and one very powerful male entity called Tom, who was at one time a poacher. He's said to have been a very violent person and then drank himself into an early grave.

Yvette Fielding, who has investigated the building a total of four times as part of the long-running television show 'Most Haunted', has said that "it's one of the most haunted locations I have ever investigated."

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, but was once the private home of Prime Minister George Canning, who claimed to have heard strange noises and have experienced psychic phenomenon.

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. She's now said to haunt the house in the form of a brown mist.

One former resident, 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.

Others who have spent the night in the attic since have ended up dead. 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 aggressive ghost of Myers.

Hall's Croft is one of the more prominent buildings in the centre of Stratford-Upon-Avon. It is also regarded as one of the most haunted. It is here where William Shakespeare's daughter Susanna and her husband lived before taking over New Place in 1619.

Some have reported seeing a blue ghost on the stairs, believed to be the spirit of Betty Leggett who fell to her death here, and the ghost of a young child has been seen skipping through the corridors, as well as the spirit of two American females.

The Enfield Poltergeist case might have topped this list, if it weren't for the fact that after the family at the centre of the case moved out of the property, reports of haunted happenings stopped. But during the peak of the paranormal activity between 1977 and 1978, the house played host to one of the most famous cases of its kind anywhere in the world.

284 Green Street in Enfield in north London is a three bedroom council house and was home to the Hodgson family. During the case, paranormal investigators, mediums and journalists witnessed and logged more incidents of paranormal activity than at any other haunting, making the Enfield case one of the most well documented incidents of its kind ever.

Codnor Castle near Derby is a medieval castle which sits right on the border between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. The castle is now in ruins after it was nearly completely dismantled in 1643 and is surrounded by countryside that has been parkland for a hundreds of years.

The castle grounds are said to be haunted. The most famous story is that of a soldier of the Knight's Templar who was injured in battle and took refuge in the castle over night. The soldier died during the night, and ever since, his rather aggressive ghost has been seen wearing a dull metal helmet in the castle grounds outside the cottage. He's also seen running through the ruin of the great hall.

The grounds are also said to be haunted by a spirit known as the Grey Lady, the name could be linked to the De Grey family who occupied the castle for centuries. It's said she was a heavily pregnant French woman, and died following an accident while out riding her horse. She has since been seen gliding around the estate and the echoes of a French woman singing have been heard.

A 16th century, farmhouse known as Codnor Castle Cottage was built on the grounds of the Codnor Castle estate, it has its own history of murder, suicide and witchcraft. In the foreboding attic space there are several unusual markings, which are believed to have been created to ward off evil spirits.

The paranormal occurrences at cottage range from dark shadows, to poltergeist activity like doors slamming, furniture being moved across rooms, and glasses thrown. There have been countless reports of disembodied voices including singing, laughter, the voices of children, and blood-curdling screams.

Lower Well Head Farm is a remote farmhouse built around 1660 that was made famous due to its appearance an infamous 'Most Haunted Live!' back in 2004. Due to its location at the epicentre of Pendle and due to the fact that older dwellings existed on the land before the current house was built, Lower Well Head and the land around it was alleged to play host to witchcraft. Many of those accused of witchcraft were executed during the 1612 Pendle witch trials.

Is it the spirits of the condemned witches or those of their alleged victims that still roam the house and wider area in the form of tall dark figures? Unexplained screams and whispers are also frequently reported. Others have reported the sensation of being strangled by unseen hands, and a mischievous spirit has been blamed for opening and closing the bedrooms doors.

Shrieves House is one of the oldest structures in Stratford-Upon-Avon having survived the plague, civil war, world war and four major fires. It was for a time known as the Falstaff Experience Museum, and is now the Tudor World Museum, depicting the gruesome past of the town. Elizabeth Rogers lived in the house from 1578 and her nephew was known to be Shakespeare's godson. Her husband, William Rogers, is also thought to have inspired the character of Falstaff.

Visitors have reported seeing phantom soldiers standing on the stairs and a ghostly French maid seen wandering the darkened corridors. People have also reported being pushed and grabbed on the stairs by an unseen force.

Reports of poltergeist activity at 30 East Drive, a typical three-bedroom, semi-detached house on the Chequerfield Estate in Pontefract, started after the Pritchard family moved in to the house in 1966.

The first creepy occurrence was when the family noticed a cascade of chalk-like dust falling from just below the ceiling. This was follow by pools of water that spontaneously appeared in the kitchen, all attempts to dry them up failed.

The family also experienced lights turning themselves on and off, green foam was said to have oozed out of the taps, cupboards shook violently, doors banged, photographs were slashed by sharp blades, and countless object were witnessed levitating or being thrown.

On one occasion a large grandfather clock on the landing toppled over and tumbled down the stairs and smash. And most terrifyingly, the youngest member of the family, Dianne was dragged up the stairs by an invisible force, after the event, red hand marks were clearly visible on her neck.

The house is now a popular venue for ghost hunters and paranormal researchers who visit the property still log countless paranormal occurrences to this day.

Borley Rectory was demolished in 1944 after being damaged in a fire but the legend of the haunting at the Victorian house live on today.