More Spooky Haunted Places in Britain

London has its share of ghosts but one of the most famous is Captain Kidd’s ghost that hangs out on Execution Dock on the river Thames. He was charged with five counts of piracy and one of murder and was executed by hanging in 1701 despite there being no proof that he was a pirate or a murderer.  The ghost is said to be provoked by the fact that his body was tarred after death and left to hang in chains on the dock for years – until his body was pecked clean of flesh by birds.

One of the most haunted places in the United Kingdom is the Chislehurst caves. These are man-made caves that stretch twenty miles.  They are 8,000 years old and were used by prehistoric man to mine chalk and flint. The caves were also used as an air raid shelter and an underground hospital during World Wart II.   The caves boast the ghost of a lady wearing a gown of white who is often seen floating across the surface of the cave’s underground pool.  Fittingly, the pool is known as the Haunted Pool.

Bettiscombe Manor in Dorset is home to the ghost of an African slave owned by a corrupt man named Azariah Pinney. Pinney promised the dying slave that he would return him to Africa after death. When this did not happen terrifying noises were heard from the slave’s grave.  To stop the noises Pinney removed the man’s skull from the grave and stored it in the attic.  Any attempt to remove the skull has resulted in its mysterious return to the house. In 1963 confusion reigned when it was discovered that the skull was actually the skull of a European woman.  No matter who it is supposed to belong to the skull is very vocal and screams and groans every night. The place is so spooky it has been closed to the public.

Another very haunted place is Athelhampton Hall in Dorset. This is an old castle in which there are many drafts and breezes.  In the nursery there is a wooden cradle that just seems to rock by itself.  The library is filled with invisible pillars are very cold air.  Nobody knows the identity of the spirits that might be generating this paranormal activity.  It is said too be haunted by the ghost of a monkey that has been seen and that plays pranks on visitors.