The UK's Most Popular Paranormal Hotspots Of 2022

The paranormal activity experienced at Dorchester Prison includes cell doors slamming of their own accord, disembodied voices and footsteps, the jangling of keys on empty wings, and objects being thrown. Dark shadowy figures have reportedly been seen walking across the deserted landings in the cell blocks, and sudden drops in temperature have been felt in empty cells.

The prison's best known ghost is believed to be the spirit of a murderer named Martha Brown. She was executed at the prison after being found guilty of killing her husband. She was hanged at the gallows, which stood where a car park stands today near the prison gates. The apparition of Martha is said to have been seen around the prison.

HM Prison Gloucester in the West of England opened in 1791 to house some of the UK's most notorious criminals. In the prison's early days, over 100 executions were carried out, and the prisoners bodies were buried within the prison, to this day, not all have been found.

Many visitors claim the prison is haunted by a woman called Jenny. It is said she was murdered in the 15th century on the land where the prison was later built. Now her spirit roams that land in search of her killer, her ghost is said to have been seen by many prisoners and guards.

In 1969, a group of inmates conducted a séance in cell 25 of A Wing in an attempt to contact the ghost of Jenny and got more than they bargained for when books and even a flowerpot were thrown around the cell by a supernatural force.

This wasn't the last time the inmates saw Jenny, just a few days later, her disembodied hand appeared to the convict inhabiting cell 25, it pointed directly at him before vanishing as suddenly as it appeared, earning cell 25 the reputation of being the most haunted part of the 200-year-old building.

Staff and prisoners have reported hearing knocks and bangs throughout the prison's buildings, as well as slamming doors and shadowy figures, which have mostly been sighted in C Wing, a newer part of the prison that was built in the 1970s.

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.

Now in ruins, Sutton Scarsdale Hall was once a grand Georgian home to many families, before falling into a state of disrepair. When the hall was put up for auction in 1919, the market for large homes was in decline and the hall did not sell. Instead the hall was bought by a group of local businessmen who stripped its valuable fixtures and fittings, and even the roof.

The ruins have been a regular haunt for paranormal investigators. The hall is said to be haunted by one of its former residents, Nicholas Leke. Some think he has been seen wandering around the ruins and the neighbouring graveyard in the form of a dark shadowy figure. Others have reported orange and white balls of light floating in the sky around the hall.

The most paranormally active part of the property is the cellar where there have been countless reports of the sound of disembodied footsteps, screams and whispers. English Heritage staff working on renovating the building claim to have smelt the smell of tobacco in this part of the hall several times.

Perhaps the creepiest phenomenon to be reported at Sutton Scarsdale is the sighting of a floating dismembered arm, which beckons people down into the cellar, but why anyone would accept that invitation is beyond us.

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.

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.

Elvaston Castle is a Gothic Revival stately home within walking distance of the city centre, which over the years has fallen into disrepair. The castle is said to be the most haunted location in Derbyshire.

Various professional investigations have been conducted in the castle, including by Yvette Fielding and the 'Most Haunted' team, with phenomena being reported including unexplained noises, unexplained apparitions, people being pushed and things being moved.

The castle's ghosts are said to include a maid and "a strong woman", as well as two spirits known as The Grey Lady and The White Lady. The White Lady is said to be the ghost of Maria, wife of the 4th Earl - she's been seen sitting in the windows of the castle, and walking the grounds with a white dog.

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 grade II listed prison, also known as Cornhill was the oldest operating prison in the UK when it closed in 2013. At this time it was home to almost 200 inmates severing the final years of their life sentences.

Dating back to 1625, the prison has a pretty grim past. Originally men, women and children were packed into Shepton Mallet together, apparently in dreadful conditions. The cells held debtors, thieves, vagrants and people with mental health disorders. Poor amenities and primitive sanitation led to frequent outbreaks of ulcers, jaundice, asthma and venereal diseases.

Over the years there were plenty of deaths in this formidable prison, including murders, suicide, accidents and judicial executions. The total number of hangings at the prison is unknown, but some of the documented execution include a local man who battered a 10-year-old girl to death, a man who drowned his wife in the River Avon, and a man who cut his 37-year-old girlfriend's throat.

The body's of executed criminals weren't allowed to be buried in consecrated ground, so they were laid to rest in unmarked graves within the walls of the prison.

With almost 400 years of detaining murderers, violent criminals and notorious gangsters, plus a history of brutal executions, cruel punishments, suicides, and countless dead in unmarked graves within the prison walls, it's no wonder HMP Shepton Mallet is said to be the most haunted prison in the country.

The areas of the prison which are said to be the most active are the prison's eerie kitchens, the general's office, and the exercise yard, which is reportedly haunted by a former inmate, Captain Philip William Ryal, who climbed onto the roof of the prison and took his own life in 1914. Ever since his final words, "get back," have been heard echoing around the yard by inmates.

A cell in A Wing is reportedly haunted by a former inmate who was murdered here, while in B Wing visitors report the most negative energy in the whole of the three-acre site.

C Wing has a regular spook too in the form of a 'white lady', it's said she was wrongly convicted of murdering her fiancé, and sentenced to death in the 17th century. She's seen wearing her wedding dress, which she apparently wore in the condemned cell the night before her execution.

The prison is also said to be haunted by spirit of an American serviceman. He's been seen walking through walls in the prison in his uniform. He's thought to have been killed in the yard by a stray bullet from American army firing squad while overseeing an execution.

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 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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Bishton Hall started its life in the 18th century as a family home, but later became one of the last few family owned and run prep schools in the country. It is fast gaining a reputation as one of the most haunted places in Staffordshire thanks to frequent reports of unexplained phantom footsteps, and disembodied voices.

Other unexplained happenings to occur in the hall include window shutters slamming on the upper floors, door knobs rattling and doors opening and closing themselves, sudden drops in temperature, the haunting sound of a woman screaming, as well as reports of people being touched and pushed.

There has also been sightings of dark mists, shadowy figures and even an apparition of a woman wearing period clothing who has often been seen looking out a window on the upper floor.

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.

A crescent of seven cottages that were converted into the Tudor Close Hotel in the 1930s, which became popular with the Hollywood stars of the day. By the 1950s the hotel's popularity was beginning to fade and it was converted back into separate private dwellings. One of these houses contains the hotel's guest foyer and lounge, original bar, dining room, a wooden telephone booth in the entrance hall and a secret side passage leading from the kitchen to the bar.

It emerged in Danny Robbin's podcast, 'Uncanny' that this house is haunted by a former resident, Elizabeth Dacre, who lived in the house after it closed as a hotel until she died in the 1990s. Elizabeth has been seen in the house walking up the stairs and staring through the front door from outside.

Her apparition has also been seen sitting on a bench outside the neighbouring church where her husband is buried, the bench where she wanted her ashes to be scattered when she died. There's also been reports of a black bird flying around the bedroom, and a whole room full of diners sat around tables in what was the hotel's dining room.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.