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Celebrations:Christmas in the United Kingdom

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Celebrations:Christmas in the United Kingdom

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Victoria P.

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In the UK (or Great Britain), families often celebrate Christmas together, so they can watch each other open their presents!

Most families have a Christmas Tree (or maybe even two!) in their house for Christmas. The decorating of the tree is usually a family occasion, with everyone helping. Christmas Trees were first popularised the UK by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Prince Albert was German, and thought that it would be good to use one of his ways of celebrating Christmas in England.

Holly, Ivy and Mistletoe are also sometimes used to decorate homes or other buildings.

Most villages, towns and cities are decorated with Christmas lights over Christmas. Often a famous person switches them on. The most famous Christmas lights in the UK are in Oxford Street in London. Every year they get bigger and better. Thousands of people go to watch the big 'switch on' around the beginning of November.

Like a lot of countries, Nativity Plays and Carol Services are also very popular at Christmas time. The Church that I go to always has a Carols by Candlelight Service where the church is only lit up by candles. It is a very special service and always makes me feel very Christmassy! Lots of other British churches also have Carols by Candlelight and Christingle services. The most famous UK Carol service is the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols which is broadcast on Christmas Eve at 3.00pm from the chapel of King's College, Cambridge.

Children believe that Father Christmas or Santa Claus leaves presents in stockings or pillow-cases. These are normally hung up by the fire or by the children's beds on Christmas Eve. Children sometimes leave out mince pies and brandy for Father Christmas to eat and drink when he visits them. Now, it's often a non-alcoholic drink that's left because Santa has to drive his sleigh.

Children write letters to Father Christmas/Santa listing their requests, but sometimes instead of putting them in the post, the letters are tossed into the fireplace. The draught carries the letters up the chimney and Father Christmas/Santa reads the smoke.

There are some customs that only take place, or were started, in the UK. Wassailing is an old anglo-saxon custom that doesn't take place much today. Boxing Day is a very old custom that started in the UK and is now taken as a holiday in many countries around the world.

In the UK, the main Christmas Meal is usually eaten at lunchtime or early afternoon on Christmas Day. It's normally roast turkey, roast vegetables and 'all the trimmings' which means vegetables like carrots & peas, stuffing and sometimes bacon and sausages. It's often served with cranberry sauce and bread sauce. Traditionally, and before turkey was available, roast beef or goose was the main Christmas meal. One vegetable that is often at Christmas in the UK are brussel sprouts. I love them but lots of people don't!

Dessert is often Christmas Pudding. Mince pies and lots of chocolates are often eaten as well!

Trifle is also a popular dessert at Christmas. It's made in a large bowl and consists of a layer of sponge cake (or sponge fingers) at the bottom of the bowl (which is often soaked in sherry or brandy) then there's a layer of fruit (normally suspended in a fruit flavored jelly) and it's topped with a layer of custard and then whipped cream. In Scotland there's a variation called 'Tipsy Laird' which uses whiskey to soak the sponge and the fruit are raspberries.

The dinner table is decorated with a Christmas Cracker for each person and sometimes flowers and candles.

The UK is also famous for Christmas Cake - some people love it and some people really don't like it! It's traditionally a rich fruit cake covered with marzipan and icing - and often top with Christmas themed cake decorations like a spring of holly.

At 3.00pm on Christmas Day, the Ryoal Christmas Message is broadcast on TV, radio and online in the UK. The tradition of a Royal Christmas Message started in 1932 by King George V. Queen Elizabeth II gave her first Christmas Message in 1952. It was first broadcast on TV in 1957. The speech is now pre-recorded a few days before Christmas. It's actually broadcast first in New Zealand and Australia (at about 5am UK time) as they start Christmas Day earlier!

In North Derbyshire and South Yorkshire (in the north of England), some very special carol singing, called 'The Sheffield Carols', happens in some pubs during the weeks leading up to Christmas (the traditional day for sorting the carol singing is Armistice Sunday near the middle of November). The pubs are often rural and out on the hills in that part of England. The carols are often very local ones and the same carol often varies from pub to pub. Not all the carols are ones about the Christmas story. The pubs are often packed, especially the nearer it is to Christmas. The singing can be lead/accompanied by local folk musicians, an organ in the pub or sometimes the singing is un-accompanied. You can find more about these carol singing sessions on these sites: www.villagecarols.org.uk/ (there are some wonderful recordings of the carols being sung on there as well) and www.localcarols.org.uk/ (goes to another site).

In the UK, it doesn't snow very often, but people always want to know if it will be a 'White Christmas'. The British definition, used by the UK Meteorological Office (who say if it has been a White Christmas in the UK or not!), is that a single snow flake has been seen falling in the 24 hours of Christmas Day! This doesn't happen a lot in the UK!!! You can find out more on the UK's 'Met Office' site... (goes to another site)

Statistics show that in the UK, they get an official White Christmas about every 4 or 5 years and have real snow at Christmas about 1 in 10 years (but often this is only normally in Scotland!).

One sure way of getting some snow into Christmas in the UK is by watching the popular cartoon 'The Snowman' which is about a boy's adventure when his snowman comes to life. The animation was first shown on UK TV on Boxing Day in 1982. It's based on story book of the same name by the children's author and illustrator Raymond Briggs. For many families, it's now a 'must watch' over Christmas. (When I was at Primary/Elementary School in the 1980s, it was always shown to the school on the last morning before the Christmas holidays!) The Snowman also featured the song "Walking in the Air". In the animation, it was sung by Peter Auty, a choirboy at St Paul's Cathedral in London. However, the song became very famous in 1985 when it was used in a Christmas TV advert for the 'Toys "R" Us' chain in the UK. This time, it was sung by a choirboy called Aled Jones. Aled Jones is now an adult and is a TV and Radio presenter! The song has been recorded by lots of different people and groups (including an adult Aled singing a duet with his younger self) and is now a real UK 'Christmas classic'! In 2012 a sequel to The Snowman called "The Snowman and the Snowdog" was shown on Christmas Eve.

In Scots (a Scottish dialect) Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Blithe Yule'; in Gaelic it's 'Nollaig Chridheil'; in Welsh (which is spoken in some parts of Wales it's 'Nadolig Llawen', in Cornish (spoken by some poeple in Cornwall in south west England) it's 'Nadelik Lowen' and Manx (spoken by some people on the Isle of Man) it's 'Nollick Ghennal'. Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.

Find out more about the History of Christmas in the UK...

Scotland

The 'ban' on Christmas also took place in Scotland as well as England but it lasted longer. Its ban started in 1640 when the Scottish Parliament made the celebration of "Yule vacations" illegal - this was before the laws were made in England! This law was repealed in 1686 but the Church in Scotland was still very opposed to any Christmas celebrations. Christmas was only made a public holiday in 1958 and Boxing Day only became a holiday in 1974! Because of this, for 400 years, Christmas was celebrated much more quietly in Scotland.

In Scotland, New Year's Eve (which is called Hogmanay) became much more important than Christmas and is still a very important celebration! The word Hogmanay comes from a kind of oat cake that was traditionally given to children on New Year's Eve.

All across the UK, in cities and towns, there are fireworks to celebrate the New Year. Two of the most famous fireworks displays are in London, along the River Thames, and in Edinburgh at the Hogmanay celebrations.

Also in Scotland, the first person to set foot in a house in a New Year is thought to have a big effect on the fortunes of the people that live there! This is known as 'first-footing'. Generally strangers are thought to bring good luck. Traditionally dark haired men are the most lucky - but this can depend on the area of the country you live in. In parts of northern England it is sometimes said that a stranger coming through the door carrying a lump of coal will bring good luck. Cleaning the house for to welcome the new year is an old Hogmanay tradition.

Wales

In parts of South Wales, there is the tradition of the 'Mari Lwyd' wassailing horse. The horse isn't a real one, but is a horse's skull that's decorated with ribbons and put on the top of a pole; the 'body' is a large cloth or blanket that someone hides under. The horse and its followers (the 'leader' who is dressed smartly and other men dressed up, sometimes as 'Punch and Judy') go from house to house, playing music and singing songs. No one is really sure how it started or got its name! You can find out more about the Mari Lwyd on Wales.com (goes to another site)

In some a few villages in North Wales there's a very old a special type of carol singing called Plygain singing which happens in Welsh chapels. Plygain services now normally take place during evening services leading up to Christmas. But Plygain started as an early morning service on Christmas day from about 3am to 6am. The word Plygain comes from a term meaning the cock crowing.

All the carols are based on Bible stories, not just the Christmas story, and all the carols sung in Welsh and are unaccompanied. Some are very old carols which have been passed down within one family for generations and they are only sung by people in that family.

People and groups take it in turn to go to the front of the chapel and sing their carol. There's normally no introductions or set order, it all happens spontaneously. When all the people/groups have taken a turn, the order starts again with different carols. Traditionally there was a short gap or silence between the songs so people could think about the Bible stories and words of the carols.

The last carol of the service is the 'supper carol' (Carol y Swper) and it's normally sung by all the men who have sung carols during the Plygain (traditionally only men sung carols but now anyone can). You can find out more about Plygain singing on the site for the Museum of Wales and on the Wikipedia page about Plygain singing (goes to other sites).

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Christmas in the United Kingdom on whychristmas?com

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In the UK (or Great Britain), families often celebrate Christmas together, so they can watch each other open their presents! Most families have a Christmas Tree (or maybe even two!) in their house for Christmas. The decorating of the tree is usually a family occasion, with everyone helping.

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Mario Luna Mata

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Traditions in England have been around for centuries. British traditions are famous worldwide. When one thinks of Britain, you imagine people drinking tea, wearing bowler hats and gorging on fish and chips. Sports, food and music, are tightly knit traditions in Britain.

Guy Fawkes Night

Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated on the 5th of November each year. Guy Fawkes was the mastermind of the Gun Powder Plot in 1605, which failed when he attempted to destroy the House of Parliament. These night traditions celebrated famously in East Sussex, and Lewes commemorates this fail by having firework displays, bonfires, torch-lit processions and pagan rituals.

Daylight Savings Time

It is a tradition observed by England. Clocks are moved back one hour and takes place one week ahead of daylight savings time in America.

Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day

If America is famous for its Mardi Gras, England is known for Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday takes place before the start of Lent and is celebrated by Christians across the country by making pancakes. Pancakes are similar to crepes in England accompanied by golden syrup, sugar or lemon.

Christmas

Christmas celebrated on 25th December is a big holiday for the British people. The season is lovely, and since Thanksgiving is not an occasion for celebration in England, Christmas comes early for the British people. Nativity plays and carols are traditional along with City centres everywhere decorated with Christmas trees. The most famous Christmas tree can be found lit in all its glory at Trafalgar Square in London. Santa Claus is called Father Christmas and will appear in the night, on Christmas Eve. Traditional food left for Father Christmas includes mince pies and sherry or brandy. Christmas lunch or dinner served on Christmas Day consists of roast turkey, baked potatoes, carrots, parsnip, mini sausages, Brussels sprouts and Yorkshire pudding. Christmas crackers are another tradition with each guest or family member receiving one.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas and almost like an extension of the main holiday. People spent time with their families and loved ones, as many are tired or off from work. Typical traditions include watching sports, playing games, hunting, going for walks and eating Christmas leftovers. People also love to shop on Boxing Day.

New Year's Eve

The largest celebration of fireworks explodes at midnight over the London Eye. Big Ben chimes and rings in the New Year and British people sing Auld Lang Syne. Crowds gather at Trafalgar Square or Piccadilly Circus.

Poppy Day or Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day pays homage to the men and women who died during World War I and World War II. It is a commemoration held in November with people wearing red poppies.

Vocabulary:

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Traditions in England have been around for centuries. British traditions are famous worldwide. When one thinks of Britain, you imagine people drinking tea, wearing bowler hats and gorging on fish and chips. Sports, food and music, are tightly knit traditions in Britain. Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated on the 5th of November each year.

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Víctor F.

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Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Day -- Easter Customs and Traditions -- whyeaster?com

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whyeaster?com answers your Easter questions. Information includes how Easter traditions and customs came into being, how Easter is celebrated in different countries around the world and most importantly why Easter exists, to celebrate and remember what Jesus did for us.

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Marcos H.

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St George's Day - The National Day of England

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A story dating back to the 6th century tells that St George rescued a maiden by slaying a fearsome fire-breathing dragon. The Saint's name was shouted as a battle cry by English knights who fought beneath the red-cross banner of St George during the Hundred Years War (1338-1453).

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Iván Nikolov Kartulev

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Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Firework Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in the United Kingdom. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605 O.S., when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords.

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Jorge Benitez

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Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit. ‘the Day of the Festival of Patrick’), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.

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Shrove Tuesday (also known in Commonwealth countries and Ireland as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the day in February or March immediately preceding Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), which is celebrated in some countries by consuming pancakes.

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Lucía Martín

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Shrove Tuesday (also known in Commonwealth countries and Ireland as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day) is the day in February or March immediately preceding Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), which is celebrated in some countries by consuming pancakes.

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Ariadna sanz

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People in Wales and those of Welsh origin celebrate the life of their patron saint, St David, and the Welsh culture on March 1 each year. Many people pin a daffodil or leek to their clothes and some, especially children, wear traditional costumes.

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Leire.P

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St. Swithin's Day: St. Swithin's Day, (July 15), a day on which, according to folklore, the weather for a subsequent period is dictated. In popular belief, if it rains on St. Swithin's Day, it will rain for 40 days, but if it is fair, 40 days of fair weather will follow.

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Victoria P.

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Alba F.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day

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Leire.P Emma.R Vicky.P

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Ghost legends: a ghost in the house of a family

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Ghost legends: a ghost in the house of a family

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Alba F. Henry G. María A.

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Family Refuse To Live In Their Haunted House Because Of Ghosts

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Lucía M. & Ariadna S.

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Newsham Park Hospital Ghost Hunts - Poltergiest Activity

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Alejandro G.

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A black dog is a spectral or demonic entity found primarily in the folklore of the British Isles. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal apparition, some of them shapeshifters, and are often said to be associated with the Devil or described as a ghost or hellhound.

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María A.

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Ciertos rincones de Londres guardan memoria de hechos trágicos ocurridos hace siglos que hoy forman parte de las leyendas urbanas. Uno de esos sitios es el callejón empedrado que, con el nombre de Bleeding Heart Yard, sale de la calle Greville, en la zona de Clerkenwell, Camden, cerca de la estación Farringdon Rail. La leyenda [...]
Sigue leyendo

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Ciertos rincones de Londres guardan memoria de hechos trágicos ocurridos hace siglos que hoy forman parte de las leyendas urbanas. Uno de esos sitios es el callejón empedrado que, con el nombre de Bleeding Heart Yard, sale de la calle Greville, en la zona de Clerkenwell, Camden, cerca de la estación Farringdon Rail.

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Mario L.

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Since ancient times, ghost stories-tales of spirits who return from the dead to haunt the places they left behind-have figured prominently in the folklore of many cultures around the world. A rich subset of these tales involve historical figures ranging from queens and politicians to writers and gangsters, many of whom died early, violent or mysterious deaths.

What Is a Ghost?

The concept of a ghost, also known as a specter, is based on the ancient idea that a person's spirit exists separately from his or her body, and may continue to exist after that person dies. Because of this idea, many societies began to use funeral rituals as a way of ensuring that the dead person's spirit would not return to "haunt" the living.

Did you know? The notorious mobster Al Capone has reportedly appeared to disrespectful visitors at his funeral plot in an Illinois cemetery. Spectral banjo music has supposedly been heard coming from inside Capone's old cell at Alcatraz, where he was one of the first inmates.

Places that are haunted are usually believed to be associated with some occurrence or emotion in the ghost's past; they are often a former home or the place where he or she died. Aside from actual ghostly apparitions, traditional signs of haunting range from strange noises, lights, odors or breezes to the displacement of objects, bells that ring spontaneously or musical instruments that seem to play on their own.

Early Ghost Sightings

In the first century A.D., the great Roman author and statesman Pliny the Younger recorded one of the first notable ghost stories in his letters, which became famous for their vivid account of life during the heyday of the Roman Empire. Pliny reported that the specter of an old man with a long beard, rattling chains, was haunting his house in Athens. The Greek writer Lucian and Pliny's fellow Roman Plautus also wrote memorable ghost stories.

Centuries later, in 856 A.D., the first poltergeist-a ghost that causes physical disturbances such as loud noises or objects falling or being thrown around-was reported at a farmhouse in Germany. The poltergeist tormented the family living there by throwing stones and starting fires, among other things.

Three Famous Historical Ghosts

One of the most frequently reported ghost sightings in England dates back to the 16th century. Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, was executed at the Tower of London in May 1536 after being accused of witchcraft, treason, incest and adultery. Sightings of Boleyn's ghost have been reported at the tower as well as in various other locations, including her childhood home, Hever Castle, in Kent.

America's own rich tradition of historical ghosts begins with one of its most illustrious founding fathers: Benjamin Franklin. Beginning in the late 19th century, Franklin's ghost was seen near the library of the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; some reports held that the statue of Franklin in front of the society comes to life and dances in the streets.

Though many ghost sightings have been reported at the White House in Washington, D.C., over the years, perhaps no political figure has made so frequent an appearance in the afterlife as Abraham Lincoln, the nation's 16th president, who was killed by an assassin's bullet in April 1865. Lincoln, formerly a lawyer and congresseman from Illinois, is said to have been seen wandering near the old Springfield capitol building, as well as his nearby law offices. At the White House, everyone from first ladies to queens to prime ministers have reported seeing the ghost or feeling the presence of Honest Abe-particularly during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, another president who guided the country through a time of great upheaval and war.

Haunted Places

Some locations simply seem to lend themselves to hauntings, perhaps due to the dramatic or grisly events that occurred there in the past. Over the centuries, sightings of spectral armies have been reported on famous battlefields around the world, including important battle sites from the English Civil War in the 17th century, the bloody Civil War battlefield of Gettsyburg and the World War I sites of Gallipoli (near Turkey) and the Somme (northern France).

Another particularly active center for paranormal activity is the HMS Queen Mary, a cruise ship built in 1936 for the Cunard-White Star Line. After serving in the British Royal Navy in World War II, the 81,000-ton ship retired in Long Beach, California in 1967; the plan was to turn it into a floating luxury hotel and resort. Since then, the Queen Mary has become notorious for its spectral presences, with more than 50 ghosts reported over the years. The ship's last chief engineer, John Smith, reported hearing unexplained sounds and voices from the area near the ship's bow, in almost the same location as a doomed British aircraft cruiser, the Coracoa, had pierced a hole when it sank after an accidental wartime crash that killed more than 300 sailors aboard. Smith also claimed to have encountered the ghost of Winston Churchill-or at least his spectral cigar smoke-n the prime minister's old stateroom aboard the ship. Many visitors to the Queen Mary have reported seeing a phantom crewmember in blue overalls walking the decks. Around the ship's swimming pool, reports have been made of mysterious splashes and ghostly women in old fashioned bathing suits or dresses, along with trails of wet footsteps appearing long after the pool had been drained.

Among major cities, New York is especially rich with ghost stories. The spirit of Peter Stuyvesant, the city's last Dutch colonial governor, has been seen stomping around the East Village on his wooden leg since shortly after his death in 1672. The author Mark Twain is believed to haunt the stairwell of his onetime Village apartment building, while the ghost of poet Dylan Thomas is said to sometimes occupy his usual corner table at the West Village's White Horse Tavern, where he drank a fatal 18 shots of scotch in 1953. Perhaps the most famous New York ghost is that of Aaron Burr, who served as vice president under Thomas Jefferson but is best known for killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804. Burr's ghost is said to roam the streets of his old neighborhood (also the West Village). Burr's spectral activity is focused particularly on one restaurant, One if By Land, Two if By Sea, which is located in a Barrow Street building that was once Burr's carriage house.

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History of Ghost Stories - Early Sightings, Famous Ghosts & Haunted Places

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Since ancient times, ghost stories-tales of spirits who return from the dead to haunt the places they left behind-have figured prominently in the folklore of many cultures around the world.

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Leire P.

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I have certain favorites among all the ghost stories out there. In England, one such straddles the line between ghostlore and folklore: Herne the Hunter, who haunts Windsor Forest, around the eleventh century castle of the same name.

Folklore experts-among them the generally discredited Margaret Murray-point out that Herne, who is usually depicted as a man wearing a helmet made of a deer's antlers, bears a striking resemblance to the Celtic god Cernunnos, lord of the forests, animals, and fertility.

Herne has also been linked to the Wild Hunt, a spectral band of riders, horses and hounds originally from Norse and Germanic mythology. (Other ethnic folklore has taken up the Wild Hunt; there's even a Cajun version in Louisiana lore know as the Chasse Galerie, composed of those who hunted on the Sabbath instead of going to church.)

Historically though, Herne's story goes something like this: Herne was a forest warden (we'd call him a park ranger or a game warden) in Windsor Forest during the reign of King Richard II (r. 1377-1399). On a hunt one day, he saved the king from being gored to death by a wounded stag by throwing himself in front of the animal. Herne was mortally wounded, but a man who has been described as a wizard appeared out of nowhere and told the king that if the dead stag's antlers were cut off and tied to Herne's head he would recover. This was done, Herne got well, and the king bestowed so many favors upon him over the next several years that jealous fellow huntsmen went to the king and accused Herne of witchcraft. A search of Herne's hut in Windsor Forest revealed a crude altar on which were found the skulls of several animals-the exact species the royal hunt had killed that day. In fourteenth century England, as in most medieval societies, witchcraft was considered a form of heresy; accused witches would be tried in ecclesiastical courts and burned to death. Rather than face such a fate, Herne ran out into Windsor Forest and hanged himself from a giant oak tree. Until 1796, one particular ancient oak was pointed out as "Herne's Oak"; the tree that was blown down in an 1863 storm, and famously burned in her own fireplace by Queen Victoria "to lay the ghost" was a tree planted to replace the original, which actually stood in another location.

As a ghost, Herne was a well-established Windsor tradition by the time of Shakespeare; in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600) he's used to play a joke on the foolish lovelorn Sir John Falstaff. As Mrs. Page says in Act IV, scene iii:
There is an old tale goes that Herne the hunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest,
Doth all the wintertime, at still midnight,
Walk round about an oak, with great ragged horns. . .
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Received and did deliver to our age
This tale of Herne the hunter for a truth.

Sightings of Herne are bad omens. He is such in Harrison Ainsworth's novel Windsor Castle (1843); Henry VIII's repudiation and judicial murder of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, follows an encounter with the old huntsman. Herne is said to have appeared in 1931, just before the Great Depression affected Great Britain, and again in 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. He was said to have been seen on horseback in 1962, racing through Windsor Forest accompanied by great hounds of a breed not seen in England in nearly seven centuries. The most recent report comes from the early 1970s, when an investment banker, facing fraud charges, was allegedly found a suicide, hanging from an oak; he is said to have left a note claiming to have seen Herne just before he hanged himself.

Nobody I'd want to meet in Windsor Forest, ol' Herne-

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I have certain favorites among all the ghost stories out there. In England, one such straddles the line between ghostlore and folklore: Herne the Hunter, who haunts Windsor Forest, around the eleventh century castle of the same name.

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Emma Rodríguez

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Ghost Myths I have defined as well known accounts of hauntings that may very well contain some element of truth. However, the tales appear to me to have been embellished and are now more 'folklore' than accurate descriptions of real British ghosts.

Ghost Legends on the other hand, are true, 'ghost stories', but where the phantom is not quite what it appears to be!

Myths

50 Berkeley Square, London
One of the most enduring British ghost myths, concerns not a castle or battlefield but an unimposing house in the centre of London that is home to a respectable antiquarian book-sellers. If the stories about 50 Berkeley Square are to be believed then something very evil can, or at one time could, be found there.

Highgate Vampire, London
Although not strictly a ghost, reports of the Highgate Vampire in the 1980's, made this one of London's most famous alleged hauntings. But was the ghoul the capital city's answer to the Count Dracula or was the Highgate Vampire, as a court suggested, nothing more than a man dressed up in fancy clothes?
Whatever the truth of the vampire's origin, the actions of those seeking it would not be out of place in a Hammer Horror film.

Unlucky Mummy!, British Museum, London
With all the many mummies and religious and ceremonial items housed within its walls, you would be forgiven for assuming that the British Museum was associated with many ghost myths. But you would be wrong.
There used to be reports of a ghost of an ancient Egyptian, dressed in loincloth and headdress, who was to be seen in the, long since closed, British Museum underground station.
But the most famous British Museum ghost legend is associated with a 3,500 year old coffin lid from a haunted mummy-case of a Theban priestess of the Egyptian sun-god, Amen-Ra.

Okehampton Castle, Devon
The ghost legend attached to the ruined castle of Oakhampton is of another 'Green Lady'. The story is that every night, Lady Frances Howard is condemned to pick a single blade of grass from the castle grounds and then to be driven by a headless coachman in a coach made of the bones her four husbands whom she outlived to her old home in Tavistock. Once she has picked all the grass, so the story goes, then she will find peace. Of course, the suggestion is that her spouses met an untimely end at her hands but there is not the slightest evidence that she had anything to do with their deaths.
So much for the ghost legend. Much more reliable are the numerous reports of a spectral black dog that has been seen.

Legends

Hammersmith Ghost, London
If there weren't legal accounts of this event, it would probably be thought of as being the plot for a film.
But, not only is the Hammersmith Ghost a historical event it led to the genuine haunting of a pub.

Cripplegate Ghost, London
Here is another 'ghost legend' that is named after the place in London where it took place. The tale of the Cripplegate Ghost has passed into folklore, the events being associated in the retellings with many different women, including Sir Walter Scott's mother. As far as I know, the name of the lady concerned is not known although the church where it happened is.

It may be a phantom in name only, but according to the site of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ( RSPB), the tortoiseshell butterfly can be seen in Britain, 'between March and October'.

So there is something definitely very peculiar about the fairly regular, and most definitely welcome, appearance of the phantom butterfly at the Theatre Royal, Bath around Christmas time.

Return from Ghost Myths and Legends to Real British Ghosts

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Ghost Myths I have defined as well known accounts of hauntings that may very well contain some element of truth. However, the tales appear to me to have been embellished and are now more 'folklore' than accurate descriptions of real British ghosts.

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Victoria P.

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Scottish Folklore - Ghosts, Myths and Legends | VisitScotland

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Scottish Folklore - Ghosts, Myths and Legends | VisitScotland - Intro

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Delve into Scottish folklore with our eerie ghosts, myths and legends eBook. Explore Edinburgh's underworld, learn how to tame the kelpie and more!

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Ghost legends

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Ghost legends: 9spooky stories about british royal ghosts

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Ghost legends: 9spooky stories about british royal ghosts

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Alba F.

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From Elizabeth I to Henry the VIII still hobbling about Windsor Castle, royal ghosts have been making the rounds about Britain for centuries.

Savvapanf Photo/Shutterstock

Anne Boleyn

King Henry VIII's second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn, was beheaded by sword in the Tower of London on May 19, 1536 after she was accused by her husband of adultery and incest with her brother. Perhaps innocent of her crimes, Anne's restless spirit has been rumored to roam by the Queen's House, near where she was executed. She has also been spotted at the head of a procession of Casper-like lords and ladies at the Chapel Royal of St. Peter and Vincula. She is buried beneath the Chapel's altar. Her headless body has also been spotted gliding across the corridors of the Tower. And according to HistoricUK.com, on the anniversary of her death, Anne has made an appearance at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, where she may have been born. Read more about famous ghost stories with logical explanations.

Queen Elizabeth I

Anne Boleyn's daughter never married and ruled Britain for 44 years and has never really left. The Virgin Queen has been spotted in Windsor Castle floating from the royal library to an inner room. Other members of the royal family have said to have interacted with this most famous monarch's spirit. Both King George III and King Edward VII, said they saw a woman dressed in a black gown who may have been the Queen. In fact, King George III supposedly spoke to the most royal of ghosts where she told him she was "married to England." But King George VI, father to Queen Elizabeth II, has them both beat as he has claimed to have seen the Tudor Queen eight nights in a row upon the onset of WWII. Most recently, Steve Wesson, in an investigation with UK Ghost Hunts, visited Strelley Hall, in Strelley, Nottinghamshire and claimed to have captured Queen Elizabeth I hovering in a cellar archway on film. Supposedly she'd slept in Strelley Hall at one time. Find out the most haunted places in America.

Catherine Howard

Not be outdone by her executed predecessor and second cousin, Anne Boleyn, Queen Catherine was only a teen when she became King Henry VIII's wife and only a mere 19 years old when she was killed for the same reason as Anne: Adultery. Although she may have been cheating on her very much older and sickly sugar daddy of a King, and affairs are no stranger to the modern royals as well, it was considered treason. Young Catherine begged to speak with Henry VIII after escaping her apartment in Hampton Court where she'd been imprisoned, only to be dragged back by the guards. She never did get to plead her case to her husband. Perhaps that is why she has been spotted running down the "Haunted Hallway" screaming and crying.

Prince Edward V and Prince Richard, Duke of York

These two young boys were taken to the Tower of London in 1483 because King Richard III did not want his nephews to usurp him as king. Only 12 and 9 years old when they were locked away, no one really knows what became of them, although some believe they were likely killed. Their apparitions can be spotted staring from the windows of the ghostly tower. According to Haunted Places in the World, "the princes have been spotted in the Bloody Tower wearing white nightgowns and holding hands. They never make a sound and can only be seen for a few fleeting moments before they fade into the stonework." Read on for chilling real ghost stories that will make a believer out of you.

King Edward VII's Secretary

The royal family is no stranger to stories of scandal ( even Queen Elizabeth has her share), you need a thick skin to survive-or not. Although it may not seem like a big deal, back during King Edward VII's reign from 1901 to 1910, his private secretary, Major John Gwynne, caused quite a stir when he divorced his wife. Conscious uncoupling may be a thing today but back in the 1900s divorce was a big no-no. Major Gwynne couldn't handle the scrutiny and rumors. After being shunned by his upper-crust peers the pressure got to him and he took a bullet to his own head in the first-floor office of Buckingham Palace. The Queen's official workplace staffers have reported a strange aura in that room and supposedly a single gunshot has been heard coming from that room.

Dame Sybil Penn

As nurse and servant to Prince Edward and Queen Elizabeth I, it is likely that Dame Sybil Penn would have been exposed to lots of germs in Britain. In 1562, she succumbed to smallpox and died, but as a faithful servant and caregiver, she continues to visit the Victorian family at Hampton Court Palace-although according to palace officials she didn't start appearing until the 1800s when Hampton church, where she was buried, was taken down. Since then, she is said to frequently appear among the various rooms within the 16th-century palace. Onthetudortrail.com notes that "after Sybil's resting place was disturbed, people began hearing the sound of a spinning wheel from behind a wall of the southwest wing of the palace. Upon further investigation, an old chamber was discovered and inside lay an antique spinning wheel."

Queen Victoria

King Edward VIII let his brother take the crown instead of him-for love. Quite the scandal in 1936, his romance with the still married Wallis Simpson from the United States was the reality TV of its time. Ms. Simpson had grand ideas for Windsor Castle and attempted to remove spruce trees planted by her lover's great-grandparents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. As the story goes, the trees were never removed as the workers were scared away by the clearly unhappy spirit of Queen Victoria waving her arms and moaning loudly. Read on to learn more about the most haunted hotels in America.

Saint Henry Walpole

Anmer Hall in Norfolk is part of the Queen's Sandringham estate and was a gift to her grandchildren, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Besides a complete overhaul to bring the house back to its Georgian-era roots, Kate and William were also given its ghostly occupant, Saint Henry Walpole. The Walpole family originally owned the estate, but Henry's life did not end well. He was tortured at the Tower of London for his Catholic conversion and finally hung in 1595. His spirit is said to haunt the grounds of his old home. According to Express.co.uk, the royal couple didn't have an issue with sharing their home with a ghost and instead said, "No old home would be complete without its ghost."

King Henry VIII

Said to be Queen Elizabeth II's favorite place to live, Windsor Castle must also be the favorite of King Henry VIII as he hasn't seemed to have left even though he died hundreds of years ago. Many witnesses have spied his spirit wandering amidst the rooms of the castle looking despondent and agitated, specifically, "a large man pacing furiously and shouting loudly." Since he beheaded two of his wives and had many others executed on his orders, this may be one majestic spirit to avoid.

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Royal Ghosts That Still Haunt Britain Today | Reader's Digest

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From Elizabeth I to Henry the VIII still hobbling about Windsor Castle, royal ghosts have been making the rounds about Britain for centuries. King Henry VIII's second wife, Queen Anne Boleyn, was beheaded by sword in the Tower of London on May 19, 1536 after she was accused by her husband of adultery and incest with her brother.

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Ariadna Sanz

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We've actually been telling ghost stories for thousands of years. One of the oldest documented ghost stories was found on pieces of broken pottery, dating back over 12,000B.C. years, and we're still telling scary stories today - albeit in different and more advanced forms. From the simple text based story to the found footage videos we can see on Youtube, true ghost stories are the perfect way to give yourself a bit of a fright.

Perhaps one of the oldest real life ghost stories in documented history is this 12,000B.C. tale from Egypt that was found on some pieces of broken pottery. The story is of a ghost stuck in a tomb, who complains of being stuck in the darkness and never seeing the light, and we never quite learn why this man was doomed to eternal darkness. The ancient Egyptians were very spiritual and believed strongly in the afterlife, which goes some way into explaining the origins of the story.

If you're looking for ghost stories UK then this tale from Wales will be sure to fit the bill. The Skirrid Inn is well known as being one of the most haunted spots in the country, and with good reason. It's Wales' oldest inn, and has stood for over nine hundred years. The first floor used to be used as a courthouse, and it's thought that some of the 180 felons that were convicted there still regularly return today. A number of those felons were convicted to death by hanging, and if you visit the Skirrid Inn today, you'll still see the noose hanging from a beam over the stairs.

Join a ghost hunt at the Skirrid Inn.

This hospital in Liverpool is the perfect place to visit if you're looking for a good British ghost story. In fact, it's like something straight out of a horror movie plot. The Victorian building was first used as an orphanage, but was converted into a mental hospital. Visit it today and it'll still look like an abandoned hospital, complete with wheelchairs in corridors and bars across windows. Screams have been heard in the dead of the night and nurses reported seeing apparitions and unexplained figures walking through the hospital whilst it was still open. Regular ghost hunting events occur at the hospital today, and many visitors report encountering small children during their visit. Now, this is the kicker - there has never, ever been a children's ward nor any children staying at the hospital, and many suspect that these children are spirits simply playing at the hospital, "stuck" there, who may have died at the site when it was still operating as an orphanage.

We have ghost hunts at Newsham Park most weeks. Have a look at our Newsham Park ghost hunts.

One of the most little-known yet most beloved ghost stories, UK is this tale from Bournemouth. The Pavilion Theatre is a small community theatre in the town, and back in the 1930s one of the then leading ladies in a play unfortunately lost her life during an accident on stage. Legend has it that she still walks the stage today, and can often be seen flitting through the curtains, or walking through the shadows underneath the dark backstage corridors.

One of the very best real life ghost stories we've ever come across was this creepy tale from a Reddit user. He shared with users on the site that he had started to get messages from an ex-girlfriend through Facebook. So far, so normal. The strange thing about the tale was that his ex-girlfriend had died two years previously. To begin with, he dismissed it as a prank. He thought it might just be a bug or something going wrong with the site, until his ex-girlfriend Emily started to tag herself in photographs and statuses with him. When she finally sent her first message to him after Nathan, her boyfriend, sent her a message saying he missed her, he was horrified. She said "just let me walk." Emily had actually died following a horrific car accident in which she had almost been severed in half, whereby one of her legs was amputated and found in the back of the vehicle. The case is still unexplained.

Purbeck in Dorset is well known for spooky stories. If you're searching for real ghost stories UK, you're guaranteed to come across a tale or two from this area. Purbeck has been the home of many, many paranormal encounters, including UFO activity, strange and unexplained lights and residents have even reported time shift experiences, such as feeling like they are out of their body. Lady Bankes is also said to be seen walking through the castle grounds at Corfe with some frequency, a shadowy figure in robes, while Herman, a German military ghost is often seen at the Tank Museum in Bovington, sticking close to his beloved tank, the vehicle that he drove during WW2.

The death of Elisa Lam is still unexplained. She was found in a water tank, naked, with seemingly no way inside. The only way to the water tank was through a locked door and she was only found once guests at the hotel she was staying in complained about the quality of their water. Here's why this is one of those horribly creepy true ghost stories: Elisa was staying at the Cecil Hotel in LA, notorious for suicides. A number of serial killers also stated at the hotel over the years, and it's supposedly notorious for paranormal activity. Elisa was missing for around three weeks before she died, and before she went missing, she was seen on CCTV footage acting erratically in an elevator. She was stepping in and out of the elevator, waving her arms around, and looked like she was fighting or arguing with a completely unseen entity. Many people speculate that she was being chased by something, and that she was hiding in the elevator from that entity. That CCTV footage was that last time that Elisa was seen alive.

Our favourite British ghost stories are those that scare even noted ghost hunter Yvette Fielding. She says that Tatton Hall in Cheshire is the spot that she thinks is the most haunted place in the UK, and she would not spend the night there alone. With footsteps heard throughout the day, but with no apparent source, the sounds of heavy shuffling noises through the corridors and a sense of menacing and deep foreboding, it's little surprise that the shadowy figures seen behind closed doors at Tatton Hall mean that many people have been so frightened by their visit that they never return.

See if we have any ghost hunts at Tatton Old hall by looking at our north west ghost hunts.

Although ghost stories are often just that - a spooky tale to tell around a campfire, or a story to frighten your friends in the dead of the night, humans have had a deep belief in the supernatural and the spiritual for many thousands of years. We've long believed in many different forms of life after death and it's little surprise that we've been telling ghost stories as a way to explain what happens after death as a way to comfort friends and family left behind.

As we've been telling these stories for so long, who is to say what is fact and what is fiction? If you want to continue your journey on this spooky path, learn what we believe are the 12 best ghost story books.

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8 Real Ghost Stories - True Ghost Stories from the UK and Beyond | Haunted Rooms®

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We've actually been telling ghost stories for thousands of years. One of the oldest documented ghost stories was found on pieces of broken pottery, dating back over 12,000B.C. years, and we're still telling scary stories today - albeit in different and more advanced forms. From the simple text based story to the found footage videos ...

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Ghost Legend:ghost of Dame Elizabeth hoby

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Ghost Legend:ghost of Dame Elizabeth hoby

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Lucía Martín

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At Hallowe'en, we re-tell the ghost stories that linger at Britain's most eerie places.

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Sandra G.

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The Difference between the UK, Great Britain & England Explained