Scream! Spooky tales and Halloween tours at ghostly Greenwich
Last updated 9/8/2009 6:09:06 PM
The famous haunted Tulip Staircase
Get scared this Halloween in Greenwich at haunted locations include the Old Royal Naval College, Queen’s House, Greenwich Park and Greenwich Theatre.
Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site in south east London is populated by some interesting ghostly characters and the scene of several sinister tales, many relating back to its royal connections and maritime history.
Several spectres are said to inhabit the Old Royal Naval College, which isn’t surprising when we learn that there’s a 17th century operating theatre below Wren’s masterpiece - marks are still visible where surgeons are said to have sharpened their knives; and a morgue lies underneath James Stuart’s Infirmary, which now houses the University of Greenwich Library.
The Victorian Skittle Alley is drenched in stories of phantom bowlers and skittle pickers, while in the table upon which Lord Nelson's body once rested lies in the Nelson Room, off the Upper Painted Hall.
Admiral John Byng is one of Greenwich’s most well known ghosts; he was kept manacled to a wall in Queen Anne’s Court at the Old Royal NavalCollege, while awaiting his death by firing range in 1757 for failing in his duties at the Battle of Minorca during the seven years’ war.
Witnesses say that he’s always a pleasant and helpful spectre holding doors open for people and assisting workmen.