Discover Bath’s Spooky Side

If you love a ghost story, historic Bath is most definitely the city for you. It is jam-packed with sites where spooky goings on are regularly reported and all sorts of historic figures are rumoured to continue to lurk.

If you like a good ghoul search here are a few places that should be on your list:

Garrick’s Head pub

The Garrick’s Head, in St John’s Place, next to the Theatre Royal, is said to be the most haunted pub in Bath. One acclaimed ghost is the Grey Lady, who threw herself from an upstairs window following the death of her lover. Her hauntings of the theatre and pub are said to leave behind the scent of jasmine. Additionally, landlords and bar staff over the years have reported incidents of a poltergeist throwing candles and cash registers across the bar!

Bailbrook Lodge

Bailbrook Lodge doesn’t try to hide its spooky past. Dating back to 1811, the London Road West guest house, has previously been a family home and nursing college. The Jane Austen Suite, Room 24, has generated numerous reports of mysterious happenings from both guests and housekeepers - doors slamming, objects going missing and reappearing later, unseen hands felt to touch or stroke guests necks or arms. None of its other rooms are affected.

Sally-in-the-Wood

This stretch of road just outside Bath on the A363 between Bathford and Farleigh Wick has been named in the past as ‘one of the world’s most haunted locations.’ Said to be haunted by a murdered young girl, there have even been claims birds in the trees surrounding the road are unable to sing. The question is, are you brave enough to drive there at night?

Crystal Palace Pub

The Crystal Palace pub, in Abbey Green, features on ghostpubs.com where it is said during a renovation of the pub in the early 1980s, several skeletons and a Roman mosaic floor were exposed. Apparently, there have been many reports of monks wearing black habits haunting the pub. There is also a description of sightings of a naked ghoul loping between the abbey and pub. It is said that when it reaches Abbey Green, the ghost disappears.

The Royal Crescent

Even Bath’s famous landmark the Royal Crescent - the iconic and elegant crescent of terraces - is said to get visitors from beyond. A phantom horse-drawn carriage is often said to be seen outside. Others tell of a beautiful singing lady here.

The Assembly Rooms

The historic Assembly Rooms, one of Bath’s finest Georgian buildings, built in 1771 and featured in two Jane Austen novels, has its own tales to tell. According to Ghost Walks Of Bath, it is where the famous Man in The Black Hat takes his frequent strolls. It is understood there may be other strange happenings reported within.

Death and dying is still often a bit of a taboo topic but it need not and should not be. Ghost walks are a great light hearted way to begin some of those difficult conversations we all need to have to be prepared and make proper provision for loved ones.