15 Most Haunted Museums In The UK

Below are 15 museum which are best known for stories of haunting and ghosts within their collections.

Magic Alley & The Creaky Cauldron on Henley Street is a magical museum based around the unusual premise 'what if Shakespeare had been a time-travelling wizard?'. The museum and shop is spread over three floors in the only remaining part of Stratford's historic White Lion Inn. The staff claim that the top floor of the attraction is haunted by a six-year-old boy named Jack.

Looe's Old Guildhall is now a museum and is said to be home to a resident ghost called Jennifer. She was an attractive young girl, who caught the eye of a town official. It's claimed that one night he locked her up in a cells and she was never seen again. Many visitors have reported that they have felt her presence and the museum's volunteer staff acknowledge her by saying hello to her every day.

A hall has stood on the land in some form as far back as at least the 1640s, but the building that we see today opened in 1797 and became the centre of law, order and local government for Dorset until the 1950s. In 2018, the building opened as the Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum.

In 2010, paranormal investigators claim to have captured an image showing the ghostly figure of Judge Jeffreys in one of the corridors. Known as the "Hanging Judge," Jeffreys does have strong links to the town. A little further along High West Street you will find his old lodgings, however the current courthouse was built more than a hundred years after his death.

During recent renovations in 2018, workmen reported that their tools were moving around and being found in obscure places. To test the possibility of a paranormal explanation, they placed several objects on a table in an old cell and marked their outlines with chalk. They locked up the building and left the experiment overnight, the next day they found their tools had indeed moved despite the building being completely empty.

You may not know that in Holborn there was once a London Underground station known as British Museum which served the Central line, it's been abandoned since the 1930s and has a spooky history of its own.

It's said to be haunted by the ghost of an Ancient Egyptian God, he's been spotted dressed in a loincloth and headdress. Five years after its closure two women went missing from the next station on the line, Holborn which is just 90 meters of track away.

Witnesses claimed that they heard ghostly moaning at the time of their disappearance and the Egyptian ghost has been blamed. Some believe that there is a secret tunnel from the underground network which connects with the Egyptian room in the nearby museum.

Now nothing more than ruins, the abbey dates back to the 12th century both the ground of the abbey and the museum which sits within the grounds is said to be haunted. The abbey's most famous ghost is that of a spirit called Mary, who's said to have witnessed her husband taking his own life.

The Abbey House museum feature a mock-up of a Victorian street, lined with shops from that era. The creepy shopfronts created plenty of dark corners for spooks to hide in. The museum is said to be haunted by the former abbott of the abbey. Visitors have reported seeing dark shadows and hearing disembodied voices, screams and footsteps. Some have even reported being grabbed by unseen hands.

The North East Aircraft Museum, part of the Land, Sea and Air Museums based within RAF Usworth, is one of the country's premier collection of aviation history. As well as housing aircraft from the First and Second World War, it's also said to be home to a fleet of ghosts.

Many of the hangars that house the exhibits are said to be haunted with the spirits of the airfield's past, while some are said to be attached to the aircraft that are displayed in them. As well poltergeist activity and an old gramophone that places music of its own accord, other paranormal reports include sightings of the bottom half of a man's body. These ghostly legs are said to belong to the spirit of a pilot of lost his life in a crash.

There's also said to be an angry phantom that hangs around the museum in order to guard his helicopter and the ghost of a Czech collaborator named Gustav Pultiz, who was sent to wartime Britain by the Nazis to steal a plane.

The historic Botanic Gardens Museum in Southport close its doors to the public in 2011, but the building has recently been given a new lease of life by paranormal events company, Most Haunted Experience. As well as serving as a venue for their ghost hunts, the Victorian building has become the home of Most Haunted's very own oddities museum.

The paranormal activity in the building is pretty much untapped and documented accounts are hard to come by, but reports range from sightings of figures staring out of the window at night seen by people walking through the park, items on display in the museum are said to move of their own accord, and the sound of children playing have been heard in the empty exhibition spaces.

The museum and art gallery was founded in 1905 but shared a building with Cardiff Library until its dedicated, present home was completed in Cathays Park in 1922. The museum houses collections of archaeology, botany, fine and applied art, geology and zoology.

As well as the 7.5 million items and exhibits stored within the museum, the building is also home to two ghosts.

The first of the two ghosts is the spirit of the Unionist MP Lord Ninian Edward Crichton-Stuart, his statue stands in Gorsedd Gardens. Lord Ninian tragically died in action during the Great War in 1915. Visitors to the museum claim to have felt his presence around the statue, usually on election nights.

The second ghost that frequents the museum is Arnold Dunbar Smith, an architect who designed the building along with Cecil Brewer. Following Smith's death in 1933, the museum inherited his ashes and they were placed on display in the museum until a few years later when they were moved to make way for new public toilets.

It's believed these renovations and the relocation of his ashes angered Smith and he now haunts the corridors of the museum at night. The haunting has been described as poltergeist-like with reports of furniture and other objects moving.

In the 1960s a paranormal investigator claimed to have made contact with Smith's spirit in the museum's basement, Smith reportedly said "the wrong place," which can only refer to the fact that his ashes were moved.

The activity reported in the Littledean Jail includes the sighting of the ghost of a little boy called James. It's said that he wanders the cells day and night. His presence has been felt by many visitors, who describe him as a friendly and welcoming spirit. The sounds of children crying have also been reported coming from the cells.

Others have reported seeing menacing shadow figures, hearing unexplained footsteps, and seeing doors slam closed of their own accord. There are reports of the museum's exhibits mysteriously shaking; lights have flickered, and objects on display have been thrown by unseen hands.

Perhaps the jail's most unsettling resident spook is that of a former jailer, who is said to make his presence known by touching visitors, throwing things at them, or even appearing in the form of a sinister apparition.

A bus museum is far from the stereotypical haunted location, but the museum in Keighley has its fair share of ghost stories. The museum is packed full of old buses from every era, each one has its own history and story. The depot was formerly a foundry and it too has a very grim past with stories of suicide and accidental death.

One part of the museum which is said to be haunted is the spiral staircase which leads to the upper floor. People have reported hearing whispers and growls here and some have even said they've been pushed by an unknown force. The spook which haunts this particular location is thought to be the spirit of a night watchman who took is own life by throwing himself into a huge vat of molten metal.

Up on the second floor is an area where two old rusting furnaces stand. It's in one of these furnaces that a security guard is said to have fallen in and was killed by the intense heat. All that was found of the man were his legs and many believe his ghost wanders the building.

The Eden Camp Modern History Theme Museum is located on the former camp, which consists of 33 huts, part of a prison camp that was constructed in 1942 to house Italian prisoners. From 1944 the Italian prisoners were moved on and made way for the increasing numbers of captured and surrendering Germans who were held at the camp over the next four years.

After the last of the German prisoners were sent back to their defeated homeland, Eden Camp was used as an agricultural holiday camp and by the 1950s was being used as a storage facility, before becoming abandoned. In the mid-80s local business man, Stan Johnson, bought the derelict and overgrown site and went about turning it into a modern history theme museum, charting every aspect of WWII with each hut having a different theme from the rise of Hitler and the Germany Nazi party to its eventual destruction.

The museum stands as a monument to an emotive past and with so many people visiting, it wasn't long before tales of strange occurrences were being witnessed. Dark shadows slowly moving from hut to hut, disembodied voices in the dead of night and objects moving on their own accord have all been reported.

The Haunted Museum & Spirit Shop opened at the end of 2021 and is home to various haunted artefacts and ghost hunting paraphernalia, including an old granddaughter clock in the séance room. The clock hasn't worked for years, but it's said to resume its steady tick-tock from time to time, as well as letting out the odd unexpected chime.

According to the building's history, a little girl named Sarah was found dead at the bottom of the stairs. Beneath the stairs are copies of the infamous crying boy paintings lining the wall. Two of these prints came from a house where a family suffered from 11 years of hauntings. After these pictures were found in the attic and removed, the activity stopped.

The museum's most famous object is Mary, an old-looking doll that has been seen to violently rock on her chair, has been thrown out of the chair, and her eyes have been seen moving. Many of these incidents have been caught on the museum's CCTV cameras.

Taunton Castle was built in the 12th century and stands on the site of fortification that have been protecting the county town for much longer. The castle has housed Taunton's museum for over 100 years and visitors have reported plenty of paranormal activity due to the building's bloody past.

In 1685, following the Monmouth Rebellion, the infamous Judge Jeffreys held the Taunton Assize in the castle's great hall. He found over 140 of the Duke of Monmouth's supported guilty of high treason and had them hung, drawn and quartered at the castle.

The great hall is the part of the castle that now houses Taunton museum and visitors have reported hearing the disembodied sound of soldiers' boots stomping across the floor. There's also been reports of a Civil War cavalier on the stairs and sightings of the ghost of Judge Jeffreys himself.

There's also reports of the ghost of a grey lady seen wandering the corridors 17th century style clothing and so many member of staff have witnessed poltergeist activity in the Somerset Room that many now refuse to enter.

Guests at the adjoining Castle Hotel have reported hearing the sound of ghostly violin music drifting in through their windows at night and no one knows where the sound is coming from.

True's Yard is now a fishing museum, housed within two 18th century fishing cottages. It is now home to no less than 38 ghosts. The paranormal activity includes doors slamming on their own, disembodied voices and sudden extreme drops in temperature.

The cottages had a grim past, they witnessed murder, misery and suffering. This is said to have resulted in the many hauntings. The spirit of a young boy is frequently reported and the ghost of a young girl who was murdered by her father.

A poltergeist called Henry has been blamed for repeatedly blowing lightbulbs, knocking paintings off wall and throwing objects around the building. Apparition of children are said to have been seen around the building and a mysterious figure has been seen looking out of one of the windows when the building is empty.

The Haunted Antiques Paranormal Research Centre opened in February 2018 on Regent Street Hinckley and houses an eclectic collection of interesting and old artefacts displayed across three main rooms. Every item has some kind of meaningful attachment, it's either a sentimental keepsake, a once-loved toy or a personal object of some kind.

There are hundreds of items on display, everything from a copy of the famous 'Crying Boy' painting and old framed family photographs, to genuine death masks - from the macabre practice of making likenesses of someone's face following their death. One of the most prominent items in the collection is an eerie haunted wartime wheelchair, which featured on ITV's 'This Morning' last year. The show's presenter, Philip Schofield, was brave enough to sit in the chair, which is said to be haunted by the ghost of hundreds of wounded servicemen.

The museum also has a smaller and darker room, known as "the witch's room". This part of the museum houses anything with any remotely negative or evil story attached to it. There's also a dedicated séance room, which is set up to resemble a Victorian parlour. The centrepiece is a large table draped in a black velvet cloth, where visitors can conduct séances.

Various paranormal teams have visited the centre since it opened, including Barri Ghai who's perhaps best known for his appearance in the 2018 ghost hunting show, 'Help! My House Is Haunted'.