The UK's Most Popular Paranormal Hotspots Of 2021

The Dead Street School opened in 1810. The street it was named after got its name after every family living on the road died of the plague, when it swept through Hitchin in 1349. Disease wasn't the only thing to cause mass death on the street. In 1856 the "great fire of Dead Street" destroyed the street, killing many in its path and also burning the school to the ground. A replacement schoolroom opened the following year on the same site.

One guest to the museum saw a man looking over the wall at the raised end of the playground before walking into the toilets. Thinking it was one of their party, they followed him into the toilets only to find they were completely empty. In the main schoolroom, which was once a place of learning for 300 boys, staff have heard disembodied footsteps and frequently report the unnerving sensation that they are not alone.

Through a fire escape in this room and into a back corridor, you'll find the spot where a small, dark shadowy figure was caught on CCTV. Despite many attempts to recreate the phenomena, the cause of the shadow is still a mystery. In a small adjoining classroom, which is now set up to resemble a school room from the time of the Second World War, local paranormal investigators believe they have had intelligent responses from spirits using ghost hunting gadgets.

The gallery classroom is a small, auditorium-style room that would have once had 100 boys crammed into it. Staff have reported hearing the lids of the wooden desks slamming and furniture being dragged around, even while the room has been locked and empty.

Also on the site is the headmaster's house, which the staff refer to as Mr Fitch's house. Fitch was the longest serving headmaster at the school. When he retired he remained in the house and eventually died in the parlour of old age. Since then unexplained footsteps have been heard upstairs when the house is empty, and a shadow figure has been seen walking around the upstairs.

Situated in Long Eaton the school is a popular location for ghost hunters. Evidence collected by these teams include unexplained noises, sightings of dark shadowy figures, and even poltergeist activity. There has been reports of of object moving of their own accord, strange bangs, and the cracking sound of a cane.

There's also been reports of strange light phenomenon, extreme temperature changes, disembodied voices and the unnerving feeling of being watched.

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.

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.

With a reputation as one of the North East's most haunted pubs, the Ship Isis has become a regular haunt for local paranormal investigation teams. The pubs is said to be haunted by the spirit of the infamous serial killer, Mary Ann Cotton and her unfortunate victims. It's said that in the mid 19th-century she killed as many as 21 people, most of which she poisoned with arsenic.

It's said that she buried the bodies of two of her own murdered children in the tunnels lead down to the river Wear from the pub's basement. The spirits make their presences known through disembodied cries, screams and singing and staff, and drinkers have reported seeing the ghost of a woman wearing Victorian-era clothing and a young girl.

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.

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.

Dating back to the 1802, The Village is set in the heart of Mansfield. It was once a a former slaughter house and malt house before becoming a a nightclub in the 1970s. The building was abandoned in 2001, but was given a new lease of live in 2013 when it became a popular laser tag location. However it's not just the building also plays how to regular ghost hunts after reports of strange goings on.

Since 2015 there have been no less that 12 reports of full apparitions sited in at The Village, the most famous being that of Mr. Merryweather, the former owner of the malt house. There's also the ghost of a woman called Catherine who is said to roam the old building who is said to have died by falling down the well now under the building.

The land The Village is built on was once farmland where a barn stood, which had a secret tunnel to St. Peter’s church 500 yards away from the location. Monks at the church used the barn to hide in, until the barn was burnt to the ground with seven monks inside in the 1500s. These seven monks are also said to haunted the building to this day.

Other paranormal activity included a piano which is often heard being played by unseen hands, slamming doors and a strange ghostly mist that was witnessed in the building in 2016.

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.

Over the years there has been many stories of strange occurrences at this majestic building, which was once the home of Sir John de Hoderode, who was the steward at Pontefract Castle. There have been reports of dark shadows have seen wandering the empty corridors, the apparitions of a faceless man and hunched over monk have been witnessed, and the ghost of a servant girl burnt alive after being pushed into a fireplace by an unknown assailant is eager to make her presence known.

The hall's main staircase is said to be haunted by the clear sound of disembodied footsteps and the ghost of a tall man, known locally as Dr Bell, who is often seen walking up and down the stairs. The dark and gloomy attic once would have been home to the many servants that served this great house. Although those glory days are gone, their ghosts are still seen roaming throughout the floor in the dead of night.

There's been a prison on the site since 1793, however the building as it currently stands was built in 1877. The prison has seen thousands of prisoners come and go over the years, including women up until 1922. The prison walls have witnessed many deaths over the years, including, murders, and inmates taking their own lives, so many suicides in fact that an enquiry was opened after three inmates hanged themselves over a period of just two weeks.

The prison's A-wing is said to be the most haunted, perhaps due to its dark history of suicides resulting in sad, angry souls being trapped between this world and the next. Most of those who took their own live did so on A-wing, at one point there was one a week.

Plenty of judicial execution were also carried out at the prison. In 1885 five prisoners were hanged in a single day. The hanging room was used until 1961, and was then converted into a group session room. This is said to be a very active area, possibly due to its location next to the condemned cell and with the mortuary is underneath it.

When the prison was in operation, some officers refused to work in C Wing alone at night, they've reported being pushed down stairs, hearing doors slamming, noises like moving all around them, and footsteps. It's said the atmosphere can change in the blink of an eye.

It is believed that one of the female prisoners has refused to leave, she has been seen dressed in a grey uniform many times walking the upper levels. She walks from cell 3 toward the execution room.

The hotel was one of the grand railway hotels to be built in the UK and is said to be haunted by the ghost of a little girl. She's most frequently spotted on the second floor in an area that was said to have once been a nursery, and people have reported hearing her tricycle in the corridors at night. Her ghost is said to sneak up on female guests as they fill up the baths in the hotel rooms. Some have even claimed that the mischievous spook has pulled their hair.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.