The UK's Most Popular Paranormal Hotspots Of 2020

The medieval castle in the village of Chillingham, was the seat of the Grey and Bennet families from the 15th century until the 1980s when it became the home of Sir Humphry Wakefield Bt. Sir Humphry has spent the last few decades restoring the Grade I listed castle, it is now a tourist attraction offering self-catering apartments.

The castle's haunted reputation is well known and it has played host to the 'Most Haunted' team as well as other paranormal television shows. The most prevalent at the castle include the ghost of a Spanish witch who is said to have put a curse on the castle which is said to bring bad luck on anyone who steals from the castle.

There's also the ghost of Lady Mary Berkeley, she was a former resident of the castle whose husband had an affair with her sister, she died of heartbreak in the Grey Apartment. There's now a painting of her in the room which guests have claimed to see her come out of, other visitors to the castle say they have heard her grey dress rustling in the dead of night.

You might also want to look out for the ghost of a little girl who has been caught on camera in the castle's great hall. And the ghost of John Sage, a soldier who served under King Edward, but after taking a spear to his leg in battle with the Scots, was forced to retreat from the frontline and took up the role of the castle's torture in its fully equipped dungeon.

The castle's most famous ghost is the Blue Boy, it's said that guests see blue flashes of light above their beds or coming from within the castles walls. It turns out that these flashes are the ghost of a boy who was bricked up alive inside one of the walls.

During renovations at the castle the skeleton of a boy with blue clothes was found inside a three meter thick wall, the bones on his fingers were worn away from his attempts at scratching at the wall in a desperate bid for freedom.

Stood overlooking Stoke Park is Dower House, one of Bristol's more prominent landmarks, set on a hill above the M32, one of the main approaches into the city. Within Stoke Park there are two small lakes, the largest of which is Duchess Pond. The bright yellow house was built in 1553 and was once part of Stoke Park Hospital until 1985, it’s since been converted into residential dwellings.

The house and the rest of the Stoke Park estate is believed to be haunted by a 17-year-old by the name of Elizabeth Somerset, who died in 1760. Walkers in the grounds of the house often report hearing the sound of her horse's hooves in the park and surrounding woodland, even though no horses have been allowed on to the land for decades.

It's claimed that the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley has been linked to the dilapidated Carn Cottage on the hill overlooking the village of Zennor in Cornwall. The very whisper of any association has led some locals to believe that the building is haunted, perhaps due to claims that Crowley attempted to summon up the Devil himself there.

Pembrey Woods in Wales was once the location for a 'Most Haunted' investigation. The ancient woodland dates back to around 400 BC and is perched on the coast at the mouth of the Bristol Channel. It's said that passing ships were once lured towards the rocky coastline by, what locals called, the "little hatchet men of Pembrey". The ships would be grounded on the rocks to the south-west of the forest, the little hatchet men would then murder the survivors and loot this ships. The ghosts of the victims are still seen walking on the shore, and ghost ships are often seen.

A former RAF airfield was located near the woods, this is now the Pembrey West Wales Airport, but in its wartime days many damaged planes are said to have crashed into the woods when trying to make it back to the airstrip. The spirits of the dead airmen are said to still roam the woodlands.

The original part of Woolton Hall was built in 1704 for the Molyneux family. Since then, the hall has been home to several notable figures, including the Earl of Sefton and Liverpool shipowner Frederick Richard Leylands. Later in its 300-year history the hall was used as a hospital during WWII, then became a meeting place for the Freemasons, before eventually becoming a school. Today the Grade I-listed mansion is abandoned and decaying.

Paranormal investigators who have ventured into the property have reported an overwhelming feeling of unease and have even heard a sinister growl. The aggressive noise is believed to have been the spirit of a Freemason threatening a female ghost hunter as he tries to enforce the Mason's strict 'no women' rule from beyond the grave.

After the the incident, the investigator, Rebecca Palmer said, "I genuinely feared for my safety. I could tell there was some kind of negative presence around and I was worried it would try to take hold of me."

There is also a report that over 100 years ago, a pregnant lady sadly fell down the stairs inside the home and lost her baby. It is believed that she still walks up and down the stairs, perhaps reliving the tragic accident.

The now derelict building is now a popular location for amateur paranormal investigators as well as urban explorers who document their visits to the property on YouTube.

This location isn't a building or even a landmark, it is in fact nothing more than a crossroad in the Sunderland village of Ryhope. Crossroads are sites where paths cross and over time many peoples' energies cross here. They are said to be very supernaturally active and a point where two realms can meet, and the crossroad at Ryhope is no different.

The spirit of a man carrying a pickaxe and a candle has been seen walking across the green before using his tool to dig into the ground near the memorial, when he is approached he simply vanishes. Despite this haunting's proximity to the war memorial, he's not thought to be a service man. It's said that he is a young man who lived locally in his wealthy parent's estates, but after falling in love with a servant his family disowned him. The man was said to be so upset that he took his own life, which meant he couldn't be buried in consecrated ground, so was buried at the crossroad.

Margam Castle, a sprawling castle in South Wales, and the land it is built on has a grim history that spans over 4,000 years, with tales of death, despair and a family curse.

The land has been considered to be sacred for thousands of years and ancient tribes buried their dead in the surrounding hills. After the rise and fall of the Roman Empire in the area, the site became an early Christian settlement up until 1147, when Margam Abbey was founded and became home to hundreds of cistercian monks. With the end of English monasteries in the 16th century, the Mansel family purchased the land and in 1840 Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot built Margam Castle as an elaborate home using stone and lead taken from the abbey.

Reports of hauntings go back centuries, with claims of dark ancient spirits on the property. Until this day, visitors report cloaked figures on the ground, apparitions on the staircase, shadow figures on the upper floor and feel a negative presence throughout the property.

As well as its hauntings, the castle is also said to be cursed, supposedly because Christopher Mansel Talbot used parts of the dismantled abbey to build his home. Local legend says that this curse has brought tragedy onto the the family and ruined the Talbot line, who all died out, their wealth was squandered and eventually the castle was put up for auction in 1941. During World War II, the castle was given a new lease of life as lodgings for allied troops and they too experienced the strange ghostly phenomenon while based here.

An area of woodland, just outside of Bath, between Bathford and Bradford-on-Avon, that takes its name from a folly tower of the same name, which was built in the middle of the woods in 1848.

The woods are said to be haunted by a young girl called Sally who was murdered in the area, and it's claimed that the birds don't sing here. The A363 which runs through the woods is known as 'Sally in the Woods', and is said to have had more than its fair share of unexplained, fatal car accidents.

Drivers have reported hearing screams coming from the woods at night, others say they've seen a young girl run out into the road.

It's thought that Sally was a gypsy, who lived in a hut in the woods, and was believed by local children to be a witch. Some say Sally was locked up in the tower in the 18th century, without food and water, and was left to die.

Pluckey in Kent holds the title of the most haunted village in the UK, and the local woods, known as the Screaming woods, contribute to this claim. Witnesses have reported hearing screams coming from the woods at night, as well as hearing disembodied footsteps and seeing strange lights in the sky.

Some of the woods resident spooks include an 18th century colonel who committed suicide in the woods, the spirit of a highwayman who was executed in the woods, and the ghosts of many walkers who have gotten lost in the woods. The most recent disappearance was in 1998 when four students went into the woods in search of some strange lights they had seen, their bodies were never found.

The woods are said to have connections to satanic rituals, believed to be performed by a religious cult from the nearby village of Smarden. When a private investigator, Robert Collin, tried to get to the bottom of the cult in 1964, his investigation was cut short after his untimely death in a car accident.

A stunning 4-star Tudor hotel located right in the heart of Stratford-upon-Avon in one of the most historic buildings in the town. The hotel, which is now owned by Mercure, changed its name to The Shakespeare in the 18th century in honour of the local Bard.

The hotel is supposed to be home to several spooks, including the apparition of a cavalier, and the ghost of an elderly man who is often see wandering the corridors. House keeping staff claim to have mistaken the man for a guest. The hotel is also haunted by the ghost of a girl named Lucy. She's said to have hung herself after an assault and now haunts room 203. Her apparition has been spotted by a member of staff and she's said to move guests' belongings around in the night.

It's not known who or what haunts this 350-year-old home which used to be a coaching inn. The semi-detached property has been home to the Hassett family for over 20 years, but as soon as they moved in they started experiencing paranormal activity.

The first thing they experienced was the disembodied sound of children playing, voices and phantom moans coming from the fireplace.

The family have also experienced hearing footsteps, has pictures inexplicable fall from the walls, and witnessed unexplained knock and bangs, and doors slamming own their own.

There has also been sightings of dark apparitions and dark shadowy figure. One family member even reported being awoken in the night by unseen hands shaking him by the shoulders.

The house also has an eerie cellar that contains an old well, a place where the family's dogs refuses to enter.

The grade II listed building, also known as the "urban lockup", is situated on the edge of Accrington town centre and was previously jointly used as a magistrates court and police station by the Accrington division of Lancashire Police.

Since the police moved out in 2016, the building has been abandoned and become a popular haunt for paranormal investigators. The activity experienced at the building is said to range from unexplained knocks and bangs through to loud footsteps and disembodied voices and slamming doors.

The grand hotel, which now stand abandoned on the seafront, was built in 1895 by Edmond Park, the luxury hotel attracted England's wealthiest and most influential, but it was rumoured that after hours Park held séances and strange occult rituals. He mysteriously disappeared in 1899, never to be seen again. Many think that he was murdered in the hotel, cursing the property and his spirit has never left. The story of the curse it well known throughout the town.

Locals say a young soldier drowned in the sea and was brought back to the hotel, where he was pronounced dead. They also tell the tale of a woman named Emma Manson, who was murdered by her husband on the second floor and his body was found hanging in the tower. Another man took his life on the tower too, hanging himself from the outside.

Staff and visitors in the hotel have heard disembodied screams, seen phantom apparitions in the hallways and witnessed a child spirit roaming the building. Lights are said to turn themselves on and off and the property's manager has even caught a demonic face on CCTV.

A stretch of the A22 between London and the Eastbourne area of the East Sussex coast, known as Caterham Bypass, is said to be extremely haunted .

The reports include drivers witnessing the ghost of a dishevelled looking girl who is seen running run across the road, before vanishing into the woods on the other side. Some witnesses have described the girl's clothing as a Victorian dress or nightdress, while others say they've seen the figure wearing 1960s clothing.

She is most often seen in the early hours of the mornings and some say the apparition is the ghost of a girl who lived near Tillingdown Farm and was killed whilst crossing the road.

The Ancient Ram Inn is a Grade II-listed building in Wotton-under-Edge. The pub has been investigated by many paranormal researchers, including the television shows 'Ghost Adventures' and 'Most Haunted'. The building is no longer open as a pub but welcomes thousands of ghost hunters to paranormal events each year.

Some of the most commonly reported activity includes highly localised cold spots, temperature drops, and unexplained icy blasts of air. There's also activity in the form of light anomalies seen with the naked eye and caught on camera. Doors are said to slam on their own, footsteps are frequently heard, furniture is heard sliding around, and mysterious knocking is witnessed.

A former hospital and workhouse in Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales which has been closed since 2009. The eerie building still has many of its fixtures intact from its time as hospital, and original features like the vagrants cells of the workhouse still remain.

The buildings have been left empty and decaying for over a decade. The only visitors to the dark corridors and empty rooms over the last few years have been the lesser horseshoe bats who live in the building, and teams of local ghost hunters. Paranormal activity ranges from doors opening and closing on their own, dark shadow figures, unexplained knocks and bangs, phantom footsteps and disembodied voices.

A historic pub in Swanage, which was originally a row of cottages built in the 17th century. It has over 400 years of history, tragedy and hauntings. The building has been used as a court house, a hospital for soldiers, an ironmonger's and of course, a pub. A former landlady and her daughter died in the pub, adding to the misery and emotion attached to it.

There's been a public house on the site for over 1,000 years, so it's no wonder its got a few stories to tell. The pub is said to be haunted by dark shadows moving across the room, objects inexplicably moving and strange light anomalies have been seen. It's also believed that Edward the Confessor spent part of his early years at the building, in fact its name comes from its English Civil War connections.

According to Rachel Aplin, who bought the pub in 2011, the spirits of these past occupants have never left. After moving in, she experienced a string of paranormal activity and began to open the pub up for ghost tours, allowing local paranormal investigation groups in.

She believes the pub is haunted by Jack Stevens and his family. Jack was a former landlord, who lived in the pub in the 1800s with his sister, Mary, and daughter, Elizabeth.

Cannock Chase in Staffordshire is a former Royal forest with a history of paranormal activity. The most famous ghost, known as the Lady of the Chase, has been witnessed by many visitors to the area. She's been described as tall and slim, with large, dark, hypnotic eyes. The wood is also home to sightings of children with black eyes, some believe them to be the victims of murderer Raymond Leslie Morris.

As well as these ghostly apparitions, walkers have also reported seeing strange lights and UFOs through the trees. But what makes Cannock Chase really creepy is its array of strange animals.

There's the legend of a big cat, a large black panther-like animal, which has been seen countless times in the area. There's also a demonic dog that comes out at night, it's said to have pointed ears and glowing eyes. Could this be the same creature that others have described as looking like a werewolf?

The unassuming former family home at 81 Skegness Road is known around the world as the "Skegness Hell House" due to reported of paranormal activity occurring in the house for more than 30 years.

Jalé Antor moved into the home when she was six, along with her brother Abrahim and her parents, Ottoman and Sylvia. On the very first night in the house she realised it was haunted, on that night she heard knocking on the front door, but found there was no one there. Jalé would play games with a little girl and see her sneaking around the house, then one day she realised that the little girl never aged and would disappear abruptly when they were together. The family believe that this is the spirit of a little girl who used to live at the property before she died.

Slowly the whole family started having paranormal experiences of their own. Jalé and her mother repeatedly encountered the same sinister a dark figure, which they call "the dark man". He is accompanied by a feeling of dread. Meanwhile, Jale's father and brother were deeply effected by the same hauntings, they became reclusive and refusing to speak about it to this day.

The most haunted church in the UK is a Grade I listed building in Surry, with surviving parts of the structure that date back to the Middle Ages.

The most commonly reported ghost at the church is that of an old lady who is seen walking through the main entrance on the north side of the building at exactly 6 o'clock when the church bells are ringing. So clear is her apparition, that most witnesses don't realise they've seen a ghost until they too step into the church and find she's completely vanished, as her spirit is never seen within the building.

One of the oldest claims of paranormal activity dates back to World War II, when fire guards were stationed at the church. They claim to have heard the disembodied sounds of a group of men chanting in Latin and say they saw strange lights moving in the darkness around the church from the tower.

And it's from this tower that visitors have reported seeing the ghost of a lady in white throw herself. Nobody has been able to shed any light on the identity of this White Lady who is presumed to have died as a result of the fall.

More recently, a former priest reported hearing the unexplained sound of horses at the back of the church, could this be connected to claims that Oliver Cromwell once stabled his horses at the church?

Many visitors have reported witnessing a strange semi-transparent curtain drop in between the altar and congregation during services, this was followed by strange lights and shadowy figures, which were visible behind the curtain.

One visitor even witnessed a ghostly church service while the building was empty. The vision of a pre-reformation mass took place at the altar and lasted for several minutes, complete with Latin chanting, swinging thuribles and the scent of incense smoke. The vision came to a sudden end when the rector and church warden arrived.

Built in 1750, the Jamaica Inn is historic, atmospheric, welcoming and supposedly very haunted. The traditional coaching inn is setback from the busy A30 in Bolventor, overlooking Brown Willy, the highest point on Bodmin Moor.

Due to its history of hosting smugglers the pub has been the subject of books, television shows and an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

The paranormal activity at the inn includes the disembodied sound of footsteps throughout the building, unexplained tapping, the sound of children playing and babies crying, and most famously the sound of horses and carts moving in the courtyard.

Room 5, which is said to be one of the most haunted rooms is said to be haunted by the ghost of a mother and child. The young girl is often referred to as Hannah. The ghost of a murdered man has been seen in the main bar and sat on a wall outside the inn.

Guests and staff have reported seeing dark shadowy figures moving through corridors, the restaurant and the kitchen and many visitors have reported being touched by unseen hands while sleeping or having their hair pulled.

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.

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.

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.

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.