The Most Haunted Building In London
50 Berkeley Square is said to be the most haunted building in London. It has a colourful history of ghosts and ghouls, some speculative, and some claimed to have been seen repeatedly over the years.
According to the book Haunted England, by Westwood and Simpson, in 1879 Mayfair Magazine reported that 50 Berkeley Square was in fact haunted. The book also notes that the apartment was mentioned in another article prior to this, called Notes and Queries, published during the early 1870’s.
But when did the hauntings really start? Around 1859, 50 Berkeley Square was aquired by a Mr Myers, no… not that Mr Myers. Thomas Myers was deemed insane after being rejected by his fiancee and becoming a recluse, making the flat a naturally creepy place for neighbours and passers by, due to his unusual behaviour. Tales of Mr Myers emerged in the press, causing gossip and speculative rumours to spread across the neighbourhood. Once he passed, the flat fell into disrepair. Later, a string of freak-accidents and gruesome events occurred in this particular flat.
Deaths at 50 Berkeley Square
One young girl, named Adeline, lived at the property and was the subject of abuse by her Uncle. When the situation escalated, she locked him out of the attic and eventually threw herself out of the window, leaving her body mangled on the pavement outside. After the incident, residents claimed to see the ghost of the girl plunging to her death from the upper storey window on a regular basis. Many also claim that she visits the flat in the form of brown or white mist; she has been known to scare multiple guests of the flat ever since, quite literally to death.
This brown mist is known to some as the ‘Nameless Horror’. Records show that various people who experienced the terrors of 50 Berkeley Square had their own depiction of the Nameless Horror, although some were of course exaggerated as stories were retold over the decades. These descriptions included a ‘crawling horror’, ‘a beast with extra arms and no legs’, ‘an appalling, hellish, damnable thing’, ‘a bloated and pulpy beast’, ‘a white figure’, ‘a tentacled creature’, ‘a shapeless, slithering mass’… the list goes on.
Years after Adeline’s death, another young male tenant was kept up there by his brother, Mr Dupre, and fed through a hole in the doorway, which eventually drove him clinically insane. It is said that this unknown man also haunted the upper storey of Berkeley Square after his death.
Tales of a maid who stayed overnight in the flat not long after the other incidents describe that the poor woman had been driven mad by the morning. She died a day later in a mental institute, after frantically raving and rambling about the apparition she had seen.
Two sailors from HMS Penelope were also challenged to stay in the flat overnight. So far, I have heard two variations of the story.
The first featuring one sailor who claimed that he was violently attacked by the ghost of Thomas Myers, and in a panic, ran down the stairs and out of the door to reach safety. He alerted a passing policeman of the situation, and that his fellow sailor was still inside. As they returned into the flat, the other sailor was found dead.
The second telling of the story claimed that both sailors died. One of them was frightened to death, his body found inside the flat, and the second sailor was so terrified that he too, like Adeline, jumped out of the window.
Is 50 Berkeley Square Still Haunted?
Strangely, after 1887, all paranormal claims regarding the apartment had stopped. It seems that the Victorian Era was the most prominent period within this locations history.
However, over a century later, it’s still known as one of the most haunted buildings in the UK. Nonetheless, the property became home to an independent bookshop, Maggs Bros Ltd, between 1937 and 2015.
50 Berkeley Square has also since appeared in the popular video game Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, alongside acting as the host location for events with the London Dungeons.
The property is currently listed for sale as a high-end home in Central London... But would you dare to buy this freaky flat?
For more spooky stories, check out our blog page by clicking here. Fancy a terrifying trip away? Why not take a look at our online store, featuring UK-based spooky day guides for year-round haunts.