Everyone loves a good scary movie where they go to a haunted house and there’s strange goings on and things go bump in the night. However, we often forget that there are really places in the UK where scary goings on really happen to real families. In fact, some places have become so famous for being scary, they have opened to the public has Inns and hotels to let people stay in the rooms as a test of their bravery.
We decided to have a research and find out the top ten scary houses in the UK that you can visit. These are both houses that have had previous scare experiences or have a history for strange goings on and as a result have earned themselves the term “haunted house”.
Jamaica Inn
Jamaica Inn is one of the most famous haunted buildings in the UK. It is based in the lovely town of Cornwall, which is often well known for its lovely beaches, warmish weather and expensive houses. However, Jamaica Inn seems to have a permanent grey cloud over it, inviting people in to experience the bumps in the night and the scary creaky floorboards. Famous for its otherworldly goings on: cartwheels and horses’ hooves in the cobbled courtyard; footsteps in empty corridors; a gentleman in a tricorn hat who walks through walls; and a murder victim outside.
Elvey Farm
Elvey Farm is a lovely little Inn in the middle of Pluckily in Kent which is said to be the most haunted village in the UK according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Mediaeval Elvery Farm is slap bang in the middle of this haunted village and has some spooky stories to tell. There have been tales of an unhappy schoolmaster wandering the vicinity, a soldier, a highwayman, a miller, a man who screams and a white dog.
Ruthin Castle
Any place that offers a Drowning Pit, a dungeon and a Whipping Pit is already screaming horrific things and Ruthin Castle accommodates all those which have had it be named one of the most haunted castles in the UK. The horrific story behind the Castle is that a jealous wife murdered her husband’s lover with an axe which makes this castle an almost certain bet for strange and scary goings on.
The Ancient Ram Inn
The Ancient Ram Inn is also referred to as one of the most haunted houses in Britain thanks to bumps in the night. There has been many creepy things happen here such as child sacrifice, suicide, black magic rituals and it was also used as a hideout by criminals. The current owner, John Humphries believes that he shares his home with two demons, a witch, orbs and other ghostly presences, and many people who have visited the property have described it as the ‘scariest place’ they’ve ever been to.
Tulloch Castle Hotel
The Tulloch Castle Hotel is the place of many different horror stories such as reports of one guest having woken up with two girls sitting on his chest attempting to suffocate him. Other stories are ghosts at the feet of beds, rattling door handles and more noises and on top of that there’s a Green Lady who walks around having died falling down the spiral staircase.
Woodchester Mansion
Woodchester Mansion is an unfinished mansion in Gloucestershire that looks complete from the inside, but has unfinished and bare rooms on the indie already giving a creepy feel to the place. When you add in that there are supposedly phantom horsemen, ghosts that live in the Chapel and more ghosts living in the cellar, this is one creepy building and certainly not one for the lighthearted with its great size and open spaces.
Comlongon Castle
Comlongon Castle is apparently the home of a green lady who leapt from the tower and killed herself breaking open her head and breaking her bones. In fact, to this day, the area onto which she fell, apparently no longer grows grass. There have been reports that she also smells of apples, glows green and moves jewellery around rooms also. If you’re someone that likes your jewellery we would not recommend booking a room in the Carruthers suite at Comlongon Castle.
Chillingham is famous for the scary sounds that can apparently be heard from the infamous ghost named Blue Boy. His bones and some scraps of his blue clothing were found behind a wall where his cries have been heard from apparently behind trapped there. There’s also a tale within the Castle that the rustling of a dress can be heard which is the spirit of Lady Mary Berkeley as she searches for her husband in vain who ran off with her sister.
Talbot Hotel, despite it’s rather modern coffee house and more offerings within the rather delightful setting is apparently home to the Mary Queen of Scots. It’s down the staircase used to adorn the Fotheringham Castle that Mary travelled down before she walked into the executioner’s block. The building offers plenty of oak beams, open fires and transom window bounding to add a bit of a 16th century feel and to give the place a slightly creepier feel.
Located in Dorset, Athelhampton House is reportedly one of the scariest places in the country having had many reports from many different visitors of scary goings on. There has been noises of tapping coming from the wine cellar along with a Grey Lady apparently roaming the house having been seen by multiple guests. Additionally, for those of you more feline-inclined, there’s been sounds of a cat walking around the house tapping it’s little feet along the floorboards.
